Tuesday’s round of the Ice Hockey Championship saw only away wins, as SaiPa also beat JYP away.
20:54•Updated 21:47
Tuesday night’s Tampere was supposed to be Ilves’ long-term captain, the current vice-captain Emeli Finland party night. The club legend completed 500 SM league regular season matches.
However, the party in Kaukalo was started by HPK, which surprised Ilves. The people from Hämeenlinna only got their fourth three-point win of the season. The final numbers were recorded as 1–4 (0–2, 0–1, 1–1).
The win was HPK’s first away win of the season.
HPK got on top right at the beginning of the game, when Jesse Kiiskinen gave the team the lead after only a minute and a half of the game. The hit was the sixth of the season for the 19-year-old attacker.
Other HPK goals went Anton Mylläri and Heikki Huttunen and the one that hit the empty target Eetu Tuulola to names. Ilves’ only son did it with superior strength Simon Johansson.
Ilves has now already lost three games in one game. With its win, HPK rose from the second last place in the series to the top twelve.
One of the teams HPK overtook was JYP. The people of Jyväskylä met SaiPa at home. The teams had met the previous time on Saturday, when SaiPa won 7-6 after extra time.
This time, the people of Lappeenranta took home three points when the numbers 2–4 (0–1, 1–1, 1–2) were hit on the scoreboard in Jyväskylä. The hero of the match was SaiPan Santeri Airola, which hit the counter with powers 1+2.
The difference between SaiPa and the team from Hämeenlinna in the last playoff spot is five points. The top four, i.e. a direct quarter-final spot, is also five points away from SaiPa.
Behind JYP in the SM league are Pelicans and Jukurits.
Corrected at 21:46: Corrected that Eemeli Suomi is Ilves’ vice-captain, not captain.