KHL
Jokerit had a mixed week of results with their two home games. Last Tuesday, they beat Medvescak Zagreb 4-3, but required overtime to do so. Then Thursday they lost 3-1 at home to Slovan Bratislava. Jokerit remain in Seventh place in the Western Conference with 62 points. However, they have Sochi and Vityaz both on 60 points closing in on them but do have games in hand on the pair.
SM liiga
Pelicans
The team from Lahti had a tough week, losing twice, and have slipped down the standings to ninth place now.
Against Tappara they found themselves down four goals after Arttu Ilomaki, Valtteri Kemilainen, Aleksi Salonen and Henrik Haapala all found the net in Tampere. Marko Poyhonen got the only Pelicans goal at 48:15.
Pelicans returned to home for the visit of bottom placed KooKoo but shipped in another four goals in a what was a thrilling encounter. Iikka Kangasniemi, scored his first goals since returning from a lengthy injury to give the Pelicans the lead at 18:35. However, goals from Josh Green and Juha-Pekka Haataja four minutes apart early in the second period, turned the game around for the Kouvola-based side.
Back came Pelicans though and two goals in as many minutes from leading scorer Antti Erkinjuntti and Henri Heino, meant the home team led going into the break once again.
With time ticking on it appeared as though Pelicans would hang on, but at 54:01 Kai Kantola levelled the score for KooKoo. If that was a disappointing blow for the home side wha came next was simply catastrophic. With just over two minutes remaining, Eero Savilahti found Terry Broadhurst for the game winner and Pelicans would end the week pointless.
Antti Erkinjuntti is fourth in the scoring charts with 25 points [4+21].
Lukko are sadly back at the foot of the table despite recording an impressive 4-0 victory in Helsinki over IFK.
Sami Lahteenmaki gave Lukko the lead against HIFK at 11:43 before a double strike from Aaron Gagnon and Janne Niskala’s marker at 49:34 sealed the points.
With KooKoo grabbing two wins of their own this weekend it meant anything less than a win in Pori against bitter local rivals Assat would see them back at the bottom.
Lukko lost a fiery game with Assat with several penalty minutes dished out by the officials towards the end of the game. Jarno Karki gave Assat the elad at 7:50 but Sami Lahteenmaki tied it soon after. Charles Bertrand then gave Assat the lead again mid-way through the second period, and before the teams could get back to the dressing rooms Matti Kuparinen made it 3-1. Lukko had to do something positive and tried to pull goalie Jakub Stepanek with a couple of minutes remaining but even with the extra attacker Lukko found it too tough a task to find the net against what is a decent Assat side. With two seconds of the game remaining a riot broke out which resulted in Assat’s Jyri Marttinen receiving 14 minutes in penalties, while Toni Suuronen received 16 for Lukko.
The good thing is KooKoo are only a single point ahead of Lukko, while SaiPa are a point better off in 13th, meaning some good results this week could see the team from Raumo jump a couple of places. Add to that Ville Vahalahti leads Lukko in scoring with 23 points [7+16] and there is always the chance of getting a fair few goals in any game.
The likes of Karpat, Ilves and JYP are within touching distance too, so Lukko still have plenty of reasons to be optimistic heading into the new year.
Tappara are back at the top of the standings after reeling off three straight wins, including one over their closest rivals KalPa. The Tampere-based side had to come from behind to beat Assat on Wednesday in a tough encounter in Pori. Jarno Karki scored early into the game but Teemu Nurmi tied it at 47:11 to force overtime. Sebastian Repo then stepped forward to score one of the most important goals of his team’s season, 2:14 into the extra session to give Tappara the win.
A routine 4-1 win over Pelicans sent them back to the top of the table on Thursday setting up a crucial encounter with KalPa.
Tappara looked well in control after Sebastian Repo and Joona Luoto had given them a two goal lead by 26:17. However, KalPa hit back within 33 seconds when Eetu Luostarinen netted. Less than two minutes later and Jaakko Rissanen had levelled the scores with Tappara looking like they had blown the game. At 54:10 Henrik Haapala scored what proved to be the winner for the Tampere side and re-assert their lead at the top of the table.
With that win, Tappara now find themselves four point clear at the top, and also have the top two places in the scoring charts locked out. Henrik Haapala 9+23 for 32 points leads the scoring with Veli-Matti Savinainen just behind him on 29 [16+13].
