JYP take 4-goal lead into Skelleftea

JYP couldn't ask for anything more than they got in the first leg on home ice – a 4-0 win over Skelleftea AIK.

"It was a good game overall," said JYP coach Mirko Virtanen. "Strategically, we were successful and we managed to suffocate their offensive game very early in their own defensive zone. We managed to kill their speed and they didn’t get too much of their dangerous skating speed. Our toughness in the battles was good."

That means they have a four-goal lead heading to Skelleftea, but that isn't affecting how Virtanen is approaching it. 

“We’ll just go and play the second game like we normally do. The score doesn’t change a thing. It would be a big mistake if we started to look at the score of this game.”

Two years ago, JYP and Skelleftea met in the CHL Quarter-Finals. In that one, JYP also had a four-goal lead during the first game, but blew it and eventually lost the series in a shootout in Skelleftea. 

To that suggestion, Virtanen said, "Well, we have a completely new team here and I don’t even remember how many of those players are still on the team. I don’t think they think about that. This is a new and challenging place to be in right now."

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