CHL - Round of 32 - TPS Turku v IFK Helsinki

Preview
Two of Finland's best known clubs internationally go head-to-head in this clash between TPS Turku and IFK Helsinki. In recent years, HIFK have been Liiga contenders while TPS rebuilds, but the play of both teams in the group stage seems to indicate that times might be changing. They have both started well in their regular season since then, but it's still too early to draw any firm conclusions. They haven't played yet in the Liiga this year, but HIFK dominated last year, taking 10 of 12 points in four meetings. It's hard to say which team will win this series, but it's safe to say these teams are a lot more familiar with each other than most CHL opponents.
Despite being the group winner, TPS will play the first of the two games on their home ice in Turku due to arena availability. The return leg will then go in Helsinki.

Closer look: TPS Turku

(3-1-0-0, 11 points, 15:3, 1st in Group H)

TPS Turku were nearly perfect in the group stage, taking 11 of 12 possible points, and allowing only three goals in four games in the process. They started with a 4-1 home win over Lorenskog IK, then had a couple of close battles with Bili Tygri Liberec, in which both teams got fine goaltending displays. First Oskari Setanen made 37 saves in a 2-1 shootout win in Liberec, then Alexander Georgiev stopped 33 in a 3-1 win in Turku. With the group already wrapped up, they won 6-0 in Lorenskog. After facing two rather unknown opponents, their Round of 32 opponents will be very familiar.

Patrik

Virta

2+3, +4

 

Top Forward & CRAMO Top Scorer: Young and versatile forward Patrik Virta has shown his skills and speed in the CHL group stage and is TPS's top scorer with 5 points. Entering this season, the 20-year-old, who can play both centre and right wing, had played only 39 Liiga games, and had 6 points. Nearly matching that total in just four CHL games might be an indication he's on his way to being a big point producer, which he was in junior. Virta played on a line with fellow youngsters Oskari Siiki and Julius Vahatalo, and may have slipped under the radar of opponents with two lines full of better-known players ahead of them. With veteran talent like Tomi Kallio, Eric Perrin and Dave Spina, TPS are loaded with veterans who can score too.

Ilkka

Heikkinen

1+1, +1

 

Top Defenceman: Jani Forsstrom leads the TPS defence with 3 assists in four games, but HIFK need to be aware of Ilkka Heikkinen. Heikkinen has been a beast in the early rounds of the Finnish Liiga – a true blueline anchor, especially on the power play. With 5 goals from the back end in the first four Liiga games, he is on fire. Being from the same league, HIFK are well familiar with him and his interesting personal story. He is able to play in the top level even though he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes during last season.

Oskari

Setanen

98.36 %

 

Top Goaltender: Just 22 years old, Oskari Setanen is entering his second season as a full-time goalie for TPS Turku. He was nearly unbeatable in his two CHL group stage games, allowing just 1 goal in 125 minutes of work. He forms a young but competent duo with 20-year-old Russian Alexander Georgiev. They split duties down the middle in the CHL and have done so in the early going of Liiga play, so there's a good chance we'll see both of them appear in the Round of 32 against IFK Helsinki.

Closer look: IFK Helsinki

(1-0-1-2, 4 Points, 13:11, 2nd in Group G)

IFK Helsinki were expected to be the top team in Group G, but instead they struggled mightily against EV Zug and, even more suprisingly, Esbjerg Energy. It was the Swiss club that beat them in their first two games – 2-1 in Zug and 4-1 in Helsinki. Still, few panicked, as the thought of not picking up the necessary points to advance against Esbjerg seemed unthinkable. However, Esbjerg came up with one of the more surprising performances of the group stage, getting a tying goal in the last minute and then winning in overtime, 5-4. HIFK now needed a regulation win to advance, but got things together and won 7-0. Their early Liiga play seems to indicate their group stage woes are behind them, and that's a good thing, as TPS will be far less forgiving to their mistakes.

Lennart

Petrell

3+1, +2

 

Top Forward & CRAMO Top Scorer: Lennart Petrell is straightforward type of player who likes to play a physical game but also score some goals. In four group stage games, Petrell scored 4 points, even though he plays on the nominal fourth line. This 32-year-old HIFK icon is back in Helsinki after five seasons away, save for a brief period during the NHL Lockout. While away he played two seasons for the Edmonton Oilers, one for Geneve-Servette and two for Lulea Hockey, who he helped win the CHL title in 2014-15.

