Liiga Playoffs: All tied after four in Tampere as Tappara brush Ilves aside

[p]A 6-0 defeat to go 2-0 down in the series really put the number one seeds under pressure, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tappara/llrWVOwG/"]Tappara[/a] showed their mettle in game three to reduce the deficit with a 3-2 success. Judging by their first period performance, that win had been the perfect tonic for tonight's designated visitors.[/p][p]They took the lead in the third minute when a scrap for the puck on the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ilves-tampere/Oh5uGzDT/"]Ilves[/a] blue line saw [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rautiainen-benjamin/KUr19Dum/"]Benjamin Rautiainen[/a] emerge with the puck and go through on goal, [b]before sliding it across for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/blichfeld-joachim/zD6cncwU/"]Joachim Blichfeld[/a] to bury with a one-timer.[/b][/p][p]The second goal arrived less than six minutes later when a neat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tanus-kristian/xSsQo1jE/"]Kristian Tanus[/a] reverse pass was latched onto by[b] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simontaival-kasper/AoVpUCbM/"]Kasper Simontaival[/a], who deked his way through the defence before slotting past the goaltender[/b] for 2-0.[/p][p]Tappara failed to score outside of powerplays in games two and three, only to do just that three times in the opening 18 minutes this evening - [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rasanen-aapeli/AVC7CGcF/"]Aapeli Rasanan[/a] made it 3-0 when he did just enough to poke [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brickley-daniel/WxBlASdr/"]Daniel Brickley[/a]'s pass into the net[/b] as bodies and sticks went flying in the goal area.[/p][p]After 21 Tappara shots to Ilves' five in the opening period, the second was a much more even contest, not that the Lynx could use that to their advantage, failing to make use of an early powerplay for slashing against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nykanen-juuso/SScbyAqF/"]Juuso Nykanen[/a], setting the tone for a goalless 20 minutes.[/p][embed guid="b30b9ab1-278a-4763-9df4-1b03433fa039" url="https://x.com/smliiga/status/2047342892448899520" social-type="twitter" /][p]That was no bother to Tappara, who then all but killed off the match three minutes into the third period, when [b]Brickley was again the provider, teeing up [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tuulola-joni/xpsGoyZp/"]Joni Tuulola[/a] to leather a one-time hit from the blue line[/b] which flew into the net.[/p][p]Ilves at least got themselves on the board with a little over 12 minutes to play when [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jasek-lukas/0OkXrem5/"]Lukas Jasek[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/henman-luke/ADRnATR0/"]Luke Henman[/a] put together a confident attack before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/looke-jens/vPV6ILAs/"]Jens Looke[/a] finished well[/b] from the middle of the Tappara zone.[/p][p]That looked to be far too little too late, but the hosts still threw on an extra attacker in the final minutes, but on a night when little went Ilves' way, the conceded again, as [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/keskinen-oiva/xMC9phOq/"]Oiva Keskinen[/a] found the empty net to complete a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/ilves-Oh5uGzDT/tappara-llrWVOwG/?mid=vil2mE1m"]5-1[/a] thrashing.[/b][/p][p]The series lead is on the line when the two meet in game five on Saturday 25th. 24 hours earlier, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/saipa/Q9sYH4O9/"]SaiPa[/a] welcome [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/kookoo/ljjApDE3/"]KooKoo[/a] for game four of their series, which the Kouvola side currently lead 2-1.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/hockey/finland/liiga/"]Follow the Liiga playoff semi-finals on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]