FINLAND – The SM-Liiga semi finals kicked off with Pelicans hosting Blues and JYP hosting Jokerit. Both of the games saw a quick start as Pelicans’ pocket rocket Ryan Lasch scored after 00:35 into the first and JYP’s Jani Tuppurainen scoring after two minutes of play. However, one of the biggest topics of discussion is around the status of Pelicans’ starting goalie Niko Hovinen.
Hovinen started the game, but looked slow in warm-ups and had to abandon the game after 20 minutes of play. Hovinen, a Philadephia Flyers prospect, has been battling a hip injury for the duration of the playoffs and it was rumoured that he would not ice for the rest of the playoffs after the injury forced him out of two games in the series against Karpat. However, Hovinen returned to the crease in the latter part of the Karpat series, but was again forced out.
The extent of the injury is unknown and Pelicans’ head coach Kai Suikkanen was quoted saying “I don’t know, I’m not a doctor,” when asked about the status of his starting goalie. After the injury forced Hovinen out of the game he did not return to the players’ bench and will not be starting game two against Blues.
The game itself saw an exchange of goals. After Lasch’s early goal, Blues had tied the game within two minutes of it. Pelicans pulled ahead to a two goal lead with goals from Teemu Rinkinen and Ryan Lasch scoring his second of the night. This saw the end of the game for Blues’ goalie Antti Ore, who had registered only two saves.
Lasch was the star of the night as he added further two assists to his tally on Pelicans’ route to 5-3 victory over Blues. The game again saw questionable calls from the officials after Ville Varakas received a two minute minor for boarding. The hit itself was clean but hard and saw Varakas sent to the penalty box. At the time of the penalty being handed out the game was 3-2 for Pelicans, who then went on to score the game winner on the resulting power play.
In the other match up of the night, JYP hosted Jokerit. With JYP scoring the first goal 02:34 into the game and on short handed, it could’ve been a game with plenty of goals, but the game was incredibly even. With Jani Tuppurainen’s goal standing as the lone marker in the first period and the second period being goalless, it was up to Jokerit forward Janne Lahti to tie the game with three minutes to go in the third period to force overtime.
Jokerit was the more dominant team throughout regulation, and poured 31 shots on JYP’s Riku Helenius. The overtime saw JYP emerge as victors as a defensive lapse let Harri Pesonen score the game winner.
Both series continue tonight with JYP travelling to Helsinki and Pelicans travelling to Espoo for game two of the semifinal series.
Contact the author: janne.virtanen@prohockeynews.com
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