Tampere teams close 2014 with wins

Tappara closed the year with a game at home against Lahti and as in Lappeenranta on Saturday, they could win it after they started the December with 4 consecutive losses. Tampere started well into the game with goal from the left face-off circle by Kristian Kuusela. But Lahti fought back with two power-play goals from Michal Repik and Juhani Tyrväinen. However, Tappara proved that they wanted to leave the old year on a high note and got the equalizer only two minutes later, when Teemu Aalto hammered in a power-play shot from the blue line. With one minute to go in the second period it was Jarkko Malinen, who converted another power-play for Tappara and got the game-winner. Two power-play goals in one game is not exactly a known habit for Tappara as they sit in last place in this category with a frustrating 12.08% over the season.

Their city rivals Ilves could also end a 4-game losing streak on Saturday with a 3-2 win over Vaasa at home, in which Teemu Rautiainen turned out to be the game-winner with 2 goals. Yesterday they could build on that and also defeated TPS in Turku 6-4. After an early power-play goal from Ville Meskanen at the 08:14 mark, the game became a tough nut to crack for Ilves in the second period. When the game hit the half time mark Matias Sointu scored twice within three minutes on a breakaway and a power-play, before Juraj
Simek set the game to 3-1 a minute later. Meskanen’s second of the night just a few moments away from the second intermission (again set up by a nice feed of Eero Savilahti) kept Ilves’ hopes alive.

At the start of the last period Steven Zalewski and Ryan Lasch exchanged another set of goals to make it 4-3 Turku. With 4 minutes left 19-year-old Ville Meskanen took profit of the third perfect pass from Eero Savilahti and finished his hattrick in order to get the equalizer. But Ilves was not finished yet. With 2:35 minutes left, Antti Tyrväinen blasted a shot at Teemu Lassila, who let it slip through his pads to give Tyrväinen the chance to grab his own rebound and bring Ilves ahead 5-4. Two seconds before the end Sami Sandell got the empty netter to secure the 6-4 win for Tampere.

In Oulu the home team managed to get another win over Espoo to stay on top of the league. Adam Masuhr set the stage for the victory with a shot from the blue line after 2:31 minutes that found the back of the net. Late in the first period it was Patrick Davis, who converted a power-play feed from Esa Pirnes.

In the second period the Triple-J-line consisting of Julius Junttila, Joonas Donskoi and Joonas Kemppainen took over for Kärpät and started their own little show. The first act was Donskoi’s 3-0 after 33 minutes on a 5-on-5 that looked like a power-play goal as the line went through the offensive zone like a hurricane with splendid combinations. Miro Aaltonen tried to fight back for Espoo in the last period with two goals, but Junttila and Donskoi returned the favour to make it an easy looking 5-2 win for Kärpät.

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