SM-liiga quarterfinals on their way

22 Mar 2012 | Mika Leino

Weak start for Kärpät

KalPa-Blues 3-1 (series 1-0)

Regular season champion KalPa Kuopio had really hands full to do against wild card qualifier Blues Espoo in the first quarterfinal game. As in the regular season between these two teams also this playoff game was very tight. With a bit better moving KalPa anyway earned its win. KalPa's hero was 2 goal scorer Iiro Pakarinen whose second goal was an empty net goal.

Pelicans-Kärpät 5-0 (series 1-0)

In Lahti Pelicans "killed" the game pretty early with very effective power play. Kärpät never recovered from the 3-0 score after first period and after 4-0 in the beginning of the second Kärpät goalie Johan Backlund also had enough. Totally Pelicans scored four goals in power play.

HIFK-Jokerit 1-3 (series 0-1)

In the battle of Helsinki series started same way as last season when Jokerit robbed the first win from HIFK. First game was very careful play by both sides but Jokerit had its defensive game better in balance and managed to score better. In the 3rd period HIFK had to open more its game and that offered also for Jokerit some good chances.

JYP-Ässät 4-1 (series 1-0)

In Jyväskylä JYP and Ässät offered a tight game. Both team had several scoring chances but only JYP managed to score. Furthermore Ässät's problem still seems to be powerplay. In regular season they were only 10th best powerplay team and if that thing is not going to be better Ässät's springtime will be short.Towards the end the game heated up and totally referees penalized 6 game misconducts.