Read below for information about the quarter-final series between Kärpät Oulu and SaiPa Lappeenranta. Kärpät won the series 5–2 on aggregate to advance to the semi-finals. 

Game 2

KARPAT – Karpat Oulu secured their place in the semi-finals of the Champions Hockey League with a 5–2 aggregate win over Liiga rivals SaiPa Lappeenranta. Joonas Kemppainen led the offence in game two with a goal and an assist, while Iiro Tarkki stopped 21 of 23 shots. 

"It was hard to come to this game," said SaiPa coach Pekka Tirkkonen, expressing the predicament his team faced after getting shut out in their home half of this series. "We sure could had used a goal on home ice. We prepared ourselves well and the team still believed that we could turn this thing around. But we couldn't match up with a better team. The better team won this series, no doubt about it."

The visitors from Lappeenranta arrived in Oulu two goals down from the first leg, knowing that early goals would be crucial for them to overturn the deficit. However, a series of penalty troubles in the opening period saw SaiPa on the back foot for most of the opening 20 minutes – though they survived without conceding thanks to a solid effort from dependable netminder Jussi Markkanen. Finally it was SaiPa who took a surprise early lead, as Matti Jarvinen struck home with 15:30 played in the first.

The middle period started with SaiPa leading 1–0, but needing another goal to tie the match-up on aggregate. However the tie turned back in the Karpat's favour in a four minute spell thanks to two Joonases. First up was Kemppainen, who tied the game with just one second remaining in the second period, and then at 43:19 Joonas Donskoi struck on a set-up from Kemppainen to put Karpat in the lead.

Sam Lofquist would level the game just over five minutes later, but SaiPa still needed to find two goals to take the series to overtime. As they pushed forward to try and level the match-up, Juho Keranen struck for Oulu with 4:30 remaining to confirm his team's place in the semi-finals with a 3–2 win on the night, 5–2 overall.

"After SaiPa´s first goal, we played at some moments clearly our best hockey so far this season," Karpat coach Laur Marjamaki said of his team's play over the last two periods. "We worked hard and created 15 good scoring chances. Markkanen was amazing and we hit posts. We stayed patient and Kemppainen scored a very important goal for us. The team showed some character. This knows good things for us in the future."

READ the Live Blog here | WATCH the highlights here

Game 1

LAPPEENRANTA – Karpat Oulu will head into the second leg of their Champions Hockey League game against SaiPa Lappeenranta not only on home ice, but also with a two goal cushion, following their win tonight. Joonas Donskoi scored the game's only two goals as Karpat made the most of their 12 shots on goal. At the other end of this defensively played contest, Iiro Tarkki stopped all 16 SaiPa attempts for the shutout. 

When his team's few number of shots was brough up afterward, Karpat coach Lauri Marjamaki said, "It's only the ones that go in that count." He added, "When neither team takes any risks, the game will most likely be decided by special teams. Our commitment to defence was good and Tarkki was solid when needed."

In a game lacking many clear-cut scoring chances, the opening period ended goalless between the two Liiga teams. The visitors opened the scoring at 22:57 on the power play, with a nice passing move finished off by Donskoi. And it was Donoskoi who stuck again just over ten minutes later. With SaiPa on the power play, the Kärpät forward reacted to a loose puck in the neutral zone to skate through and score just as his side returned to five skaters.

Describing his first goal, Donskoi said it was the "first time we did it," adding, "We didn't even practice it. It was just something that our head coach drew on the board. I'd say it worked really well." About the second goal at the tail end of the penalty kill he said, "I got an excellent pass from (Joonas) Kemppainen and got to backhand it towards the goal. It's always nice to score shorthanded."

No further goals in the third period ensured the visitors' win.

"It's annoying. We didn't get ourselves into many good chances to score. We were too cautious at times when we should have created some opportunities, and then the other team took advantage," said SaiPa coach Pekka Tirkkonen. 

SaiPa will have it all to do in the second leg back in Oulu, against a Karpat side that has yet to lose at home in the CHL. The two clubs met in Oulu only a month ago in the Liiga, with the hosts running out 3–0 winners – possibly making SaiPa's task even harder. However, SaiPa will remember that they were 2–0 to Genève-Servette after the first leg of their eighth-final match-up, and turned it round to eventually win through.

Said Tirkkonen, "We were down two goals last time. We still believe in ourselves and we'll get ready for it. There's still 60 minutes remaining."

READ the Live Blog here | WATCH the highlights here

Donskoi on playing in Karpat's offensive and defensive situations: "It's nice that the coaching staff can trust me"

Preview

Finnish Liiga rivals SaiPa Lappeenranta and Kärpät Oulu will face each other in the Champions Hockey League quarter-finals. Kärpät have been far more successful domestically, battling Lukko Rauma for top spot, while SaiPa are in a group of four teams struggling between 9th and 12th in the 14-team circuit. These two teams have faced each other once so far in Liiga play, with Kärpät prevailing 3–0 on home ice on 1 November. Lasse Kukkonen scored twice that game for Kärpät, while Iiro Tarkki made 25 saves for the shutout. SaiPa starting goalie Jussi Markkanen was given the night off in favour of backup Andreas Bernard. 

