Vaasa celebrates first win

Liiga has already seen two game days and the only team that could get the maximum amount of points was the champion from Oulu. On opening night they managed to beat Tappara once again with 3-1. Julius Junttila was the big hero of this game with 2 goals. But he didn‘t stop there. In game 2 in Turku he added another goal and one assist to lead his team to a 5-2 win and taking over both the lead in the scoring race and the the team standings.

Only two other teams could come out of the first weekend with 2 wins, but they had to go into overtime in at least one game. KalPa hold down SaiPa with 5-2 in their first game in which Michal Birner had an immediate impact for his new team with 2 goals converting rebounds of SaiPa’s goalie in his very first period for Kuopio. Both goals were setup by Jukka Voutilainen, who added a goal in the last period on a 5-on-3. On Saturday it was again Jukka Voutilainen, who got the equalizer in Tampere to send the game into the shootout, where Tomas Kubalik scored the game winner against Tappara.

The other team with 5 points, Porin Ässät, had their shootout already in the first game in Rauma. Juha Kiilholma finished Lukko with a straight blast in the upper right corner to beat Ryan Zapolski. Back home they expected JYP for the next game. Three goals by Jarno Kärki, Austin Smith and Sami Lähteenmäki were enough as Rasmus Rinne celebrated his first shutout of the season with 26 saves.

TPS Turku is the only team that still has to earn some points and finds themselves back were they did not want to end up this year: on the bottom of the standings. While the defeat against Kärpät might not have been that surprising, the second game was a tough one for TPS as they played the supporting act for Vaasa’s first win back in Liiga. After 5 minutes Lauri Tukonen and Teemu Lassila found themselves out in the penalty box which left a 5-on-3 for Vaasa on the ice, an opportunity that Samuli Kivimäki did not let go to waste. Early in the third period Gysbers and Lehtonen created the same situation and this time Jarkko Immonen took advantage of a rebound from the boards behind the goal for a 2-0 Sport lead. With enough practice Vaasa could now do the trick as well with only one man more on the ice and so Ari Gröndahl  converted a shot from the blueline in another power play. Gysbers and Tallberg could add goals for the 4-1 final result.

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