KHL
Jokerit - It proved to be a difficult week in the Kontinental Hockey League for Helsinki side Jokerit. Last Tuesday they were beaten by the Kazakh side Barys Astana on home ice 3-4. Then two days later things got worse as they lost by a heavier scoreline of 6-2 at the Hartwall Arena, this time to Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. Their saving grace being both sides are in the Eastern Conference and so won't have a direct bearing on their play-off position.
On Saturday they were able to salvage something from their week when they beat Ugra 6-5 in what proved to be something of an old fashioned shoot out.
Whilst losing twice on home ice, did deal something of a blow to Jokerit's play-off hopes, they are, for now still holding on to that eighth and final spot. But having played a game more than Sochi, their slender two point lead over the Black Sea club is looking more precarious by the week. They also can't count out Slovan who, just a place back on Sochi in tenth are only four points behind the Finnish club. With just six games to go can Jokerit do enough to make the play-offs for a second successive season?
This week they must face a home game with Dinamo Minsk before playing those same three sides [Barys, Avtomobilist and Ugra on the road].
SM liiga
Pelicans – Had a successful week with two important wins over two potentially difficult opponents.
They put in one of their most impressive displays of the season to see off a very strong side in Assat. Antti Erkinjuntti gave the Lahti-based side an early lead before Aleksi Rekonen double the home side’s advantage by the 10:30 mark. Jarno Karki pulled a goal back for the visitors towards the end of the second period but Arttu Heikkinen restored Pelican’s two goal lead at 43:09. Simon Suoranta then pulled another back for the team from Pori just 34 seconds later before defenseman Ben Blood the game safe with his side’s fourth goal of the evening at 53:07.
On Saturday they saw off Jukurit with a 3-2 win. Juha Leimu and Juhani Tyrvainen scored deep into the second period to seemingly set Pelicans up for the win, but Jukurit had other ideas and responded through Miika Roine and Janne Ritamaki. Vili Sopanen then replied for the home side 44 seconds later to restore their lead and give the team from Lahti he win.
Lukko had a home and home series with local rivals TPS of Turku over the weekend. The team from Rauma were well beaten at home on Friday and it has to be said it wasn’t totally unexpected. A casual glance at the standings will show Lukko struggling at the foot of the table, whilst TPS, who have been in great form these past few weeks are sitting in third place, closing in on the team in second spot, KalPa.
Peter Tiivolo gave Lukko the lead inside the first five minutes of the game but Iikka Pikkarainen, Patrik Virta, Tomi Kallio and Miro Keskitalo all scored for TPS to give them the away win.
The following evening saw the teams switch to Turku, with an identical 4-1 scoreline. To the visiting team! Also strangely the team that took the lead in both games went on to lose them both too. Lukko put in one of their best performances of the season to beat one of the best teams in the league, and skated off with an important road victory. Patrik Virta had given TPS the lead at 18:37 but four unanswered goals from the visitors gave Lukko a surprise win. Joonas Niemala, Peter Tiivola, Valentin Claireaux and Ville Vahalahti all scoring.
SaiPa
The team from Lappeenranta had a home and home series of their own, with HPK. Unlike the Lukko-TPS series the spoils went to the home sides in both contests.
On Friday, SaiPa came from behind to beat the Hameenlinna side. Petteri Nikkila scoring at 14:01, but SaiPa were back level just 90 seconds later through Curtis Hamilton. Tero Koskiranta scored the game winner with just over ten minutes to go, while Matti Jarvinen made the game safe with a third in the last minute.
The next day HPK managed to beat SaiPa 3-2. The home side lead early on through Sakari Manninen, but SaiPa hit back through Brock Trotter and Curtis Hamilton. Manninen then grabbed his second of the game to tie proceedings up again before Niko Kapanen scored what proved to be the winner at 35:28.
JYP had an interesting week after they toppled, second placed KalPa on their own ice, before splitting their home and home series with Ilves.
The team from Jyvaskyla delivered a severe blow to KalPa’s title hopes in Kuopio on Tuesday when they skated off with a 2-1 win. Sami Niku had given JYP the lead at 23:07, but Tommi Jokinen tied the game up just over five minutes later. Any chances KalPa had of getting something from the contest were dashed with just over twn minutes to go when Micke Saari hit what proved to be the game winner.
