HPK ended its painfully long losing streak in the hockey SM league, when the experienced Teemu Rautiainen got excited for a four-goal night in Turku.
The HPK striker who appeared in the shadow lands of the beginning of the season Teemu Rautiainen, 31, was eager to forge four full hits in the net of Turku Palloseura, when Hämeenlinna Pallokerho grabbed an easy 5-2 away spot from Turku. At the same time, the club ended its seven-game losing streak.
– We threw ourselves today and really realized that every little thing matters. I have to admit that the pucks bounced a bit for us, the hero talked at Puhe’s puck tour.
Rautiainen, who received criticism for his game performances in the past, won the first eight league games with 0+1 points. While playing in KooKoo last season, he managed to score six times in the 58 matches he played.
– It was a bad day. I don’t even know what I did differently than before. There has been pressure when there has been no power. And when we lose, of course it piles up on me too. Fortunately, I hit now, an important victory for the team, Rautiainen sighed.
The player’s flow state was the theme of the evening at Puhe’s Ice Hockey Tour.
– The first (goal) helped in that, of course. When the fourth place came to me Ketola Juuson knuckleball, then I knew right away that the puck wouldn’t spin anymore. If it was still spinning from the beginning of the season, it’s not like that anymore. It makes you feel good when you know that things are starting to work, described Rautiainen.
“You have to be inside the game, it’s hard to score near the wings”
‘s hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen reminded that Rautiainen has been a goalscorer since he was young, although scoring has been slower than usual lately.
– It’s no coincidence that the flow mode often hits a skilled player. The start of the season was quite a mess for Teemu, however. If the doctor had prescribed HPK pills in the midst of difficulties, they would have been Teemu Rautiainen pills, Lehkonen grinned.
Rautiainen did not dare to promise the same results for the trip to Kouvola on Friday.
– Maybe it’s a bit of a cliché, but you have to work hard and you have to be in the game in order for something to happen or get done. It is difficult to score near the wings, Rautiainen reminded.
Other players in the flow mode in the round were, among other things, the scoring monster of the SM league Lenny Hämeenaho, who scored two goals when Ässät robbed JYP of a 4–1 away goal. Hämeenaho increased his number of goals for the season to eight.
Also HIFK’s belching striker Micke-Max Åsten had a rare two-goal night for him, when HIFK covered Sport, which suffered from injuries to the main defenders, with goals 4–1. Once before, Åsten has scored two goals, when HIFK defeated Kärpät in the first quarter-final in the spring of 2021 with a score of 3–2.
Ice hockey championship league on Wednesday 4.10.
JYP – Aces 1–4 (1-1, 0-1, 0-2)
Pelicans – KooKoo 3–4 (1-1, 1-3, 1-0)
Sport – HIFK 1–4 (0-1, 0-3, 1-0)
TPS – HPK 2–5 (1-1, 0-2, 1-2)
Series table