Kärpät stopped by Ilves

All streaks have to come to an end at some point. For Kärpät’s winning streak it didn’t really seem to be that way. 17 wins in a row frightened the league. Only Tappara could keep up the pace and managed to stick around at the top. But it wasn’t Tappara, that finally broke the streak. However, you didn’t need drive far to find the club, that did it. Tampere’s second team Ilves does know the recipe to beat Oulu this year.

Jarkko Näppilä opened the scoring for Ilves after 10 minutes on a power-play, but 4 minutes later it was Julius Junttila, who sat on the bench when Näppilä scored, who could pull even for Oulu. Kärpät back on track for another win? Number 18 in a row? No, not at all. Before the horn could call the teams in for the first break, Ilves could light the lamp two more times through Sami Sandell and Jiri Veistola to bring a 3-1 lead into the locker room.

This 3-1 after one period might have reminded Tampere’s players of a game back in October, because Ilves was also the last team that beat Kärpät before they decided not to hand over points to the opposition any more. And back in October the final result was also 3-1 for Ilves. With so much confidence Tampere came out and did not only defend the lead, they extended it. Niko Peltola and Robert Jekimovs made it a 5-1 game and the only thing left for Kärpät today was another  goal from Mikko Alikoski.

The win now moves Ilves into 7^th place just 2 points within reach of Jokerit in 6^th position. Jokerit themselves got another win today against the last team that was able to get three points out of Oulun Energia Areena, Lahti Pelicans. The pelicans, which are still trying to recover from their drop down in the standings, had to deal with another tough blow a few weeks ago when Radek Smolenak, their top scorer, went to the KHL and left the team without offensive guidance.

But today in Hartwall Areena it looked as if they could grab a few points for a long time. Lahti could take the lead twice in the first and second period before Jokerit pulled away. Two goals from Jani Rita finally decided the game in Jokerit’s favor to keep them in the direct play-off spots.

At the bottom of the table two teams that looked so bright last year are more than just struggling this season. KalPa was held scoreless one more time today in Lappeenranta, where the game went into the shootout with the better end for SaiPa, while the champion Ässät Pori is now in the third last place after losing against last year’s play-off surprise Lukko Rauma 1-4. Ilkka Mikkola got 2 points in the game.

On Tuesday Kärpät will visit the Pelicans in Lahti and we will get an answer if Oulu can start another streak or if Lahti can deal with losing Smolenak and still be a play-off contender.

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