Match report Lukko-KalPa

Lukko - KalPa 3 - 1 (0-0, 1-1, 2-0)

The last home match before the Christmas break was against KalPa. After three losses in a row it was time for a win for Lukko.

It was an entertaining match with chances all over. In the first period Lukko took KalPa under fire and goalie Kimo Kapanen had to make 22 saves. Luck was not the side of Lukko.

Midway through the period Lukko got a 5-on-3 power play for more than one-and-half minute. Lukko put heavy pressure on the KalPa defence. It resulted in many shots but Kapanen saved everything.

After 16 minutes Lukko got a nig chance of scoring the first goal. A foul was made on Tommi Hannus when he came alone in front of Kapanen and Lukko got a penalty shot. Saarela took the penalty shot but Kapanen saved also this chance and it stayed 0-0. Langkow had to make 6 saves in this period. 

In the second period KalPa came out a little bit more. Although KalPa played better ice hockey as in the first period, it was Lukko that finally made the first goal. It was a power play for KalPa after Hagelberg got called for interference. Five second before the end of the power play, Saarela came through after receiving the puck from Topi Lehtonen. With excellent puck handling he beat Kapanen for the first time and Lukko scored its fifth shorthanded goal of the season, 1-0. Lehtonen scored his first point this season.

A few minutes before the end of the second period KalPa punished Lukko for not extending their lead. Tomas Kurka came through the middle and was not defended well enough by Lukko. He beat Langkow with a low shot, 1-1. Lukko had some luck on their side in the second period because KalPa came through a few times. Thanks to Langkow Lukko did not have to conceed more goals.

In the third period Lukko played for the three points as it should be. Five minutes into the period Saarela scored his second goal of the match. Saarela received the puck from Honkaheimo along the boards and again with his excellent puck handling he skated towards Kapanen to put the puck into the goal, 2-1. Toporowski got the second assist.

KalPa tried to find the equalizer but never got dangerous enough to make Lukko and Langkow nervous. One-and-half minute before the end Wright came trough the middle. KalPa had its defence not organized and Wright skated alone towards Kapanen to score 3-1. Lammassaari got the assist for holding off a KalPa defender after he gave the pass a small push that got Wright a free move on.

The win was good for the self confidence of Lukko, which they will need for the away of Saturday against leaders HPK. It was good to see that Lukko was able to produce more scoring chances. Saarela was again Man of the Match with his two goals. He shows to be on the way back. A point of concern might be the fact that there are too many rebounds given away in the defence. From an attacking point of view too few rebounds are taken.

New signing Tomas Kucharcik is starting to play better and will be a reinforcement eventually.