A round of five matches was played in the ice hockey championship league on Saturday. Ilves Eemeli Suomi had a festive evening, but TPS spoiled the celebration.
13.12. 21:00•Updated 13.12. 22:27
There were five matches in the ice hockey championship league on Saturday.
TPS and Ilves met in Turku. Lynx Eemeli Finland achieved a handsome milestone. Finland has now played 514 matches in the SM league in Ilves’ shirt.
Ahead of him is the club legend and SaiPa’s current head coach Raimo Helminen. Finland has played his entire career in Ilves.
The Turku team’s goal was made by a player who moved from JYP to Turku Wine Vehviläinen. It was a difficult start, as Ilves took the lead after only four minutes of play Samuli Ratinen by hitting
Ratinen’s shot from the blue line was quick and slipped into the goal between Vehviläinen’s legs. The goal ended Ratinen’s 18-match scoreless streak.
However, TPS took the lead as the game progressed. Viljami Marjala tied the game in the opening set, Leevi Teissala gave the home team the lead at the beginning of the final set.
He completed the solution into an empty net Tim Söderlund. The party piece of the evening, Eemeli Suomi, narrowed it down in the final minute, but the consolation was thin. Victory for the people of Turku with goals 3–2.
TPS rose to 11th place in the series, passing KooKoo. The difference with the teams below the playoff line stretched to six points.
Vehviläinen made 20 saves in his TPS debut.
– Jätki got help from the field today. It was nice to play. Those kind of ice skaters shouldn’t be so difficult though, Vehviläinen updated the goals in an interview with Jääkiekkokierros.
Jukurit and JYP met at the bottom of the series. In the previous round, the Jyväskylä team passed HPK and finished third. JYP, who played fewer matches than many other teams, was among the top 12 in terms of point average before the evening.
However, the situation changed on Saturday. Jukurit, the clear jumbo of the series, did not let the visitors off easily. The home team barely controlled the game events. In addition, a 20-year-old goalkeeper Matthieu Herpin made an excellent save. The final numbers were recorded for Jukurei 2–1.
In other matches, Ässät beat Pelicans at home 2–0. Lukko, on the other hand, claimed a tasty away win with numbers 4–1 as a guest of KalPa. Ässät moved up to seventh in the standings ahead of KalPa, Lukko overtook Ilves and moved up to fifth.
The match between HPK and Kärppie started at 19:30. Kärpät took the away win with a dull score of 4–0.
You can find the league table of the SM league here. Tonight’s matches are here.