Oilers had a chance to win the championship in front of their home audience, but Classic won the game 10-3. This means, that the trophy will be won in game 7, which is played in Hakametsä Icehall on Saturday at 17:00.
There was intencity and drama from the start in Wednesday’s game. Eemeli Salin scored in the opening minute and Classic took the lead. Salin quickly put the ball in the net again, but the referees checked the goal from video and ruled a no-goal verdict. However, Salin scored once again after eight minutes. Ville Lastikka took Classic to 3-0 lead after a great pass from Peteris Trekse. Oilers’ player Eppu Suhanto took a red card as an aftermath of a small row and hence Classic had a chance to play powerplay for four minutes. However, Oilers fought and succeeded to kill the powerplay without any goals.
Oilers had control of the game in the second period, but was not able to get goals. Teemu Karppanen, however, grew the lead for Classic by shooting a goal after an assist from Janne Lamminen. Oilers and Heikki Iiskola had a chance to open their goal-streak with a penalty shot, but Lassi Toriseva held on in the goal.
Oilers finally scored in the opening minute of the third period by Tuomas Iiskola. Classic soon retaliated, not only once by Ville Lastikka, but twice with a goal from Peteris Trekse as well, making the score 1-6. Oilers decided to pull their goalie off the field in the middle of third period, which resulted in goals to an empty net by Jami Manninen and Ville Lastikka. Ilari Talvitie and Arttu Haapala were able to score for Oilers in the final minutes, and Alpo Laitila and Viljami Virtanen finalized the numbers into 3-10 for Classic.
The finals were taken to game 7 las year as well, when Oilers won in Hakametsä with numbers 6-4. In spring 2023 the seventh game was taken into overtime, before TPS was able to defeat Nokian KrP.
