It&#8217;s officially a hot streak.
Following an MVP-worthy performance in front of his home country at the World Juniors, Jonathan Lekkerimäki experienced a slight hiccup in his otherwise stellar bounce-back season, going goalless in nine games upon his return to the SHL.
But it wasn&#8217;t just him. Örebro, as a team, had been struggling for weeks, managing to score only nine goals across those nine games, suffering four shutout losses along the way. They cycled through coaches, experimented with line combinations, and racked up the losses.
However, their fortunes have turned recently, sporting a 3-1-0 record over their last four games, and much of that success can be directly attributed to the Vancouver Canucks&#8217; prized 2022 15th overall pick.
In today&#8217;s match, he extended his goal streak to three games, scoring two goals to collect his first career multi-goal effort in the Swedish Hockey League.
The first goal showcased the many facets of his game that have seen vast improvements over his terrific bounce-back campaign — his edgework, hockey IQ, confidence, and, of course, his booming shot.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Make that three straight games for Jonathan Lekkerimäki 🔥
He&#39;s up to 13 goals and 22 points on the year. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> 
For those wondering, that&#39;s his eighth goal at even-strength. <a href="https://t.co/ehM5b6EalH">pic.twitter.com/ehM5b6EalH</a>
&mdash; Dave Hall (@hall1289) <a href="https://twitter.com/hall1289/status/1758204889073877148?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Minutes later, following a Hail Mary flip pass from former Canuck defender Philip Holm, Lekkerimäki once again showcased his lethal shot, beating Rögle netminder Christoffer Rifalk cleanly above the shoulder for his second goal of the period.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
We&#39;re on Jonathan Lekkerimäki hat-trick watch 👀
The 19-year-old grabs his first multigoal game in the SHL. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> <a href="https://t.co/UNDv2co5ED">pic.twitter.com/UNDv2co5ED</a>
&mdash; Dave Hall (@hall1289) <a href="https://twitter.com/hall1289/status/1758205838718796116?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In the late stages of the third period, he came inches away from completing his first career (SHL) hat-trick but caught iron to settle for two goals and three shots through 14:45 of ice time.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Lekkerimäki came THIS close to his first career SHL hat-trick. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> <a href="https://t.co/KcXWz3pk8o">pic.twitter.com/KcXWz3pk8o</a>
&mdash; Dave Hall (@hall1289) <a href="https://twitter.com/hall1289/status/1758223171868832208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Since he already picked up &#8220;Player of the Match&#8221; honours from their previous game, he was ineligible for the award in this one. Instead, he passed the torch &#8212; or, in this case, the &#8220;OBAB&#8221; helmet &#8212; over to Philip Holm, who provided the assist on each of his goals.
While he narrowly missed out on completing the hat-trick, the pair of goals bring his tally to four over his last three games. With 14 goals overall, he now leads all U24 skaters in goals and shares a spot for sixth league-wide.
Despite a common assumption that most of his scoring comes on the power play, it&#8217;s worth noting that both of his goals in today&#8217;s match were scored at even strength. He’s now up to nine goals at 5v5 and only five on the man advantage. While his ability to cash in from his &#8220;office&#8221; with the man up is incredibly obvious, his ability to produce in any situation is an aspect of his game that often goes unnoticed.
From a team perspective, the victory was significant for Örebro, as they are locked in a direct playoff battle with their opponents from today (Rögle), with each team vying for one of the final two spots in the playoff table. With the 3-2 victory, they take a three-point lead and sit within the playoff table.
Örebro now has 10 remaining games on their regular-season schedule, with their final game set for March 12th.

It's officially a hot streak.

Following an MVP-worthy performance in front of his home country at the World Juniors, Jonathan Lekkerimäki experienced a slight hiccup in his otherwise stellar bounce-back season, going goalless in nine games upon his return to the SHL.

But it wasn't just him. Örebro, as a team, had been struggling for weeks, managing to score only nine goals across those nine games, suffering four shutout losses along the way. They cycled through coaches, experimented with line combinations, and racked up the losses.

However, their fortunes have turned recently, sporting a 3-1-0 record over their last four games, and much of that success can be directly attributed to the Vancouver Canucks' prized 2022 15th overall pick.

In today's match, he extended his goal streak to three games, scoring two goals to collect his first career multi-goal effort in the Swedish Hockey League.

The first goal showcased the many facets of his game that have seen vast improvements over his terrific bounce-back campaign — his edgework, hockey IQ, confidence, and, of course, his booming shot.

https://twitter.com/hall1289/status/1758204889073877148

Minutes later, following a Hail Mary flip pass from former Canuck defender Philip Holm, Lekkerimäki once again showcased his lethal shot, beating Rögle netminder Christoffer Rifalk cleanly above the shoulder for his second goal of the period.

https://twitter.com/hall1289/status/1758205838718796116

In the late stages of the third period, he came inches away from completing his first career (SHL) hat-trick but caught iron to settle for two goals and three shots through 14:45 of ice time.

https://twitter.com/hall1289/status/1758223171868832208

Since he already picked up "Player of the Match" honours from their previous game, he was ineligible for the award in this one. Instead, he passed the torch -- or, in this case, the "OBAB" helmet -- over to Philip Holm, who provided the assist on each of his goals.

While he narrowly missed out on completing the hat-trick, the pair of goals bring his tally to four over his last three games. With 14 goals overall, he now leads all U24 skaters in goals and shares a spot for sixth league-wide.

Despite a common assumption that most of his scoring comes on the power play, it's worth noting that both of his goals in today's match were scored at even strength. He’s now up to nine goals at 5v5 and only five on the man advantage. While his ability to cash in from his "office" with the man up is incredibly obvious, his ability to produce in any situation is an aspect of his game that often goes unnoticed.

From a team perspective, the victory was significant for Örebro, as they are locked in a direct playoff battle with their opponents from today (Rögle), with each team vying for one of the final two spots in the playoff table. With the 3-2 victory, they take a three-point lead and sit within the playoff table.

Örebro now has 10 remaining games on their regular-season schedule, with their final game set for March 12th.

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