KalPa Surrendered top spot back to Tappara after their surprise loss to struggling Ilves on home ice. The visiting side did their cross-city rivals from Tampere [Tappara] a favour by taking some points off their title rivals. Ilves were coming off the back of a string of disappointing results themselves, so it was a major shock they were able to put four goals past the then, league leaders. Aleksi Mustonen, Jerry D’Amigo, Ville Jarvinen and Juho Liuksiala did the damage for Ilves. KalPa slipped further behind in the title race after losing to Tappara. After going on an impressive run over the last couple of weeks, to first close the gap and then take the lead, KalPa seemed to carry the weight of leading the standings and slipped up at the wrong time. I still wouldn’t write them off though, with Jesse Mankinen and Jaakko Rissanen both on 23 points this season, they have the ability to come back again.
TPS Are still looking good in third place in the standings after they beat Jukurit and Ilves at home this week. They had to work for it though, after surrendering an early lead given to them by their leading scorer, Erik Thorell [17+7 for 24 points], they found themselves behind heading into the third period. Henrik Koivisto and Joonas Kalliola looked to have given Jukurit an unexpected result, but Jasper Lindsten tied the game at 49:18, before Thorell grabbed his second. Tomi Kallio, seventh in the scoring charts with 23 points [10+13] added an empty netter with 47 seconds remaining to give the Turku based side a more impressive looking scoreline.
TPS had to come from behind against Ilves too, after the visitors took the elad through Tapio Laakso at 16:46. However, Erik Thorell, so often TPS’ saviour this season netted at 35:35 to tie the game and then Tomi Kallio scored a late winner at 57:21.
The Turku-based side find themselves four points behind KalPa and a further four behind leader Tappara, but there is still plenty of time to close the gap on the top two and makes this battle for the title a three-horse race.
HPK are up to fourth now but, nine points behind TPS in third. Jesse Paukku’s two markers proved the difference between the two sides in Vaasa on Monday as the team from Hameenlinna secured a much needed win. Markus Nenonen replied for Sport with less than five minutes left in the game to set up a tense finale but couldn’t find enough to tie the game.
They followed that up with an impressive 5-1 thrashing of in form Assat. Charles Bertrand had levelled for the Pori side after Severi Sillanpaa’s opener, but further goals from Teemu Turunen, Jere Innala and Juho Keranen’s empty netter proved to be too much as the blew Assat away.
HIFK Recorded a big win in Tampere, beating struggling Ilves 4-1. Roope Hintz scored twice for the Helsinki team, while Lennart Petrell and Juhamatti Aaltonen also found the net. Aaltonen, who scored into an empty net, also had a hand in two of the other goals, to cap a fine night for him. Olli Vainio responded for Ilves. The surprise defeat to Lukko on home ice means the capital-side slip down a place to fifth, a point behind HPK and one in front of Assat.
Jukurit were hit for six at home by Karpat last Monday, in a game brought forward 24 hours due to Finnish Independence Day. The visitors also registered six different scorers in their rout. Ville Leskinen, Mikko Niemela, Jesse Koskenkorva, Antti Kalapudas, Mika Pyorala & Jesse Saarinen all finding the net for the Oulu side. While Henrik Koivisto responded for the hosts who were level for less than three minutes. The Mikkeli-based side also lost to TPS so find themselves in seventh on 43 points, which is still a remarkable return for the newly ‘promoted’ side.
JYP are gradually being drawn into a scrap at the bottom of the table after losing twice last week. They lost an incredible game at home to Sport Vaasa, despite holding a 3-0 lead after 23 minutes. Janne Kolehmainen, leading scorer Antti Suomela [13+9 for 22 points] and Jani Tuppurainen all converted for the team from Jyvaskyla. But a third period collapse, which saw them concede three times in less than 10 minutes, cost them the game. Markus Nenonen grabbed the first for Sport at 47:06 but with just over 12 minutes remaining most thought JYP would hold on. However, by 56:55 both Tuomas Vanttinen and Ville Viitaluoma had scored for Sport meaning the game would go into overtime. There really was only ever going to be one winner now, as the momentum had well and truly swung the other way, so it came as no surprise when Joel Kiviranta hit the winner for the visitors 2:07 into the extra period.
JYP can be more disappointed with the 5-2 loss to KooKoo, who were bottom of the league heading into the game. KooKoo took the lead through Mikko Lehtonen, less than three minutes into the game but two goals in less than two minutes from Joonas Nattinen and Antti Suomela had the game in JYP’s grasp. However, four unanswered goals for KooKoo gave the points to the side from Kouvola. Josh Green, Robin Jacobsson, and a double from Jan-Mikael Juutilainen did the damage.
