Tappara performed an incredible Kiri in the sold-out Niiralan Montu and rose from a 2-4 loss to a 5-4 victory over KalPa with three goals in the last minutes. The semi-final wins are 2–0 for Tappara.
At the 55th minute of the game, KalPa’s 4–2 lead showed on the scoreboard. After that, the home team’s miraculous passivity in the lead situation of the final set backfired in a rude way.
Captain Otto Rauhala ran through and beat Tappara in a time of 55.22. After that Nick Halloran equalized only 37 seconds later. The crowning glory of Tappara Oiva Keskinen finishing the 5-4 winning goal in 57.35.
– A very important win and a great rise! Probably not many people outside the booth believed that we would still get up. Over the years, there have been those that we have been able to fight back to win. You just have to be brave and that’s what we were. You can’t ventilate too much, but the atmosphere is great now, of course, Keskinen tasted moderately.
KalPa’s head coach Petri Karjalainen thought his team’s performance was very good for 40 minutes.
– In the third set, the first goal from our knee pad to the goal. After that, the fear of losing became strong, and the cycle could not be broken. A very tough way to lose a hockey game, but it was just one game, KalPa head coach Petri Karjalainen stated in the media exam.
They are having a great playoff spring Oliver Kapanen (2+0) and Juuso Mäenpää (1+2) led KalPa to a 4–2 lead and at the 55th minute the home team was strongly on the verge of leveling the semi-final series. by Anton Levtsch The 2-4 reduction for Tappara was quite lucky, as his wrist shot would have missed the goal by half a meter if it had not gone off the KalPa defender’s equipment and into his own goal at the beginning of the third period.
The turning point of the match was a situation where Tappara challenged KalPa’s 5-2 goal by interfering with the goalkeeper. The match referee would have accepted the hit without video review. Tappara defender Joni Tuulola pushed Kasper Simontaipalen Christian Heljanko towards. Neither Tuulola nor Heljanko even protested the goal at all after the situation. However, Tappara’s challenge proved to be worth its weight in gold.
In addition, Tapparan Veli-Matti Savinainen frustration outside the game situation and the cross stick he provided in the 49th minute could have brought a shower penalty, but now it was awarded only a two-minute penalty after video review. Savilainen first bumped into KalPa Saku Salmela and after that, KalPa’s second player got ugly with a cross stick, who threw himself into the ice.
Pelicans took a two-goal lead in Oulu in less than four minutes Ryan Laschin and Antti Tyrväinen with goals. In the end, Kärpät fell precisely to its miserable beginning, when Pelicans won the match with goals 5–3.
– We emphasized that you have to be ready to play when the puck drops on the ice. We succeeded really well in that, Tyrväinen told STT.
The winning goal was directed to the Pelicans Lars Bryggman in 45.09. The efficient Swedish striker and Oliver Kapase have three winning goals in this spring’s playoffs.
Teemu Turunen, Arttu Hyry and Miika Koivisto kept the hope of the home team alive with their goals, but the Pelicans were able to play goalie Niklas Kokon in the lead, a solid enough defensive game in the leading position of the goal. At the last second Toni Utunen sealed a 5-3 final score for the Pelicans.
In the SM league, we are close to repeating the finals, as Tappara and Pelicans also decided the championship last spring.
The story is supplemented with comments.
ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE 2nd SEMI-ROUNDS (4 wins):
KalPa – Tappara 4–5 (2-1.2-0.0-4)
03.21 1-0 O. Kapanen (Kantner, Mäenpää)
05.39 1-1 Juolevi (Halloran, Keskinen)
11.29 2-1 Mäenpää (Westerlund, Simontaival) yv
32.19 3–1 O. Kapanen (Kantner, Mäenpää)
38.11 4-1 K Kapanen (Okany, Räsänen)
43.48 4-2 Levtchi (Kemiläinen)
55.22 4-3 Rauhala
55.59 4-4 Halloran (Puhakka)
57.35 4-5 Central (Halloran)
Goalkeepers Audience: 5300
Lekkas 4+ 9+11 = 24
Heljanko 17+14+7 = 38
Wins 0–2
Flies – Pelicans 3–5 (0-2,1-1,2-1)
02.15 0-1 Lasch (Carlsson, Bryggman)
03.36 0-2 Tyrväinen (Aaltonen,Johannes)
20.47 1-2 Turunen (Koivunen, Koivisto)
37.24 1-3 Tukiainen (E Vilén, Utunen)
41.03 2-3 Hyry (Koivisto, Anttila)
45.09 2-4 Bryggman (Kral, Lasch)
53.20 3-4 Koivisto (Berglund, Koivunen)
59.59 3-5 Utunen (Schnarr) etc
Goalkeepers Audience: 6050
Westerholm 12+ 4+ 2 = 18
Total 12+10+9 = 31
Wins 0–2
The third semi-finals will be played in Tampere and Lahti on Tuesday 9 April.