Tappara were the designated hosts in the derby against Ilves, but in a fixture where home advantage is limited, they fell to a 2-1 loss after penalties - their third shootout defeat in five matches - while Ilves put an end to a two-game losing run to claim the bragging rights.
Jaakko Lantta put Ilves ahead with three minutes to play in the first period, and there were three to play in the second when Lantta was again at the centre of the action, but this time he was dismissed for boarding. The Lynx defence held out throughout the powerplay, yet that seemed to have taken its toll when Tomi Sallinen levelled for Tappara in the last minute. After no winner in overtime, Matic Torok and Kasper Simontaival scored a penalty each in the shootout to set up sudden death, and second time around Torok scored again, but Simontaival was unable to convert and Ilves took the two points.
Ilves stay third but are now level on points with SaiPa, who followed up a 5-0 defeat to Pelicans last time out with a 6-3 loss at home to JYP, who are up to fourth after three wins in their last four. JYP were 4-0 up in after the first two periods, as Valtteri Ojantakanen struck twice while Julius Korjus and Leevi Tukiainen both found the net.
Then SaiPa almost put together a remarkable comeback, as Aarne Intonen (twice) and Petr Fridrich scored three in seven minutes to cut the deficit to one with 10 minutes to play, only for them to twice get caught out when going for broke - as Ojantakanen completed his hat-trick and Tukiainen his brace, both with empty-net goals.
SaiPa and Ilves are now both six points behind leaders Lukko, who made it seven wins in a row with a 3-1 win over bottom-of-the-table KooKoo. A real shock was on the cards when Oskari Luoto's early strike for KooKoo was the only goal of the first two periods, but Felix Robert, Arttu Valila and Topias Haapanen turned the match around in the final 15 minutes, as KooKoo failed to win back-to-back matches for the first time this season.
After three straight wins, Pelicans fell to a 2-1 loss to TPS Turku, who coincidentally ended a run of three defeats in succession. Eighth-placed Assat also ended a losing streak and kept pace with TPS thanks to a 3-2 win over IFK Helsinki, a result which kept Pelicans in the top 12. Top 12 places weren't under threat for Kiekko-Espoo and KalPa, as the former beat Hameenlinna 4-1 and the Kuopio side ran out 4-1 winners over Jokerit.
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