Julius Nättinen has been in a wild mood.
Oulu
of HIFK bowed at the end of an even and special match on Saturday evening in Oulu's Raksila. The home team won 3–2 in the winning goal competition, where the only successful player was the Kärppie league debutant Arttu Alasiurua18.
At the same time, HIFK's three-game winning streak and two-game clean streak was also broken. The people of Helsinki kept a clean sheet for more than 160 minutes straight.
One of the characters of the visiting team was in a great mood Julius Nättinen, 26, who hit for the fourth straight game. Nättinen has scored five times in the last four matches.
Nättinen loaded the puck, having recently canceled his contract with HIFK and then defected to Kärppi Tomi Karhusen from save to goal.
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I'm glad that one is being found
Although HIFK's mood has been up lately, Saturday's defeat hurt the star striker.
“A few games have been played well here, but the end was disappointing. We ran out of patience in the third period. The load could start to show a little bit in it. The solutions were a bit like just pushing the puck forward. Everyone should have played a small role. We fell a little bit because of our own mistakes”, Nättinen lamented.
HIFK has played six games in 13 days since the turn of the year. This week's team has been on an exhausting away tour, which eats up resources.
According to Nättinen, the game went as hoped in the final set, where Kärpät went from 0–2 to level.
“Playing one's own game ended there, and it turned into a wish that the neighbor would do something a little better. We could see that the guy was coming hard, so we should play smarter in those situations.”
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It hurts quite a lot
The 2016 junior world champion is satisfied with his own performances recently. The classic “goal hook” is about to be found.
“I feel better all the time and that I could score a goal in every game. It's exhausted me before. I'm glad that one is being found.”
Nättinen scored in regular time, but there would have been opportunities for additional goals as well: the goal-scorer had a good fight with his ex-teammate Karhusen in overtime, but failed to seal the match.
“It would have been quite nice to do another one for Karhu, but now we stayed together. It hurts quite a lot. There were chances to decide the game. I was surprised,” Nättinen said.
HIFK played a long stretch lasting more than 160 minutes without conceding a single goal. The streak is the longest this league season.
Nättinen opened up about where the team's great spirit really comes from.
“When we went on this away tour, we talked about building the game through defense and getting closer to the matches. Overall, apart from the last period of this match, it was well defended. It feels like more chances were given in this last set than in the last matches combined.”
The players have also, so to speak, put their “body in the league” in the last matches. This was also noted by HIFK's top scorer of the season.
“We've played smart: we haven't run past situations and we've played with composure. And sacrifice has been found. Guys have taken big blocks this week. When it appears that the opponent can't do it, of course it raises self-confidence. You have to stick to it.”
HIFK plays next on Wednesday next week, when it hosts league jumbo SaiPa.
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