Kärpät defeated Sport 4-3 (3-0, 1-1, 0-2)

At first it looked like a good game but it turned out not to be so good. Kärpät played very well in the first period, but the 3-0 lead came too easily, and more or less Kärpät stopped playing and started to surf around the rink waiting for the final buzzer. It was much easier for Sport to get back in the game, and in second and third period, Sport was the better team on the ice.

Luckily for Kärpät, the crushing start was enough. Kärpät had a few
break-aways in the third period, but didn’t manage to score. Both teams
must improve their play as soon as the season starts.

A big disappointment for Kärpät was the play of Vjateslav Fandul, who was supposed to center the second line. His passes were awful and he just couldn’t seem to find his teammates. In all the games which I have seen him play, he hasn’t played well.

1st period.

It was completely dominated by Kärpät. At 2.23 Jaako
Niskavaara shot the puck, top corner in front of the net. At 8.07 Olegs
Sorokins took a penalty for hooking, and at 9.54 Miikka Rousu shot a rebound in on the power-play, 2-0. Kärpät’s third goal was scored by Karri Kivi, who
one-timed the pass from Tuomo Harjula behind the goal-tender. Sport had only
4 shots in the first period.

Penalties:

5.07 Kärpät Kristian Taubert 2min tripping

8.07 Sport Olegs Sorokins 2min hooking

11.38 Sport Petri Virolainen 2min hooking

15.04 Sport Petri Virolainen 2min hooking

17.11 Sport Mika Yli-Maenpää 2min slashing.

Scoring:

Kärpät 2.23 1-0 Jaako Niskavaara (Teemu Virkkunen, Martin Bergeron)

Kärpät 9.54 2-0 Miikka Rousu (Karri Kivi, Juha Joenväärä)

Kärpät 14.01 3-0 Karri Kivi (Tuomo Harjula, Kimmo Koskenkorva)

2nd period.

There isn’t much to say abuot the 2nd period. It was little bit messy, and the referee gave lots of penalties which caused lots of time on power-play.
Sport’s Jari Kesti scored from in front of the net on a 2-man advantage. Kärpät-coach
Juhani Tamminen took time-out, and soon after, Kärpät scored on power-play
4-1.

Penalties:

1.59 Sport Olegs Sorokins 2min elbowing

5.43 Kärpät Jaako Niskavaara 2min hooking

6.17 Kärpät Mikko Lehtonen 2min slashing

11.39 Sport Joni Reinikka 2min holding

15.26 Sport Miika Jämsä 2min elbowing

17.07 Kärpät Teemu Käyhkö 2min high-sticking

18.04 Kärpät Mikko Lehtonen 2min cross-checking.

Scoring:

Sport 15.26 3-1 Jari Kesti (Markus Jämsä, Jani Uski)

Kärpät 16.00 4-1 Juha Joenväärä (Jaako Niskavaara, Markus Korhonen)

3rd period.

Kärpät was playing a little better than in the second period, but although they had several scoring chances, they didn’t score. Sport was playing better, and if they wouldn’t have got a penalty in the last minute, we would have
seen an exciting last minute, when Sport would have been trying to tie the game with an extra-attacker.

Penalties:

2.53 Kärpät Jari Viuhkola 2min roughing

3.13 Sport Mikael Hallbäck 2min interference

6.45 Sport Jari Kesti 2min holding

6.45 Kärpät Teemu Virkkunen 2min slashing

7.20 Sport Miika Jämsä 2min hooking

14.01 Sport Harri Lönnberg 2min tripping

14.45 Kärpät Sakari Palsola 2min slashing

15.16 Kärpät Miikka Rousu 2min roughing

15.16 Sport Jari Kesti 2min roughing

19.01 Sport Mikael Hallbäck 2min holding

19.01 Sport Markus Jämsä 10min unsportsman-like conduct

Scoring:

Sport 10.44 4-2 Matti Raunio (Petri Virolainen)

Sport 16.31 4-3 Mikael Hallbäck (Markus Jämsä, Jani Uski)

Prospects:

G Antti Kangas: Didn’t play

D Lasse Kukkonen: Didn’t play much in the 1st period, but in the 2nd and 3rd he was
defending along with Sami Siltavirta. They both played well. He also played on the penalty
kill. Lasse improved his play a lot compared to last weeks HIFK-game. 0+0
0min

D Mikko Lehtonen: He defended with Kristian Taubert, and they were hard as
steal to day. Sport had no chance when they were on ice. Brilliant, again.
0+0 2min

D Jaako Niskavaara: Shot a lot on the power-play, and scored in the 1st period. Was good and active on offense, but not very strong on defense. Played dirty. 1+0
2min.

D Sami Siltavirta: Defended with Lasse Kukkonen, and they both played well. Had no
problems in his own zone. Kept his man away from scoring chances. 0+0 0min

F Petri Isotalus: Didn’t play, injured.

F Niklas Hagman: Didn’t play, injured.

F Kimmo Koskenkorva: When he was in line with Tuomo Harjula and Jari
Viuhkola, they played well, but when in line with Miikka Rousu and Vjateslav
Fandul, they spent lot of time on defense because of bad passes by Fandul.
0+1 0min

F Jari Viuhkola: I kept my eyes on him today, and he played ok, but he didn’t shine. Stick-handled well through the defense in the third period, and was alone with the goaltender, but didn’t manage to score. Played 17shifts, had 2shots
(1break-away) 6 hits, and won 4 of his 8 face-offs +1. 0+0 2min

F Teemu Virkkunen: Played in first line with Salminen and Bergeron. Was
surfing around the rink for 2 periods, but in third, he actually played
well. Went around defender once, but didn’t score. Made good pass in Jaako
Niskavaara’s goal. 0+1 2min.

Best Kärpät Players:

*Mikko Lehtonen

**Kristian Taubert

Best Sport Players:

*Jani Uski

**Jari Kesti