In the first game with Ilves, JYP were beaten on home ice losing 2-5. Teemu Aalto, Teemu Rautiainen and Jerry D’Amigo all scored for the visitors during a 7 minute period in the opening session. That meant JYP were chasing the game and it was always going to be tough against a good Ilves side. Jerry Turkulainen pulled one back for the hosts early in the second period, but Tapio Laakso restored the Tampere-based sides three goal advantage before the period was over. Juha-Pekka Hytonen pulled another one back for JYP with just under seven minutes to go but D’Amigo hit his second of the night with 41 seconds left.
The following night JYP went to Tampere and won a seven goal thriller. Michael Keranen gifted Ilves the lead at 4:17 but two goals in just over a minute from Ossi Louhivaara and Jerry Turkulainen saw the game turn in JYP’s favour. They added a third through Juha-Pekka Hytonen early in the second period, but Jerry D’Amigo responded for Ilves to keep them in touch, scoring just 26 seconds later. Louhivaara then scored his second of the night to give JYP some breathing space with just over 12 minutes to go, and that proved to be crucial as Ilves pulled another goal back through Teemu Rautiainen with 21 seconds remaining.
Tappara – Still find themselves top of the standings and whilst their closest rivals, KalPa and TPS slipped up during the week, the Tampere giants skated off with three straight wins. The trio of successes included a local derby and a home and home series with IFK.
Tappara came out on top once again in their latest Tampere derby with Ilves, but had to come from behind twice in the game to do so. Markku Flinck gave Ilves, the designated home team, the lead early on in the game but Teemu Nurmi tied it at 22:57. Aleksi Mustonen then restored Ilves’ lead but as the sides started the third period, Nurmi hit his second of the game to tie the game up once again. Veli-Matti Savinainen hit the winner at 54:27.
One of my colleagues from NIHL Radio, Oz Phillips was in attendance for Tappara’s home game on Friday. He got to witness Alexander Bonsaksen and Teemu Nurmi scoring for Tappara in the opening period, either side of a Joonas Rask strike for HIFK. Charles Linglet and Veli-Matti Savinainen then increased their side’s lead before Saku Salmela pulled one back for the Helsinki team. Jani Lajunen killed off any hopes HIFK had of a comeback when he got his sides fifth goal of the evening at 57:36. Roope Hintz, did net another consolation for HIFK with 36 seconds to go though. It certainly was an exciting game to take in, for what proved to be a great trip for Oz. Not that I’m jealous at all!
The following night the teams switched venues to the Capital city, with the league leaders coming away with a vital 2-1 win. Tappara had to come from behind to do so however, after Henri Tamminen had given the side from the Capital city the lead. However, the league leaders were thankful for leading scorer Veli-Matti Savinainen who netted twice to turn the game in Tappara’s favour.
KalPa – played a home and home series with KooKoo over the weekend, and the Kuopio-based side manged to skate off with two narrow victories.
At home KalPa got the better of a nine-goal thriller, but twice blew a two goal lead. Janne Keranen and Mikko Nuutinen scored early on to give the home side a 2-0 lead, but Mikko Lehtonen pulled one back before the opening period was over. Nuutinen then scored early into the second period to make it 3-1, however, Jarkko Malinen and Miika Heikkila had the teams level going into the second intermission. Terry Broadhurst then gave KooKoo their first lead of the game, and up until the final two minutes, looked to have given his side a shock victory. KooKoo have been struggling this season and have spent much of the campaign in the bottom two places in the standings, whilst their opponants spent all of theirs in the top two places. With 1:41 to go, Niko Mikkola netted to spare his sides blushes and take the game into overtime. Surprisingly, there were no further goals and so that meant the teams headed into a shootout. KooKoo missed all three of their attempts, whilst KalPa failed to convert on their first two opportunities. It was left to Janne Keranen to hit the winner.
The following night Miikka Pitkanen opened the scoring for KalPa but a few minutes later Juha-Pekka Haataja had KooKoo back on level terms. Joonas Lyytinen then restored KalPa’s lead two minutes later and the team in second place in the standings held on for a much needed win.
Elsewhere around the league this week, there were wins for TPS, IFK, Jukurit and Karpat, whilst Sport grabbed a double victory over Assat.
TPS remain in third after splitting games with Lukko, but earlier in the week they grabbed a win over Jukurit. Henrik Tallinder and a double strike from Dave Spina was enough for them to see off the team from Mikkeli.
HIFK put four goals past HPK on Tuesday. Juuso Puustinen, Daniel Grillfors, Joonas Rask and Oliwer Kaski all scoring.
