TPS’ winter continues painfully with the 3-7 defeat in Kuopio.
TPS pilot Toni Söderholm has plenty to think about. Vesa Pöppönen / AOP
The loss was the third in a row for Turku and the fifth in the last six games.
TPS got a real lightning start to the match when Eetu Päkkilä scored the opening goal in 9 seconds, but KalPa equalized Ville Ruotsalainen scoring just 17 seconds later.
– KalPa’s quick Equalizing goal described the tension of our game, what it is at the moment, TPS head coach Toni Söderholm regretted.
From the second set onwards, the hosts spent their money by using the positions they got for counterattacks. Along with the defender Ruotsalainen, who scored another goal, the attackers were the power players Andreas Okany (2+1) and Patrick Curry (1+2).
– Losing pucks below the blue line and not being on the launch lines. That wasn’t enough wisdom, Söderholm explained his team’s problems.
A very central one is cold sensitivity. Even in Kuopio, TPS was whistled six times after KalPa managed two.
With 659 ice minutes, TPS is by far the most penalized team in the league. Discipline and nerve control leave much to be desired.
– With mistakes, frustration increases, and then we sit on the ice bench. The nerve sometimes fails when the same mistakes are repeated over and over again. That’s what we’re in for, Söderholm described the players’ frustration.
– It has a lot to do with how the team’s faith grows in the fact that even by playing boring and simple games we could make a result.
It’s tight again
Last season, TPS made it to the playoffs after securing 12th place only in the thriller-like final round of the regular season. Now the team is in the same place and the playoff spot is at stake again.
TPS’s extraordinary streak of five away games continues on Friday as a guest of Luko and on Saturday as a guest of Pelicans.
