Forsberg and Erik Karlsson of the Penguins are the headliners in this Global Series, the two biggest Swedish stars to come back this season to their native land to play NHL games. Karlsson had done so before, in the 2017 Global Series in Stockholm, but for Forsberg it was a first.
It showed, in everything.
“Tonight was the type of night you hold close to your heart forever,” his wife, Erin Forsberg, wrote in a text message. “You could tell how much this game meant to Filip, from wearing the traditional outfit from his hometown, to seeing him sing his anthem on the ice. Getting the win in overtime here surrounded by the most supportive fans was just the cherry on top to a perfect night.”
Forsberg, who has played tour guide this trip alongside defenseman and Stockholm native Adam Wilsby, made a dramatic entrance to Avicii Arena on Friday, wearing a traditional suit from Leksand to honor his hometown. The attire, called Leksandsdrakt, is usually worn now during the holiday of Midsummer in Leksand and was borrowed from the Leksands kulturhus, a cultural center, courtesy of his friend, the mayor.
“There was a lot of excitement, obviously,” Forsberg said. “This whole day has been a little bit of a -- yeah, it’s been a little bit nervous, not going to lie. It’s been a big day.”
Which was why none of the Predators was particularly surprised when Forsberg was the one to tie the game, the one to come up big in the big moment, the one to help create that happy ending.
“Nothing Fil does overly surprises me,” coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought he tried so hard. He had so many opportunities that he’s either created or he had for himself. You kind of know with Fil it’s going to sooner or later go in, and it went in.”
They had seen it building. They had seen him pushing.
“He had some great chances tonight,” Stamkos said. “You could tell. It’s one of those games where, like Fil said, you’re almost nervous, anxious, you have that extra pep in your step. You could tell he was on his game tonight, had some great looks. You’re like, ‘When is it going to go?’”
It did, finally, at 18:50 of the third in a game in which the Predators had otherwise not been able to break through. Until they did.
“Something out of a movie, for sure,” Nashville center Ryan O'Reilly said. “Just to do it there at home. I could just see it right when he scored, too, I went to celly with him and I could see he had some emotion there. I kind of had to let him go for a sec and get a celly in.”
Many of Forsberg’s relatives have gotten to see him play before, whether in the United States or in Prague, where the Predators played at the Global Series in 2022. But there were others, like his grandfather, who had not yet been able to attend an NHL game.
For himself, for them, he made it count.
And it doesn’t end with the game on Friday.
Forsberg will host 100 guests from Leksand, including 63 youth hockey players, at the team’s open practice on Saturday, after 12 kids from Leksands IF Youth Hockey were on the ice during the pregame ceremony.
Pieces of his hometown, and his heart, are littering the week the Predators are spending in Sweden.
They will get the chance to do it, once again, on Sunday (9 a.m. ET; FDSNSO, SN-PIT, NHLN, SN), as the Penguins try to get a win out of the trip, as the Predators try to build on the momentum of their skid-ending victory.
That, too, will be special.
Maybe even the full fairy-tale ending, then.
“It obviously means a ton and we all knew that,” defenseman Brady Skjei said. “We did our best to put our best effort forward to get a win for him and Wilsby. It meant a lot for us because we knew how much it meant to them.”
NHL.com International Editor-in-Chief Matt Cubeta contributed to this report