Jukurit had their home game with Karpat won by the twelfth minute. Teemu Suhonen gave them the lead just 2:04 into the game, but Mikko Lehtonen tied it for Karpat at 8:10. The game’s scoring was complete just over four minutes later when Keni Karalahti hit what proved to be the winner.
Karpat came from a goal down against Sport Vaasa on Tuesday, to take the spoils in the North-West Derby. Hailing from the Northern town of Oulu, Karpat, are the Liiga’s most Northern outpost, and so Sport who are just down the coast in Vaasa are the side closest to them geographically. Markus Nordlund had given the visitors the lead at 26:52 but Jari Sailio tied the game less than a minute later and with 21 seconds left in the middle period their first lead. Karpat hit another three goals in the final period to thrash their rivals. Mika Pyorala, Jesse Saarinen and Shaun Heshka all finding the net.
Sport won both their games with Assat over the weekend. Tommi Tikka hit both goals for them at home on Friday. Whilst the Vaasa based side, went to Pori and skated off with a 5-3 win. Sport had to come from behind though after Jere Seppala and Jarno Karki had given Assat a 2-0 lead by 23:23. Sport came back though and scored three times in a span of 4:32 to take control of the game. Ville Viitaluoma, Otto Karvinen and Matti Lamberg scoring. Assat were not to be brushed aside that easily though and they were back level at 45:52 when Niko Ojamaki netted. Sport then pushed for a winner and they were rewarded with 2:01 remaining when Viitaluoma grabbed his second of the game. Tuomas Vanttinen then made the game safe with 48 seconds left.
Liiga Standings
Leading Scorers
Tuesday, January 24
HIFK v HPK 4-0
Ilves v Tappara 2-3
KalPa v JYP 1-2
Karpat v Sport 5-1
TPS v Jukurit 3-0
Wednesday, January 25
Pelicans v Assat 4-2
Friday, January 27
Jukurit v Karpat 2-1
JYP v Ilves 2-5
KalPa v KooKoo 5-4
Lukko v TPS 1-4
SaiPa v HPK 3-1
Sport v Assat 2-0
Tappara v HIFK 5-3
Saturday, January 28
HIFK v Tappara 1-2
HPK v SaiPa 3-2
Ilves v JYP 3-4
KooKoo v KalPa 1-2
Pelicans v Jukurit 3-2
TPS v Lukko 1-4
Assat v Sport 3-5
Mestis
SaPKo still lead the standings with a seven point advantage over second placed TUTO but have played a game more than their rivals from Turku. The leaders lost their opening game of the week away to Peliitat before returning to winning ways at home in Savonlinna. Beating LeKi 4-0. TUTO also lost to Peliitat, although their 6-5 defeat came on home ice. Like SaPKo, the Turku-based side were able to follow up that defeat with a win against JYP-Akatemia. KeuPa HT who are based in the Finnish town of Keuruu near Jyvaskyla lost away to Helsinki-region side K-Vantaa before responding with a 4-3 win over Peliitat.
K-Vantaa had a fine week winning all three of their games and are now up to fifth in the table. Aside from the aforementioned home success over KeuPa HT, they also recorded big road wins over IPK (5-1) and Jokipojat (4-1).
Leki from the town of Lempaala near Tampere won away to JYP Akatemia (2-1) but were involved in a high scoring defeat with RoKi. The visiting team from Rovaniemi skating off with a 7-4 win. However, RoKi were unable to carry that form into their next game. Losing away to in-form Espoo. Elsewhere, Hermes from the Northern town of Kokkola, are now in third place in the standings, having won both their games last week. Winning 2-1 in Kajaani against Hokki and then enjoying a home success over IPK (6-1). Hokki bounced back from their defeat to Hermes by seeing off Jokipojat at home.
Wednesday, January 25
JYP Akatemia v LeKi 1-2
K-Vantaa v KeuPa HT 2-1
Peliitat v SaPKo 5-3
Hokki v Hermes 1-2
Friday, January 27
IPK v K-Vantaa 1-5
TUTO v Peliitat 5-6
SaPKo v LeKi 4-0
Hokki v Jokipojat 4-3
Saturday, January 28
Hermes v IPK 6-1
Jokipojat v K-Vantaa 1-4
JYP-Akatemia v TUTO 0-3
LeKi v RoKi 4-7
KeuPa HT v Peliitat 4-3
Sunday, January 29
Espoo v RoKi 3-2
Mestis Standings
Leading Scorers
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