Kristian Kuusela of Tappara knows how to make the playoffs.
Kristian Kuusela sees where the puck is shooting. Kuusela finished Tappara’s winning goal in the first final of the League, which ended 2-1. Petri Saarelainen / AOP
- Kuusela increased his leadership in the all-time Playoffs stock exchanges.
- He also rose to the top in the number of finals alone.
The three-time Finnish champion playing in his ninth final series Kristian Kuusela39, knows from experience that playoff series often settle for special situations and goalkeeping.
The latter went hand in hand in the opening match after both Tappara Christian Heljanko that TPS’s Andrei Karejev managed their plots in an exemplary manner.
There was a difference in special situations instead. This was to be expected when Tappara’s VAT percentage is clearly better in the overall playoff sample (31.8–14.3).
TPS did not score a single goal in the semi-finals against Ilves, but now it managed to play five to three in the first minutes. Juraj Slafkovskyn however, the hit remained the only one in Turku.
Three other occasions of his superiority were wasted by TPS on the ineffectiveness of coercion, which has already become a habit.
Instead, Tappara’s game of superiority was 100% to the delight of the nearly 11,000-strong audience in the Nokia arena: two superiorities, two goals.
Thank you for the force
The king of points and paint in the regular season Anton Levtchi leveled at the end of the opening round, and Kuusela, the all-time point and goal scorer in the playoffs, scored a 2-1 victory in the final round.
Both hits were accompanied by a dose of luck, as the shots changed the direction just right after hitting the legs of the Turku packages.
– Let’s try with superiority to get places, and our Underpower was really good today. In the five-thirds, of course, the guy scored a goal, but av was important today, Kuusela awarded honor to the fighters of the underpower game.
– These tough battles often turn to these. In the five-to-five game, both had quite a few seats. Tight play in one direction and another, he described.
Opening hits
The hit for both Levtch (now 1 + 7) and Kuusela (1 + 3) was the first of this playoff spring.
– It’s nice when you get some success yourself. Trying to help the team win through it. There is no denying that the goal felt really good, but the most important thing was to win the game with it, Kuusela summed up.
He stretched his lead in the all-time playoff statistics after increasing his balance to 47 + 73 = 120.
In terms of the number of playoff matches, he is only two games away Ilkka Mikkolan an all-time record of 190.
In the number of finals, Kuusela overtook the second Tappara icon Pekka Saravon. The match was already in Kuusela’s finals in the 44th League League, and he moved to the top of the statistics alone.
Mr. Playoffs, what does that sound like?
“Maybe it’s a bit of a hard appointment,” he laughed.
It is true that there is still a long way to go to Mikkola’s record eight championships, but Kuusela dominates many other statistics in the playoffs. The match record will probably be in his name next week.
– Yes, this is a great time for a hockey player.