Karpat are one of the teams directly below JYP, so it was vital they were able to get the points in this one. Henri Kanninen, Janne Tavi and Janne Kolehmainen getting the goals.
Whilst JYP are not in any immediate danger, they are now only eight points above bottom-placed Lukko.
SaiPa are one of those sides between JYP and Lukko, and currently sit in 13th with 33 points. They lost 3-1 to Karpat, the side just above them in the table, on Friday.
SaiPa held an early lead thanks to Mikael Kuronen but conceded three unanswered goals from former Winnipeg Jets player, Jiri Tlusty and a double from Saku Maenalanen. Karpat’s leading scorer Mika Pyotala [13+13 for 26 points], had two assists in the game and is currently third in the scoring charts.
Crucially though SaiPa managed to beat Sport Vaasa in a shoot-out the following day. Tommi Tikka gave Sport the lead at 6:37, but second period goals from Mikael Kuronen and Elmeri Kaksonen turned the score around. Sport levelled early into the third period thanks to Markus Kankaanpera. That took the game into overtime, but with no further goals the teams had to prepare for a shootout. Both sides missed their first three attempts, before Miakel Kuronen hit what proved to be the winning shot. Tomi Korkko was unable to keep his side in it on the next attempt
Monday, December 05
Jukurit v Karpat 1-6
Sport v HPK 1-2
Wednesday, December 07
Assat v Tappara 1-2
Ilves v HIFK 1-4
JYP v Sport 3-4
Thursday, December 08
HPK v Assat 5-1
KalPa v Ilves 0-4
Tappara v Pelicans 4-1
TPS v Jukurit 4-2
Friday, December 09
HIFK v Lukko 0-4
Karpat v SaiPa 5-2
KooKoo v JYP 3-1
Saturday, December 10
JYP v Karpat 3-0
Pelicans v KooKoo 3-4
Tappara v KalPa 3-2
TPS v Ilves 2-1
Sport v SaiPa 2-3 SO
Assat v Lukko 3-1
Mestis
* SaPKo joint leaders on 54 points with TUTO, recorded a pair of 6-1 home victories in what was a great week for the team from Savenlinna. JYP-Akatemia were the first team dispatched on Wednesday before SaPKo repeated the trick on Saturday against struggling Espoo United.
* TUTO are keeping pace with the leaders and they recorded two important wins of their own last week. The team from Turku managed a 3-1 win in Heinola against Peliitat and a 2-0 victory at home to IPK.
* Jokipojat are in third place but are some way off the pace of the leaders. The team from Joensuu are now nine points behind SaPKo and TUTO after escaping the week with a win and a loss. The week began well with a 4-2 success on the road on Wednesday against bottom placed side RoKi. Jokipojat then returned from Lapland with a disappointing home loss to tenth placed Hokki on Friday.
* K-Vantaa had an interesting week too. They are currently tied in fourth place with KeuPa HT but are ahead in the standings on goal difference. Vantaa won the Helsinki region derby against Espoo United on Wednesday with a 5-2 scoreline. It was probably to be expected given the two sides contrasting fortunes this season but they were disappointed two days later when they lost 4-3 in Kokkola. Hermes are two places behind Vantaa in the standings, but only one point worse off and with a much better goal difference. It means just one point now covers the teams [K-Vantaa, KeuPa HT, Hermes and JYP-Akatemia] between fourth and seventh.
* KeuPa HT are up to fifth in the league now after scoring ten goals in two games. A 4-2 win on Friday away to Peliitat was followed up by a 6-2 hammering of K-Vantaa at home.
* Elsewhere in the league there was a pair of wins for Leki last week. They recorded a 3-1 win away to Hermes on Wednesday before following that up with a 5-2 success at home to IPK. The Lempaala-based side are now in eight place and currently hold the final play-off place ahead of JYP Akatemia on goal difference. JYP also recorded a win on Saturday after they beat Hokki 3-2 in Kajaani.
Wednesday, December 07
SaPKo v JYP Akatemia 6-1
Peliitat v TUTO 1-3
RoKi v Jokipojat 2-4
K-Vantaa v Espoo United 5-2
Hermes v LeKi 1-3
Friday, December 09
TUTO v IPK 2-0
Hermes v K-Vantaa 4-3
Peliitat v KeuPa HT 2-4
Jokipojat v Hokki 2-3
Saturday, December 10
Hokki v JYP Akatemia 2-3
KeuPa HT v K-Vantaa 6-2
LeKi v IPK 5-2
SaPKo v Espoo United 6-1
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