But while their domestic fortunes have been different, the two teams are on equal footing in the CHL right now. Both teams won their groups by four-point margins and then won their eighth-final series to set up this home-and-away encounter. Kärpät won both games against the Vienna Capitals, 3–1 at home and then 3–2 in the Austrian capital. SaiPa had a harder road against Genève-Servette, first falling 2–0 in Switzerland before winning 4–2 after 60 minutes on home ice, which was followed by a scorless overtime period to set up a series-deciding shootout, which they won. Both of these teams have engaged in a lot of low-scoring affairs so far in the CHL, so this one could be a goaltending battle.

Karpat want to dicate their own game in all-Finnish battle vs SaiPa

SaiPa try to get back on track in CHL quarters

Closer look: Kärpät Oulu

(5-2-0-1, 19 points, 23:15)

For the past decade, Kärpät Oulu have been the best hockey club in Finland, winning five titles in the last 11 seasons. After a few mediocre seasons they returned to win the Liiga title in 2013–14 under new head coach Lauri Marjamäki and, after a bit of a slow start this season, are starting to show that they plan to contend again. The team continues to be led up front, both in Liiga play and in the CHL, by Joonas Donskoi (4+4=8), Joonas Kemppainen (1+6=7), Julius Junttila (4+2=6) and Czech Ivan Huml (1+4=5).

On defence, Swede Adam Masuhr joined the team for the playoff run last year and has been brilliant this year, especially in the CHL, where he has six points (3+3) in eight games. Another key pick up on the back end is Canadian Ryan Glenn (1+4=5), who played for SaiPa last season. Perhaps their biggest acquisition, however, is in goal, where Iiro Tarkki has posted impressive numbers – Tarkki has three shutouts in his first 12 Liiga games, including one against SaiPa.

Joonas

Donskoi

4+4, +8

 

CRAMO Top Scorer: Donskoi recorded six points in the group stage and added two more in the two games against Vienna to retain the top scorer’s jersey. Kärpät's most dangerous offensive weapon, Donskoi also leads the team in Liiga scoring as well.

Adam

Masuhr

3+3, +4

 

Top Defenceman: Masuhr has been deadly from the back end for Kärpät throughout the CHL, scoring three times – including including the first goal of the Vienna series – and adding three helpers as a big contributor to the team's offence. He's also a physical presence on the blueline.

 

Iiro

Tarkki

92.06 %

 

Top Goaltender: Tarkki only played one CHL group game, but he's been their go-to guy so far in Liiga play and coach Marjamakki turned to him both games against Vienna. He was solid, and Kärpät need more of that to advance further.

 

Click here for team statistics.

Closer look: SaiPa Lappeenranta

(5-1-0-2, 17 points, 23:15)

SaiPa finished 4th during the regular season and were a semi-finalist during the 2013–14 season, then they went shopping abroad to build a roster to contend for the Liiga and CHL titles this season. Significant off-season additions include Canadian centre David McIntyre (2+6=8), American winger Dave Spina (4+3=7), Swedish defenceman Johan Larsson (0+6=6) and Finnish two-way player Matt Järvinen (3+2=5), who are the club's top four scorers in the CHL.

Despite this, however, SaiPa have struggled to score goals this season, and are battling to keep their heads above water domestically. Team captain Ville Koho (0+1=1), who had a career season last year with 37 points, has been limited to only 12 games in Liiga and six in the CHL so far, so they need him to regain his scoring touch. Thanks to solid defence and goaltending from veteran Jussi Markkanen, the team has managed to get this far in the CHL, and they saw a bit of an offensive breakthrough in the second game of their series against Genève with four goals after getting shut out in game one. However, Kärpät are not easy to score on – a fact they already know from their 1 November encounter – so they'll need to get more timely goaltending, solid team defence, and try to generate some scoring if they hope to advance. 

David

McIntyre

2+6, +2

 

CRAMO Top Scorer: A former fifth-round pick of the Dallas Stars, McIntyre is in his first year playing in Europe. He is starting to find some of his collegiate touch leading, and has found good chemistry with linemate Spina – the two are the teams top two scorers in both the CHL and Liiga. 

 

Brian

Salcido

1+2, -1

 

Top Defenceman: On a club with a lot of import players, Brian Salcido has paced the defencemen in Liiga play. The American rearguard is a veteran of European hockey and the Finnish league in particular. In the CHL, Larsson has six points – all assists – from the back end. 

 

Jussi

Markkanen

91.43 %

 

Top Goaltender: Markkanen has played every minute of every game for SaiPa so far in the CHL, and has also hauled a majority of the playing time domestically. His Liiga numbers have been mediocre, but he's been solid in the CHL, so it would be a surprise if we see anybody but the veteran against Kärpät. 

 

Click here for team statistics.