KooKoo’s head coach Olli Salo, who fought wonderfully for his team, was upset. Jaakko Stenroos / AOP
Tappara beat KooKoo in the Nokia Arena with a 2–1 decision in the second overtime and took a 3–0 lead in the quarter-final series.
– It was a really tough match, the one who scored the 1-1 equalizing goal for Tappara Brother Matti Vittasmäki sighed in an interview with C More.
– There were two teams on the ice, neither of which wanted to give up an inch.
In contrast to the first two matches, Vittasmäki saw KooKoo’s defensive game change.
– It was tough, he said a friend.
– And in those couple of games we got a couple of quick goals that turned the match for us. Now there were no such ones. It was really hard drilling from both of them.
Three goals
KooKoon Kasperi Ojantakanen immediately after the opening goal in the first minute, Vittasmäki equalized in 4:56.
– I got the puck to the line and noticed that there is no place to shoot right away. I tried to calm down and look for somewhere between where I could deliver the puck to the goal. There were good masks there, and this time it went to the goal, the defender said Nick Malik’s behind his wrist shot that sunk into the top corner.
We had to wait until the middle of the first overtime for the next hit. The biggest credit for that went to Malik, who was able to start a match for the first time in almost a month, and to KooKoo’s self-sacrificing defense.
Tappara’s more congested finish than usual also played a role in delaying the solution. It won the shots by a landslide 80-25, but not before by Marcus Davidsson scored the 2–1 winning goal in 71:09 and got the puck closer to the goal irons and the goal line.
He excelled in polishing irons Niko Ojamäki, who hit them twice in the overtime. Defender Mikael Seppälä on the other hand, in the overtime period, rouhi drove the puck almost to the goal line from the crowd in front of the goal, but unfortunately “blocked” it with his own stick.
Stupid trick
KooKoo also had a place in the winning goal. Defender Charle-Edouard D’Astous was able to shoot a penalty in the middle of the third period, but Tappara keeper Christian Heljanko repelled.
The guests also had something to worry about when the judges fell asleep in the last minute of the third period. With that comes the Tappara pack Casimir Jürgens probably avoided being kicked out and Tappara from being underpowered for five minutes by Axel Ottosson after receiving a fierce blow to the neck from Jürgens’ cross stick.
– Nasty situation, Ottosson was injured, KooKoo’s head coach Olli Salo told a press conference.
– I don’t think it was intentional, but unfortunately the club hits the neck. It seems harsh that none of the four judges can see it.
– Annoying for the guys. They put their souls on the line, and an awful lot of coolies were killed. The fighting game was really strong in both directions. We fought really well in the defensive area, but in the offensive area we couldn’t fight against Tappara’s packs, Salo admitted.
He took a strong stand Ari Gröndahl in the overtime to get a freeze on violence. It was whistled when Brother Matti Savinainen in a struggling situation, pushed his head towards the KooKoo pack’s chest or armpit and the helmet came off his head.
– You should have a bit of an eye for the game, if the helmet comes off in the dark, where you really struggle. Yes, we also need to be able to defend our own goal lead, Salo stated, but also praised Savinais as a wonderful fighting player.
“Until tomorrow”
Also the head coach of Tappara Jussi Tapola admired the game’s tough fighting style.
– There was a lot of battle of spirits and reversals of momentum, he summed up and thanked Davidsson for the great deciding goal.
– We were patient and continued to play. We could have gone until tomorrow.
Tapola reminded that KooKoo dropped Kärpät in the first round of the playoffs.
– A bad team doesn’t do that. This is still a tough series and we have a top team against us. The margins are very small.
The semi-final spot is on the line for Tappara for the first time in the fourth match in Kouvola on Friday.