Match report Lukko-HPK

Lukko - HPK 6 - 3 (4-0, 0-2, 2-1)

What a first period! Front runner HPK had no answer to the extremely effective offense of Lukko in the first period.

Nobody knew what to expect of the match. HPK was leading the SM-league and Lukko lost the last two matches. But what almost nobody expected came true. Lukko was this time effective with the chances they got.

After less than three minutes it was already 1-0 for Lukko. HPK just regained full strength after a penalty for Ville Leino when Pasi Saarela broke his silence and scored his first goal since..., who can remember. And it was a typical Saarela goal. After receiving the puck from Hämäläinen, he placed the puck in the uppercorner behind Rämö.

24 seconds later goal number two was already behind Rämö. Juhamatti Yli-Junnila scored the rebound given by Rämö after a shot from Hagelberg. Lukko had a brilliant start and this was exactly what they needed after a difficult period.

HPK stayed calm and played their own attacking style of play. HPK fired some shots on Langkow but precision was missing. Midway through the period Lukko got a power play after tripping from Janne Lahti. Six second before the end of the power play, Lukko scored 3-0. Petri Lammassaari scored after the preparatory work from Pasi Saarela behind the goal.

And when it could not get any worse for HPK, Paukkunen payed attention when Rämö was not able to hold the puck after a shot from Vainiola, 4-0 after 16 minutes. It looked like Lukko payed back the spectatoters for not scoring too many goals lately.

In the second period HPK came. HPK put a lot of pressure on the Lukko defense. Although Lukko had a comfortable lead, they had to watch for the attacking strength of HPK. Lukko managed to stay clear for eight minutes when Jukka Voutilainen scored a power play goal 4-1. Two minutes later it was already 4-2 by a goal of Mikko Laine. Lukko woke up now and managed to keep it 4-2. On the other side the offensive intentions of Lukko were marginal.

In the third period Lukko woke up again and managed to keep HPK far enough from the goal. Scott Langkow had again a great share in game. Several times he made some important saves which kept Lukko alive. The new born strentgh of Lukko was shown again after 47 minutes. Lukko just received a penalty for elbowing. After half a minute of penalty killing, Antti Bruun intercepted the puck and played it to Tommi Hannus who skated around Rämö and scored 5-2.

One and a half minute later HPK came back to two goals again. Keinänen scored 5-3 and Langkow did not look save here. The puck went through a wall of defenders and Langkow saw it too late.

Lukko had to control the game which it did. HPK tried and was a few times close to a goal but Langkow performed well. At 59.16, Lukko scored an empty net goal. Jamie Wright scored and was assisted by Tommi Hannus and Shayne Toporowski, 6-3.

It was a good match with lots of goals. Lukko played well and it looked like a few players regained their form. A special note is here for the youngsters Lammassaari, Kauvosaari and Vainiola who managed to perform on a high level. Especially Vainiola put in a good performance with two assists.

Thursday is the match against SaiPa. It is likely that new signed centre Tomas Kucharcik will make his debute for Lukko. Erik Hämälainen will play match 865 in his career and will be the new official record holder. Congratulations to him for breaking this record and his magnificient career.