Julius Junttila and Joel Blomqvist, who have recovered from injury, became the deciders of Kärppie’s victory in the playoff opener.
Joel Blomqvist scored with Kärppie’s goal after months of recovery. Jussi Määtt / PicFactor Oy
- Kärpät and Aces opened the playoffs with home wins.
- The semi-final places are already on the line for them in Tuesday’s matches in Kouvola and Turku.
Experienced attacker of the Flies Julius Junttila scored three goals in KooKoo’s net in the opening of the first round of the playoffs.
– Jaakola Sampa has hit well, Junttila, who returned to the playing lineup after almost a month of rehabilitation, showed C Morella his thanks to Kärppie’s physical trainer.
– At least today the skate moved just fine.
Junttila opened the taps Tuukka Tieksolan after a great pass from the drive through in 3:04, and just nine seconds later Joonas Kemppainen guided the hosts to a 2–0 lead from in front of the goal. It was a real shock treatment for KooKoo, who secured their last playoff spot.
– We have had bad starts for a long time. We have been losing quite a lot in many games. It’s been talked about a lot – just like it was before this game. It’s good that it was a slightly different start, Junttila thanked.
Development targets
However, the Oulu people’s night wasn’t all smiles. KooKoo, who started the season with the league’s second smallest player budget (1.85 million euros), made a team that was about twice as expensive really tight.
Captain Heikki Liedes narrowed at the beginning of the second set with superiority, and at the beginning of the third Linus Andersson got to walk like a red carpet to score a 2–2 equalizer.
– You can’t play like that anymore at this stage of the season, Junttila defended.
– The fillings are your own and the träppi also leaked a little. They have a couple of big points of development, he noted.
There were just over two minutes left in the deciding set, when Junttila struck for the second time. David Rundblad cut off the Kouvola players’ attack with offensive blue and poked the puck free to the forgotten Junttila: 3–2.
In the last seconds Marko Anttila offered Junttila the third goal that completed his hat trick when KooKoo sought an equalizer without a goalkeeper Oskari Setä.
Marjamäki proud
– Not the start we wanted. The first goal was played especially lazily, KooKoo’s head coach Olli Salo regretted at the press conference.
– 2–0 is not an easy place to leave Kärpp here to fight. We leveled up nicely, but the last goal was pretty harsh, Salo said, meaning, I guess, Junttila’s 3–2 winning goal.
– But what doesn’t kill strengthens, he reasoned.
Kärppi’s head coach Lauri Marjamäki praised his team’s successful preparation for the match. The starting point after four losses was not flattering.
– We were really sharp at the beginning, and I really liked the team for the whole 60 minutes: it was calm, and the five stayed tight.
Junttila’s wonderful comeback naturally got the coach’s effusive praise.
Keeper Joel Blomqvist returned to real work from Junttilaak’s longer sick leave. Blomqvist, who played last time in mid-December, was one of the guarantors of the home win.
– Bolmqvist shouldn’t have been in the goal, but Meriläinen is not capable of playing, Marjamäki said of the one who has been responsible recently Leevi Meriläinen.
– Blomqvist came a little earlier than planned. After three months of poor performance, there’s nothing to do but take my hat off.
The place in the semifinals is on the line for Kärpi on Tuesday in Kouvola. If KooKoo manages to level the series, the solution will be sought in the third match in Oulu on Thursday.
Julius Junttila shoots the puck behind KooKoo keeper Oskari Setänen from a drive-through. Junttila, who returned to the Kärppie lineup, scored three goals in the end. Jussi Määtt / AOP