Daniel

Grillfors

0+2, +4

 

Top Defenceman: 34-year-old Daniel Grillfors might not be the most sparkling player on the rink, but his overall game is admirable. This well-rounded d-man is one of HIFK's key players and gets a lots of ice time on special teams. He's a great role-model for the younger players and Grillfors makes his teammates look better when he's on the ice with them. His +4 rating was the best from the team in the group stage.

Niklas

Backstrom

93.15 %

 

Top Goaltender: HIFK-grown goaltender Niklas Backstrom has returned to the club after 16 years, mostly spent with the Minnesota Wild. After couple rough years in the NHL, nobody really knew what to expect from this 38-year-old, but Backstrom has already shown that he is on a good shape and ready to get back on the stage where he once was. During the group stage Backstrom played in three games, conceding only five goals.

by Leeni Pellinen in Turku
Based on statistics, TPS Turku's Oskari Setanen was the Champions Hockey League's best goalkeeper during the group stage. The 22-year-old is really satisfied with both his own and his team's play so far in the competition. He laughed when told about his amazing save percentage of 98.36 in two games.
“I haven't look at it. But yeah, I let just one goal in,” he remembered and smiled. “The group stage felt good. We played good hockey even though it was just the start of the season. We were well-prepared and ready to play.”
Setanen enjoys playing in CHL games, and this is already the third season he's got the chance. He has great memories from his time in the Lukko Rauma net two years ago, when he played in seven CHL games as the team advanced to the Quarter-Finals.
“I have always liked these games. For me, the CHL has always been great fun. When I played in Rauma, the coach told me that I would play most of the CHL games. It was the high point of my season then,” he recalled. “That was so great for a young goalie, as I was then, to get a lot of experience and I played well in the CHL.”
For his own traditional routines it doesn't matter who the opposing team is. TPS played in a group against Bili Tygri Liberec and Lorenskog IK. Setanen gives credit to the team's coaching staff for giving him great videos of both teams.
“There weren't any big surprises, but the power plays were the things that I checked beforehand,” he said. That preparation paid off, as Setanen didn't allow any power-play goals in his games against either Liberec or Lorenskog.
Setanen admitted that he feels TPS is lucky to play against another Finnish league team, IFK Helsinki, in the Round of 32. He said that even though it would have been great adventure to travel with the team to some other country in Europe, it always takes a lot of time and effort.
“Honestly, a two-hour bus ride to Helsinki sounds really great,” he acknowledged. “Travelling, for example, to Switzerland would have be great, but at this point IFK is a great opponent for us. I think that we can benefit in both leagues if we are able to avoid all the extra strain from travelling,” he said, referring to the CHL and Liiga.
Being another Finnish team, Setanen knows the upcoming opponent and knows that the two games will be intense and tough. TPS played against IFK in a pre-season tournament in August. He believes that IFK has improved their game since then.
“I think these games will be like the pre-season game, although I bet that their game has developed. They are tough team and they have great players. We need to play hard. I don't think that these games will be a lot different from a regular Finnish league game against IFK.”



