Tappara joins Kärpät in Semi Finals

JYP Jyväskylä – SaiPa Lappeenranta 5-2 (Playoff 3-3)

When watching play-offs in any country there is always a lot of talk about momentum. Sometimes this can change quickly. JYP’s win in Game 4 might have been exactly this momentum changer. After losing the first three games, JYP came back and won three in a row now. It was Petr Hubacek with two goals in the first 10 minutes who proofed where the momentum is right now. Shortly after Ossi Louhivaara set the score to 3-0. Dan Spang’s goal for SaiPa after 13 minutes could only lighten their mood shortly as JYP had another great start to the next period. Eric Perrin and Jani Tupurainen converted two early power-plays and at that point the game was only about keeping or regaining momentum for the last game in Lappeenranta on monday. Olavi Vauhkonen could add one more goal for SaiPa, but that’s it. What nobody thought might be possible after Game 3: JYP is just one game away from the Semi Finals.

Lahti Pelicans – Tappara Tampere 1-2 OT (Playoff 2-4)

In a first period that saw only 13 shots on goal it was Tappara who could convert one of those through Jukka Voutilainen at the 14:46 mark. By that it was clear that Lahti had to put up more pressure now, but in the second period Tappara kept the control over the game. Only Joonas Alanne could finally break the spell and score against Juha Metsola to bring the game into overtime. And there it took Ville Nieminen only 46 seconds to sink all Pelicans‘ dreams of a Semi-Final.

Espoo Blues – Lukko Rauma 2-1 OT (Playoff 3-3)

It was a similiar story in this game. Espoo had to win, while Lukko could finish the series. And it started well for Espoo. Almost in the last second of the first period Tomi Sallinen scored on the power-play. But not even 4 minutes were played in the second period when Aaron Gagnon tied the game with shorthander. Except for a few penalties nothing more happened before the overtime. After 76:16 minutes Eetu Pöysti not only finished the overtime of this game, but also sent the series into overtime. Both teams will meet one last time in Rauma on monday.

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