HIFK squatted in the opening match of the quarter-final series in Lahti.
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Lahti
Lahtalainen the temperature of the sauna was set to be blazing hot right from the handshake in honor of Wednesday night, when Pelicans and HIFK opened the expected quarter-final series in Lahti.
The series of matches between Pelicans, the third place in the regular season, and HIFK, the sixth place, is expected to be a very tight and intense match, and the opening match did not disappoint the expectations any worse.
In the almost sold-out (4,373 spectators) Lahti Ice Hall, the Pelicans took the first leg by winning 4–2 (0–1, 2–0, 2–1).
The 34-year-old Konkar attacker became the hero of the Lahte residents Antti Tyrväinen with two goals.
The fiery match ended ugly from HIFK's point of view. In the closing moments of the final set, in a two-goal deficit situation Leo Komarov roughly punched the Pelicans Michal Jordan at the end. Komarov flew into the shower from violence.
Match got off to a very sticky start from HIFK's tip. The Pelicans, who played in black jerseys, took over the flow of the game with the help of the host, which set the tone for the rest of the evening.
Pelicans' puck game was significantly more organized and looser than HIFK's. The away team's start to the match was gropingly nervous.
From time to time, the black-turquoise washing machine spun so hard that HIFK, which was constantly on the defensive, drifted into a rough freeze in the middle of the opening set.
In the opening set, HIFK carefully used up the ice bench. Tony Sund, Jori Lehterä and Petteri Lindbohm were at the session at the same time.
HIFK was underpowered by two men for more than a minute and a half, but played a strong match Roope Taponen in the lead, the away team got out of the hole with dry feet.
As the match progressed, HIFK got their puck game going better, but long and dangerous attacks remained random except for the tight end of the final set.
As a whole, in the regular game, Pelicans was ahead on Wednesday, but in special situations, there is one clear place for HIFK to strike in this series.
The second half of the regular season was a convincing performance from the Pelicans, but the superiority of the Lahti people, reflected in the material, chronically affected the material. Lahte's superior efficiency (18.58) was only the tenth worst in the series.
Correspondingly, HIFK's underpowered game (88.02) was the best in the series in the regular season. In the opening match, HIFK's underpowered scouts took the Pelicans' top players by the neck by killing four out of five times of superiority.
In the opening match we also got a little indication of what kind of matchups the coaches rely on.
The Pelicans had a turnover advantage on their side, so the head coach Tommi Niemelä could send the players he wanted to the ice last.
The Pelicans' bumpy foursome, Jonas Enlund-Tyrväinen-Juhamatti Aaltonenplayed a lot Jori Lehterän led by HIFK against the first fist. Lehterä's trio remained firmly in the grip of Tyrväinen's blackout chain.
On top of the shadowing duties, track man Tyrväinen scored Pelicans' 2-1 lead goal at the end of the second period from a delicious set-up by magician Aaltonen.
In his 3–1 goal of the final set, Tyrväinen intercepted Lehterä's cross pass and ran through.
HIFK's most effective composition was Juha Jääskän led by the second chain, on the sides Kristian Vesalainen and Iiro Pakarinen.
The chain faltered at the end of HIFK's 1-0 goal in the opening period, when Vesalainen's dazzling pass found Jääskä at the back post. Julius Nättinen downloaded HIFK in the final moments of the 2–4 reduction.
Juha Jääskä was able to score the opening goal from a brilliant serve.
The intense series of matches continues on Friday evening with HIFK's home match at the Nordenskiöldinkatu ice rink.
On the rise: HIFK's number one goalkeeper Roope Taponen played a moderate regular season. Taponen played 41 matches with a save percentage of 90.61. The average number of goals conceded was 2.20. The 23-year-old Veskari is still a small question mark in the playoffs, but this spring Taponen got off to a great start. Taponen was HIFK's best player on Wednesday.
In the invoice: In the opening match, HIFK got job mail when the credit defender Tony Sund took a hit. Sund was violently hit in the face by the puck at the beginning of the second period, and had to go to the locker room to be patched up. HIFK finished the match with six defenders.
1/7 matches of the semifinals (with four wins to the semifinals):
Kärpät–Jukurit 4–1 (1–0, 0–0, 3–1)
Pelicans–HIFK 4–2 (0–1, 2–0, 2–1)
Tappara–TPS 4–1 (1–0, 1–1, 2–0)
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