First Leg
The final game of the Round of 32 will be extremely important for both TPS Turku and IFK Helsinki, who played to a 1-1 tie in Turku on Tuesday.
The first 10 minutes of the game saw furious action between two Finnish rivals with a lot on the line. Helsinki looked like the better team early on, and they were almost rewarded with a goal at the 7:26 mark. Panu Mieho was given a golden opportunity all alone in the crease, knocking the airborne puck down with his stick. It was close, but the puck managed to hit the post and deflect out of the crease, resulting in the game staying scoreless for the time being.
Helsinki, however, would still get the first laugh of the game with a wrist shot marker after just 8:21 of play. Micke Asten would skate around the net before finding defenseman Teemu Eronen cheating in on the play. Eronen was in a perfect spot to pick up the pass in the slot before using his accurate wrist shot to beat Oskari Setanen, giving Helsinki the 1-0 lead.
“I think we had a good start, the first period was totally about us,” said a pleased IFK head coach Antti Tormanen following the game. “The second period was even but sadly they scored there.”
TPS had to strengthen their defensive strategies in the second, and were able to keep IFK off the scoreboard in the second as a result. Helsinki did a tremendous job of getting into dangerous scoring lanes, but Turku did a splendid job themselves keep IFK from doing much in those situations. Turku, in fact, had more shots throughout the period, but many were from far away and weren't effective enough to give them any real chances.
That all changed with under two-minutes to go in the frame. TPS top scorer Patrik Virta added to his strong tournament performance by scoring on the rebound in the slot after the puck bounced off the end-boards from a Ilkka Heikkinen shot, tying the game at one heading into the third and final period.
With no overtime involved in the game, both teams were looking to get an extra goal to give themselves an advantage before heading into the second game. Unfortunately for both teams involved, scoring was not in their game plan for the final twenty minutes, instead playing a more conservative period to end off the game. Neither team managed to find the back of the net again, resulting in a 1-1 tie to finish off game one of the Round of 32.
“We tried to get the winning goal there (in the third period) but we couldn't capitalize on the power play,” added Tormanen.
The two teams will meet again to finish off the Round of 32 next Tuesday, a 18:00 local start at Hleingin Jaahalli in Helsinki. The team that concludes the two-game series with the most goals will move on to the Round of 16, to begin on 1 November.
Second Leg
It would require taking the lead four separate times, but IFK Helsinki will move on to the round of 16 in November following a 6-5 aggregate victory over TPS Turku.
“A win is a win,” relieved IFK defenceman Tommi Taimi shrugged after the game. “It was a bad game by us – the majority of the team wasn’t really in the game. It didn’t differ emotionally from the games we play in Liiga.”
Heading into the game, both teams were tied by a score of 1-1 following the first game of the round of 32 last Tuesday. That meant that the winner of game two would be the one that takes the overall victory, so every goal mattered more than ever.
It took just two minutes for TPS Turku to get the first goal. After Teemu Vayrynen’s chance near the crease proved to be unsuccessful, Oskari Siiki was there to converge on the rebound after a previously fanned chance, beating Kevin Lankinen for the 1-0 goal.
At the other end, Oskari Setanen had to be sharp between the pipes for TPS, specifically in two challenges from Joonas Rask. At 8:08, Rask went in all alone on Setanen, only to get hooked, but not before Setanen made a big stop with the right pad. The play resulted in a penalty shot, but Setanen was there to stop the door once again and to keep his team in the lead.
These two teams were evenly matched, so it made sense that IFK would tie the game up before the end of the first. With about seven minutes to go, Jasse Ikonen would score on an empty cage after Micke Asten was stopped, only to send the puck out to Ikonen in front to make it 1-1.
IFK would get one more before the end of the frame. At 16:39 of the first, Juhamatti Aaltonen found Corey Elkins in front of the net, with Elkins easily using his wrist shot to beat Setanen at the left hashmarks to make it 2-1 for the home team.
It took just 48 seconds in the second for TPS to tie the game up. This time, Ilkka Pikkarainen converted a pass from Martin Berger into a wrist shot goal, beating Lankinen to knot the game up once again.
But the tied match wouldn’t stay that way for long. TPS would regain their lead from early in the first after Topi Taavitsainen made a beautiful deke around Lankinen at 2:58 in from, giving Turku the 3-2 lead in the contest.
The series between IFK and TPS seemed to have some of the most intense, back-and-forth action in the tournament, and that continued midway through the second. IFK would get the home fans back into the contest. At 13:29, Miro Heiskanen sent the puck out to Micke Asten, who redirected the puck at the doorstep to make it 3-3 and keep the aggregate tie in the tournament as well.
Both teams were nervous in the third, knowing that the next goal was likely going to be the game winner. For IFK, no other player made more sense when it came to getting the go-ahead marker, with leading-scorer Teemu Eronen whipping a hard slap shot past Setanen to gain their lead back.
With time ticking down, IFK thought they had the game won, or so they thought. With 51 seconds left in the game, Teemu Eronen picked up the loose puck in a goal mouth scramble, beating multiple defenders in front to tie the game up for TPS and force the game into a 10-minute overtime.
On the tying goal, Taimi described, “I didn’t know where the puck was. I actually thought I was sitting on it, but then it was between my legs. I should have seen it there. The puck was then put in, everyone of us in the team should have got the puck out of danger. Those things happen, but in the end it doesn’t matter.”
The overtime proved to solve nothing, resulting in a five-man shootout to decide who moved on. Juuso Puustinen would get the skills competition moving along with a tremendous move, giving IFK the advantage. Then, Eemeli Heikkinen finished it off with a goal between the legs of Setanen and in for the 5-4 victory, good enough to advance IFK to the round of 16 in November.
"I can't believe that we played a 10-minute, 3-on-3 period without a goal," remarked IFK Helsinki coach Antti Tormanen. "If there are just six guys on the ice and no goals in 10 minutes, I think the shootout is fair way to solve the winner. No need to wait any longer." Looking ahead in the competition, he said, "The games coming up will be toughter and tighter, because the opponents will only get better. We think that we are ready for the challenge – our aim is to be the better team in each game and, in that way, reaching the Final is possible."