Ville Meskanen took on the role of decision-maker. The golden helmet already had time to scare the SM league followers.
Ville Meskanen became the decider on Thursday, when KooKoo defeated the Pelicans 4–1 and took the second tie for the semi-final spot. Meskanen scored two goals in the match.
Meskanen didn’t want to comment on one thing after the game. Namely, his mysterious absence.
The Golden Helmet of his team did not play in the first game of the Pelicans series, but returned to the lineup for the second and third meetings. Especially in the playoffs, it is important not to talk about possible injuries.
– No, I don’t want to. I won’t open at all, Meskanen said firmly, but softly.
A longer-term loss of Meskanen would be a disaster for KooKoo. Pistetykki scored 23+26 in 57 regular season games this season and was KooKoo’s best scorer.
After Thursday’s match, he described his health as “quite good”.
– Nice to be involved. I had to watch a bit of the first game. It was terrible to play even then. Glad I can now.
Ville Meskanen is KooKoo’s scoring cannon. Jaakko Stenroos/AOP
On Thursday, both of Meskanen’s hits came in the final set.
– Maybe I had a bad start to the match. Then I caught the plot. I’m happy with that, the attacker said.
The 2–1 goal was created with superiority, when Meskanen was able to score the b-point from the arc. The attacker, who scored his second hit of the evening, fanned it with dedication.
Did something special break out in the vents?
– I think it belongs here. Let’s get Home Audience on our side and maybe get inside the guy’s head a little. At this point, you have to ventilate them a lot.
A winning jacket
The Pelicans were neck and neck in the opening set on Thursday. People from Lahti Eelis Teutari got a goal right at the beginning of the match, and the same trend continued throughout the set.
– Pelsu got off to a good start. Maybe we weren’t awake from the very beginning. We had to put up with it a bit, KooKoon Meskanen admitted.
The opening hit was seen at the beginning of the second period. People from Lahti Aidan Dudas served the puck Roni Karvisenewhich made the game 1–0 after only 50 seconds had passed. The Pelicans could have scored many more goals in the set, as they were able to drive through, among other things Anton Kettunen and Niklas Virtanen.
KooKoo guard having an excellent season Eetu Randelin kept his team in the fight for victory.
– We had a winning goalkeeper, Meskanen praised Randelin.
KooKoo came by Joseph Berger with a goal in the second set to tie. Meskanen’s goals in the final set secured the win.
The matches in the series between Pelicans and KooKoo have been extremely varied, as the results have been 1–0, 5–0 and 4–1. The next meeting will be played on Saturday.
– In the first match, we went at Pelicans’ tempo. In this third one, we did a bit of the same at the beginning. We have been a winning team when we have gone without humiliating anyone. You have to get it, Meskanen anticipates the fourth encounter.
Four wins are required for the semi-finals.
