by Aatami Mäkinen
Pelicans made their longest road trip of the season to Oulu, in the far North of Finland to take on Karpat.
The game started with the home side in command, as apart from Justin Hodgman, Pelicans had trouble applying any offensive pressure. Karpat were creating chances but they couldn't get close enough to the Pelican's goal crease. However, with Ben Blood serving a penalty former NHL winger Niklas Hagman and Mika Pyörälä combined well to set up Mikko Lehtonen, who snapped a direct shot to give Kärpät 1-0 lead.
The home side were celebrating again six minutes later, but Hagman controlled the puck with a high stick and the goal was waved off.
Pelicans started to assert themselves onto the game and were playing better by the end of the period but couldn't find the breakthrough. It was more of the same in the second period as the Pelicans turned up the pressure, but Karpat were holding firm, and survived the onslaught.
However, at 38:09 the Pelicans got their deserved equalizer, when Hannes Björninen collected the puck inside the blue line and slotted the puck past Jussi Rynnäksen in the Karpat goal. Björninen's line mates Aleksi Rekonen and Miska Siikonen got the assists.
The Pelicans continued to attack and finally their play was rewarded at 49:49. Björninen and Siikonen combined well again on the Pelican's Second line to set up Defenseman Nico Manelius to hit a shot fromthe blue line to give the away team a 2-1 lead.
All that hard work was almost undone when just Seven seconds after taking the lead Pasi Puistola was called for tripping. He was followed into the penalty box by Ben Blood shortly after, as he was penalized for holding. That set up a 5-on-3 powerplay for Karpat for the 1:36.
Thankfully Pelicans were able to kill both penalties with their lead in tact, due to a string of saves by goalie, Janne Juvonen. Karpat pulled their goalie but were not able to score an equalizer and Pelicans held on for the win.
Team Line Up
22 Juhani Tyrvainen - 16 Justin Hodgman - 74 Antti Erkinjuntti
18 Aleksi Rekonen - 27 Miska Siikonen - 24 Hannes Bjorninen
25 Joonas Alanne - 84 Henri Heino - 81 Taavi Vartiainen
37 Roope Elimaki - 7 Ville-Matti Koponen - 29 Arttu Heikkinen
10 Ben Blood - 12 Pasi Puistola
39 Marko Poyhonen - 8 Nico Manelius
51 Roni Rukajarvi - 6 Valtteri Parikka
38 Morten Poulsen
41 Janne Juvonen - 30 Joona Voutilainen
Opposition View
Karpat's team included a couple of familiar names that fans of the NHL should recognise.
Niklas Hagman, drafted 70th overall by the Florida Panthers in 1999, spent some productive years with the Dallas Stars before also turning out for Toronto, Calgary and Anaheim in an NHL career that saw him make 770 appearances, score 147 goals and 301 points. Hagman has played for HIFK, Espoo Blues and Assat in his home country during his career, and last season turned out for Jokerit in the KHL. He also had a season with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL.
The other name on Karpat's roster was that of Jiri Tlusty. The Czech Left Wing, spent many years playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes, before helping the Winnipeg Jets make the playoffs in 2015 and then spent last season with New Jersey.
8 Saku Maenalanen - 17 Mika Pyorala - 9 Niklas Hagman
11 Jiri Tlusty - 57 Jan Hruska - 39 John Albert
85 Toni Kahkonen - 21 Antti Kalapudas - 19 Mikko Lehtonen
25 Aku Kestila - 27 Miska Humaloja - 12 Ville Leskinen
5 Lasse Kukkonen - 26 Shaun Heshka
22 Taneli Ronkainen - 28 Mikko Niemela
6 Ilkka Mikkola - 58 Jani Hakanpaa
7 Taneli Siikaluoma
40 Jussi Rynnas - 74 Sami Aittokallio
Next Game: Friday, November 18, 2016 v Lukko
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