In the ice hockey SM league, the top got even tighter. Lukko won in Hämeenlinna and tied with Ilves at the top of the series.
4.1. 19:54•Updated 4.1. 20:43
An exceptionally even season is played in the ice hockey SM league. The top eight can fit within five points after Saturday’s round.
Rauman Lukko rose to the shared top spot after defeating HPK 5–3 in the away match. In the final minutes, HPK came within a goal, but Sebastian Repo freed Luko from his torment 27 seconds before the end and sealed the match with an empty net.
The local resistance from Ace has moved to Lukko Joni Ortio played his first match in the goal of the Romanian team and made 30 saves.
The full points pot lifted Luko to 67 points to share the top spot with Ilves. Ilves lost to Äss 1–2 in the away match. Lassi Old House scored both of Ässien’s goals.
Tappara could have reached 67 points as well, but lost to KalPa 2–4 at home. The people of Kuopio succeeded in special situations – two goals were scored with superior strength and one with inferior strength. Raised fourth in the points exchange Patrick Curry scored the last goal in an even field.
SaiPa could also have reached 67 points with an overtime win, but KooKoo became the overtime hero Marcus Davidson. SaiPan’s Henri Nikkanen lost the puck in front of his own goal, and Davidsson scored the 3–2 winning goal By Jonas Oden input. KooKoo won both SaiPa matches of the weekend.
Helsinki IFK, which rose to 66 points with SaiPa, took revenge from Lahti Pelicans in the evening round of the hockey SM league. Pelicans was already two goals away in Helsinki, but HIFK rose by Ronald Knot with goals in the lead.
Knot leveled the second set at the last second to 3–3 and scored the lead goal at the beginning of the final set. HIFK scored twice more and ended their two-game losing streak with a 6–3 win.
The match started hotly when Antti Tyrväinen your tackle Kristian from Vesa. Vesalainen was taken out of the rink after knee contact, and he never returned to the game. The situation was checked on video. Tyrväinen received a two-minute blocking penalty.
At the beginning of the second period, HIFK’s captain Ilari Melart and Pelicans skipper Tyrväinen was kicked out for fighting.
Vesalainen joined HIFK’s long injured list. Also Joonas Rask had to leave the rink in the second set.
Kiekko-Espoo, one of the comets of the season, lost for the fourth time in a row, when JYP blanked Espoo’s team with a score of 4–0.
In other matches, Kärpät beat TPS 4–3 at home after already losing 0–2 in the opening set. Sport beat Jukurit 6–3 in Vaasa.
See the league table of the SM league here.
Story updated at 20:43: Added the result of the Tappara-KalPa match and its effects on the standings.