In the ice hockey league, HIFK, KalPa, Sport, Ässät in extra time and Jukurit in the game for the winning goal won.
16.10. 21:18•Updated 16.10. 21:51
League leader HIFK took their fifth win in a row and at the same time increased their point streak to seven matches by beating TPS 4–3 at Nordis.
The red-hot first court once again bore a big responsibility for IFK’s success. Series leader in point exchange Jori Lehterä (1+1), hit his 12th hit of the season Iiro Pakarinen and power defender Luke Martin (1+1) continued the low flight of TPS.
Lehterä, who has put together 4+21=25 performances in 14 matches, had clear views on why a record number of points and goals are now being scored in the League.
– I would think that the TikTok generation has seen all the tricks in the world and they also know how. There are no more so-called brake fields, and besides that, we have finally gotten rid of playing traps anywhere in the middle area. Nowadays, we play fastball, which is harder to play and harder to watch, Lehterä instructed.
TPS defender Roni Sevänen leveled the game at 3–3 and scored a league goal for the first time since the 2022–23 season. The loss was the fourth in a row for Turku.
K-Espoo’s winning streak ended
Persistent and hot promotion Kiekko-Espoo came from two goals behind in the third set to 2–2 in Pori and even after that to 3–3 Santeri Virtanen with two goals, but in the end Ässät fixed the winning pot Joona Riekkinen striking with a 4–3 overtime goal.
Two goals Lenny Hämeenaho and Radek Kucerik succeeded in finishing the Pori players in the actual game time. Ässät extended his streak to four matches and ended Kiekko-Espoo’s five-match winning streak.
– Challenging evening for us. A couple of batches were started. The third set warms the mind when we reached the level. Our faith resides in the fact that we can be guaranteed. You have to be satisfied with the score. There were two mistakes in overtime, one of which was the final decision, Kiekko-Espoo’s coach Jyrki Aho stated.
KalPa, who lost to JYP at home in the previous match, kept the worst visitor in the series, HPK, at bay with a 3–2 home win. Kasper Simontaival, Andreas Okany and Filip Westerlund made the necessary hits for the people of Kuopio.
HPK’s first away win was still a dream despite a good fight. Good mood, 19 years old Jesse Kiiskinen (1+1) was the Club’s power pack.
Sport won KooKoo, Jukurit Luko
Axel Holmström (1+2), Linus Andersson (1+2), Martin Hanzl (2+1) and Take Rantakari (1+1) cemented Sport’s 5–1 home win over KooKoo with their goals.
The team from Vaasa, which decided the match with three overpowering hits, returned to the winning way after two losses. For KooKoo, the loss was the second in a row. In the last three games Bunch of Myrrh defenders have scored only three goals.
Lukko did the work in Mikkeli, but the more efficient Jukurit fixed the game with a 4-3 home win. Jesper Piitulainen was Jukurie’s hero by scoring two goals in regular time and a decisive hit in the VL competition.
Lukko took the shots of the match by as many as 78–30. Lock guard Daniel Lebedeff saved only 11 shots in the fight, Jukurien’s goalkeeper Matthieu Herpes clearly more – 37. The win was Jukurei’s second in a row, Luko’s loss was second in a row.
– Compared to the beginning of the season, the superiority was good for us. But the same song once again, i.e. a lot of good things and the statistics looked good – except for the last point column, comments the Lukko coach Tomi Lämsa.
Jukurie’s responsible coach Marko Tuomainen praised the opponent.
– Spiritually important points. Lukko was really good and clearly the best team that has visited here. However, we were able to defend the center evenly and the direct attacking play was really excellent.
The hockey league was honored on Wednesday Janne Puhakan29, memories, when each of the five towns celebrated a moment of silence before the match. Ex-hockey player Puhakka died as a victim of a homicide in Espoo’s Henttaa on Sunday, October 13.
Series table