Two last-minute equalizers took the semi-final games to overtime in the hockey SM league.
Tampere Ilves once again offered a huge challenge to their opponent in the ice hockey SM league with their skating power. This time, the Pelicans had to get used to the fast pace, and they stretched the semi-final until the overtime.
The Pelicans tied the game at 2–2 Topias Vilén with a goal just 19 seconds before the final buzzer. The solution was finally completed by the defender Leo Loöf, after more than two minutes had been played in the overtime period.
– If Antti Pennanen (Ilves head coach) would have liked to write a script, it would be exactly like this. Let’s work incredibly hard, make a few mistakes, make a mistake, and let’s go to the next round. Ilves escaped like a dog from the fence and got the match tie. It’s a different matter to go humbly to play tomorrow’s game, Urheilu’s expert Ismo Lehkonen comment on the puck round.
Lehkonen reminded that Ilves, who played hard in the match, also had to use up the strength of the people of Lahti.
– It was energetic, all the time skating, hard ice hockey and dueling. It is good for Pennanen to throw psychologically that they will be interrupted while we continue our own work.
Ilves took the lead in the middle of the opening set, when Dominik Masinin the line shot missed the one in the mask Patrik Bartos too. However, Pelicans, who played persistently, managed to tie the score at the end of the set, when Sakke Hämäläinen shot accurately into the top corner.
In the second set, Ilves made it Joona Ikonen goal for a 2–1 lead. Among other things, Kontiola even had a place to increase the Tampere team’s lead from a drive through, but he didn’t succeed.
– Kontiola and (Henrik Haapala) were not good in the first series of matches, but these two sets were no better. It seems that, fortunately for the Pelicans, the first chain is a little rusty. It serves the Pelicans, who are very involved in the game, Lehkonen said after the second set.
Without his number one defender Teemu from Ero the Pelicans who started the match also lost a Swedish defender in the final set by Peter Anderssonwhen third in a duel situation Ben Blood accidentally tackled a teammate. Andersson was frozen for a while and went out to the suit covers.
Likewise, the second match of the evening stretched into overtime, when Tapparan Petteri Puhakka tied the score at 2-2 against HIFK just 51 seconds before the final buzzer.