Kärpät forces Game 7

It was Do or Die once again for Kärpät going into the game with a 2-3 in the series. And Tappara should give them a chance to jump on a good start, when Pasi Puistola visited the penalty box after 3:40 minutes. Juhamatti Aaltonen converted and Oulu’s starteam was in the lead. And the special teams kept being important. After surviving 2 penalties Kärpät scored again on a 4-4 through Atte Ohtamaa just two minutes away from the first intermission.

Tappara needed until the third period to fight back. But after 46 minutes Kristian Kuusela found the way to the net and could cut the lead in half. Only four minutes later Tappara found themselves on a power-play and this time it was the special team from Tampere succeeding when Jukka Voutilainen tied the game at two. Suddenly Tappara seemed on the way to the championship, but when Jan-Mikael Järvinen provided Oulu with the next chance to use the man advantage, Ivan Huml took the opportunity and reestablished the lead for Oulu. It should turn out to be the game-winner.

Both teams will now meet one last time in Oulu tomorrow to determine the Finnish champion.

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