Ilves traveled to Jyväskylä to play against JYP today. The teams went back and forth in an exciting game, and in the end Ilves emerged victorious with the final score of 4–6.
The start of the game was tricky: Ilves had a penalty to kill early on, but they made the JYP players regroup in their own zone several times, and so Ilves was spared from being scored on. A few minutes pass and it was JYP’s turn to warm the bench in the penalty box. But regardless of a great effort, Ilves didn’t score.
At eleven minutes JYP’s Robert Rooba scored with a backhand, 1–0 for JYP. Ilves tried to remain in control of the game, but JYP kept getting more and more dangerous chances.
Miro Nalli scored in the last minutes with an amazing breakaway! Nalli squeezed through two players, stayed on his skates even though he was interfered, and scored on JYP goalie Niko Parkkinen. The score was 1–1 after the first period.
Ilves pulls away
The second period started off fantastic for Ilves. Roby Järventie scored an almost identical goal to Nalli’s. Järventie got on the breakaway and did the same move to slip the puck past Parkkinen. Although Ilves kept pressuring JYP, Rooba found a way to score again and tied the game.
The goals just kept coming! Joona Ikonen was surrounded by almost the whole JYP team but managed to score with a quick wrister. Ilves took back the short-lived lead, 2–3. Ikonen’s line continued to build up momentum with a good attack right after.
Antti Saarela extended the lead to two after a long time of controlling the puck in the JYP zone. The second period was better than the first for Ilves. They kept possession of the puck and got several good chances.
JYP comes close
The start of the third period was difficult for Ilves: JYP controlled the puck and scored on the powerplay, too. The score was 3–4 only a few minutes in. Ilves was struggling slightly after this. And even though they played better on a powerplay around the halfway mark, JYP hanged on.
JYP evened the score on yet another powerplay five minutes before the end, and Ilves was in trouble. Soon, however, JYP got a penalty that became a costly one, as Ilves’ Lepaus continued his goal streak from yesterday and scored Ilves’ fifth of the night.
JYP pulled their goalie, but Ilves fought off their next attacks and scored in the empty net. 4–6 for Ilves and three points, too!
