by Aatami Mäkinen
Pelicans returned to home ice for the first time since last Wednesday, in a game I was at. Since then they have had three straight road games, winning two of them to propel themselves up to sixth in the standings.
Lukko from the Western coastal town of Rauma arrived in Lahti, firmly rooted to the bottom of the table but ended up skating away with the points with a convincing 4-1 win.
Pelicans made the brighter start and when Eetu Koivistoinen of Lukko, was sent to the penalty box for hooking it gave them the perfect chance to get the break through.
Just 42 seconds into the powerplay, Pelicans got their goal. Antti Erkinjuntti centered a great pass to Marko Pöyhönen who found the net to give the home side the lead.
Things were looking good but then in the second period the game changed. There was a lack of physical presence on the ice with few fore-checks, and the speed and intensity, that proved so successful in the last few games was missing
The Pelicans game was burdened by penalties of their own. Less than 30 seconds of Pasi Puistola's hooking penalty had passed when Juhani Tyrvainen was called for tripping. That set Lukko up for another powerplay and they made it count. Aaron Gagnon tied the game with 6 seconds of the power play remaining, after finishing a pass from Jesse Virtanen.
Five minutes later and Lukko had the lead. The Pelicans uncertain defending in their own area cost them as Peter Tiivola slotted home past Janne Juvonen.
Sensing a rare win, Lukko decided to shut down the Pelicans in the third period, as they were content to soak up the pressure and try to hit them with counter-attacks.
Lukko had chances to kill the game but couldn't find the net. That meant the Pelicans were still in a position to rescue the game.
But with less than three minutes remaining Valentin Claireaux settled the game with a magnificent wrist shot.
Down by two goals, Pelicans had to go for it and pulled Juvonen for the extra attacker. But with 65 seconds left, Gagnon stole in and hit the puck into the empty net.
It was a disappointing result, but the Pelicans don't have long to wait to put things right. They are back in action tomorrow in Lappeenranta, when they take on SaiPa.
Team Line Up
Morten Poulsen came in on the third line. While Joonas Alanne was moved down to the fourth line to replace Arttu Heikkinen. Leading goal scorer, Iikka Kangasniemi missed a third straight game due to injury.
74 Antti Erkinjuntti - 22 Juhani Tyrvainen - 16 Justin Hodgman
18 Aleksi Rekonen - 27 Miska Siikonen - 24 Hannes Bjorninen
81 Taavi Vartiainen - 84 Henri Heino - 38 Morten Poulsen
25 Joonas Alanne - 7 Ville-Matti Koponen - 37 Roope Elimaki
10 Ben Blood - 12 Pasi Puistola
39 Marko Poyhonen - 8 Nico Manelius
51 Roni Rukajarvi - 6 Valtteri Parikka
98 Severi Lahtinen
41 Janne Juvonen - 30 Joona Voutilainen
Opposition View
Keaton Ellerby has played for a number of teams in the NHL. Starting out with the Florida Panthers, who drafted him 10th overall in 2007, the defenseman has gone on to play for the Los Angeles Kings and the Winnipeg Jets. Last season saw him play 42 games in Kazakhstan for Barys Astana of the KHL.
82 Ville Vahalahti - 11 Aaron Gagnon - 87 Aleksi Saarela
73 Ilmari Pitkanen - 39 Peter Tiivola - 14 Sami Lahteenmaki
9 Heikki Liedes - 31 Eetu Koivistoinen - 41 Joonas Niemela
15 Toni Suuronen - 12 Valentin Claireaux - 17 Aaro Vidgren
51 Jesse Virtanen - 38 Simo-Pekka Riikola
28 Janne Niskala - 27 Keaton Ellerby
18 Rony Ahonen - 20 Atte Makinen
16 Steven Seigo
30 Jakub Stepanek - 36 Kaapo Kahkonen
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