One Finnish team will be seen in the quarterfinals of the CHL. Rauma Lock.
Ponthus Westerholm blew the goal right at the beginning of the match. Elmeri Elo / All Over Press
Rauman Lukko was the only Finnish club to make it to the top eight in this season’s Champions Hockey League. It managed to beat HC Innsbruck 2–1 in the second match of the series.
When the previous meeting in Austria ended in a draw 2–2, Lukko continues with 4-3 on aggregate.
More than 120 game minutes were required to decide the match series. In overtime, the star defender became Luko’s hero Tarmo Reunanenwho rose to join the counterattack and finished in style.
The home team immediately took control of the game.
In the second minute of the match Jakob Stenqvist sent the puck from the blue line towards the visitors’ goal and the attacker Ponthus Westerholm expertly guided it into the goal. After the goal, the referees checked whether Westerholm’s stick was too high at the time of impact, but no reason was found for rejecting the goal.
The CHL does not keep statistics on goals expected, which can be a good thing for Luko this time. The people of Rauma shot at the goal no less than 47 times and scored two of them.
The visiting team, playing for the first time in the CHL, only got 12 shots. The big character of the game was the Canadian who blocked Innsbruck’s goal Evan Buitenhuis. At the end of the lock, he blocked Daniel Lebedeff.
1,602 people marched to the Kivikylä arena, which is well below the average for SM league home games. Around 3,400 spectators have come to Luko’s home games while fighting for the Finnish championship.
In the next round, Lukko, who is the only one waving the blue and white flag in the CHL, will face the Czech Pardubice, who knocked out Tampere Ilves.
Jukurits sixth
TPS coach Tommi Miettinen could not be satisfied with what he saw. Jaakko Stenroos / AOP
The SM league was played on a Wednesday night in November in two locations. Turku Palloseura was a good host for Mikkelin Jukurei, giving the points to Etelä-Savoo by 0-4.
With the loss, TPS fell one place in the standings to 12th place. However, the middle class of the league is exceptionally even. For example, the Mikkeli team, which came in sixth, is only four points away.
Jukurie’s winning goal came in the last seconds of the second period, when the captain Pekka Jormakka put in the puck that bounced in front of the TPS goal. The power monster of the game was the 17-year-old top talent who collected 1+2 Konsta Helenius.
Markus Ruusu needed 23 saves for the shutout. At the same time, the goalkeeper completed 300 league matches.
The evening’s audience number was 5,170.
Further north in Vaasa, there was no shortage of goals when Sport and KooKoo played a match that lasted until the winning goal contest, which ended with the Kouvola residents celebrating. The goals were scored in favor of KooKoo 5–4.
Kouvola’s team had to be in good control after Juho Rautanen led his team to a 4–1 lead with understrength. Sport Kalle Miketinac cleared the setback quickly and started the kir of the Vaasa people. The same man was also responsible for the 4-3 goal.
Jens Lööke tied the game with less than three minutes remaining in the game.
“Running” Radek Koblizek scored the decisive goal.
KooKoo is above Sport in the series point at number ten.