After getting shut out in the first leg in Espoo, Karpat Oulu knew they needed an offensive spark in the return leg on home ice and they sure got it from Julius Junttila. Because of his 3 goals and 2 assists in the game, his team is now in the Champions Hockey League Semi-Finals.

by Miikka Jarvenpaa

OULU – When they lost Cramo Top Scorer Mika Pyorala for a month just prior to their CHL Quarter-Final against the Espoo Blues, the rest of the Karpat forwards new they'd have to pick up the scoring slack a bit. Then they were shut out in the first leg in Espoo, and they knew they'd have to score goals in the return leg at home on Tuesday night. 

“We have a good experience coming from two goals behind against Sparta Prague. I have a good feeling about the game tomorrow, Julius Junttila said after practice on Monday. "We have to patient and not think about the result too much. We have to go and play our normal game. If we play well, we're sure to get some scoring chances and we just have to be sharp on those."

Juntilla sure was sharp on his chances, scoring three goals and assisting on two others in Karpat's 5–1 victory, giving the team an overall 5–3 win on aggregate to put them through to the Semi-Finals. He's now the team's new CTS with 10 points (4 + 6) in the CHL.

“Junttila’s effort was gigantic. It’s great that he rose to the occasion in a game like this,” Karpat coach Lauri Marjamaki said of Junttila's 5-point game.

Junttila himself was more modest about his performance afterward, emphasizing the team's overall preparation.

Julius, how did you prepare for the game?

“As usual, we prepared ourselves like any other game. Of course we were aware of the two-goal deficit and the Blues’ problems but we tried to prepare ourselves like we would before any other game. The two-goal deficit didn’t bring us any pressure before and it didn’t bring any now. We knew how to deal with the situation.”

Did the Blues’ situation show in the game?

“I don’t know. Not in my opinion. The Blues fought well and I didn’t notice anything else. It was the same before in Espoo and they played well then also. We couldn’t score then. Two tight games and luckily we got some goals tonight.”

Was it your strategy to get two goals quickly and then see who’s who?

“Hahaha, no, we started the game as if it would have been 0–0. It was great to get two goals at the beginning but maybe then we started thinking like ‘what now?’.”

You get a ton of breakaways in Liiga play, but have had some trouble finishing them. Today you scored twice with only the goalie to beat. Are you getting more confidence in those situations? 

“Yeah, but I also blew a couple (laughing). Let’s hope that I’ll start scoring a bit more efficiently now.”

Good luck with that, and good luck in the Semi-Finals!

Karpat struck quickly in the game, scoring two goals in the first 1:19 to erase their aggregate deficit. Watch below as Junttila scores the game-opening goal, and then seconds later assists on the second.