Pelicans’ Aleks Haatanen experienced all the emotions in the fourth final. Tommi Niemelä regretted the performance of the third set.
follows the SM league finals moment by moment on its website. The Hockey Tour broadcasts every league final live. All finals will be heard live at Areena, the third final also on Radio Suomen’s soundwaves. The preliminary studios of the ice hockey round can be enjoyed in video form for the first time in the finals.
LAHTI. The Pelicans Aleks Haatanen experienced all the emotions in the fourth final of the ice hockey SM league.
Tappara stretched to a 4–3 victory at the beginning of the overtime. The series is 3–1 for the people of Tampere with a break on Sunday at home.
– Of course, it hurts to lose. You just have to forget and play better on Sunday, Haatanen tells Urheilu.
Haatanen scored the Pelicans’ 1–0 goal and was also building up the second rejected goal a moment later. In the final set, he tied the Pelicans at 3-3 just 40 seconds before the set buzzer.
– It was nice to have successes. It’s a pity that there was no joy and benefit from them. This is how hockey is sometimes.
The hard-working winger also had to go to the ice platform in the final set after tapping Kristian Tanus for skates. Star of Tappara Anton Levtchi was able to shoot during it to level the game and make it 2–2.
– I’m not going to comment now. Well, maybe we’ll figure this out together with “Krisu” (Kristian Tanus). We are good friends. The judges do their own thing.
Do you think that Tanus threw himself from the hit?
– Maybe, maybe.
Haatanen was able to redeem himself with a goal at the end of the third period.
– When I took the ice, it was great to give the vaccine and give back to the team. Cool or not, still a stupid cool. It was nice to have success.
Pelicans had the match firmly in control after two sets, but in the third set, Tappara got even and finally took the lead thanks to Levtchi’s hat trick.
Pelicans head coach Tommi Niemelää saddened by the events of the third set.
– A miserable 20 minutes. There’s really nothing more to it than that. We were able to clearly improve from the previous games and played really good two sets. Really sad that we didn’t dare to continue the game for the last 20 minutes, Niemelä said.
According to Niemelä, the Pelicans’ rise to the top showed the team’s great backbone. He was not satisfied with the refereeing of the second round.
– Many things could be said about the overtime, Niemelä said and referred to the collision in the middle area.
The Pelicans Lubos Horky was chasing the puck when Tapparan Otto Somppi hit the attacker. The puck slipped Nicholas the Baptistwhich provided a solution for a superior attack.
– It was a clear blocking of the day. I got an explanation that there would definitely have been a whistle in the regular season. It was clear ice. Still, the game ended 4–3 and let’s move on.
According to Niemelä, the Pelicans have a lot to shake about their game in the third period, for example in terms of players without the puck.
– We tried really hard to give the guys the courage to act on the puck. You have to skate with a puck and, above all, skate without a puck. If you don’t do that, then no places will open up.
– Of course, it is basically our (the coaches’) responsibility that we didn’t get the guys to understand what should be done better.