Liiga Playoffs: KooKoo's late surge beats Pelicans as Tappara down Hameenlinna

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/pelicans-lahti/nJrUIp93/"]Pelicans[/a] were looking for revenge on the road after a 5-0 drubbing at home in game two, and they looked to have every chance when they took the lead early in the second period, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/karvinen-roni/S2gdpV0F/"]Roni Karvinen[/a] worked well in tandem with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dudas-aidan/QiUx6oOP/"]Aidan Dudas[/a] before burying his shot.[/p][p]But the sides were level again with seven minutes of the period to play, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/berger-joseph/zeViBqAP/"]Joseph Berger[/a] found the net after being set up by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gallo-vilmos/phBwxZfB/"]Vilmos Gallo[/a], and from then on it was all [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/kookoo/ljjApDE3/"]KooKoo[/a].[/p][p]A roughing penalty against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jurgens-casimir/b5pjxR1K/"]Casimir Jurgens[/a] five minutes into period three was punished when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/miettinen-veeti/YuStjev4/"]Veeti Miettinen[/a] played the puck across for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/meskanen-ville/xKmHxIvN/"]Ville Meskanen[/a] to put the Kouvola side ahead on the powerplay, and in the final 10 minutes, the same two combined to extend the lead.[/p][p]Pelicans pulled the goaltender in the final minutes, but the desperation attempt failed when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rooba-robert/GxRw6E28/"]Robert Rooba[/a] stroked the puck into the empty net with over three minutes left to complete the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/kookoo-ljjApDE3/pelicans-nJrUIp93/?mid=t2RSh6ak"]4-1[/a] win. The sides will travel to Lahti for game four on Saturday 4th. [/p][embed guid="885d6e7b-3d73-4573-abed-77ce28bdf76d" url="https://x.com/smliiga/status/2039757257571709277" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tappara/llrWVOwG/"]Tappara[/a] were shocked on the road at 12th seeds [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hameenlinna/zV5a4drH/"]Hameenlinna[/a] last time out, but they recovered well by easing to a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/hameenlinna-zV5a4drH/tappara-llrWVOwG/?mid=jF985qqe"]3-1[/a] home victory in game three.[/p][p]It took three-and-a-half minutes for the hosts to break the deadlock, [b]when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/juolevi-olli/8fWarPWE/"]Olli Juolevi[/a] did well to maintain an attack by keeping the puck from crossing the blue line, before darting down the left and shooting from a tight angle to score.[/b][/p][p]Tempers flared between both sets of players midway through the first period, though it wasn't until midway through the second that the Tampere side doubled their lead,[b] as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tanus-kristian/xSsQo1jE/"]Kristian Tanus[/a] waited and waited for the goalie to move before lifting the puck high into the net.[/b][/p][p][b]Tanus then turned provider for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brickley-daniel/WxBlASdr/"]Daniel Brickley[/a] to add Tappara's third five minutes into the final period[/b], which was more than enough to complete the win, despite a neat deke and finish from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/toivonen-vili/vyV9PXEk/"]Vili Toivonen[/a] that got HPK on the board in the final six minutes. It's back to Hameenlinna for game four on Saturday.[/p][embed guid="1c3919ac-884c-4f05-8b24-a55783434ada" url="https://x.com/smliiga/status/2039746529972359365" social-type="twitter" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/hockey/finland/liiga/"]Follow the Liiga playoffs on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]