Kärpät comfortably cruised to their first three points against a Dragons side who struggled to match their pace. A breakaway goal after three minutes by Kärpät’s fourth liner Jari Sailio eased them into the game after the Dragons had established themselves with an opening spell of possession in the offensive zone. The hosts doubled their lead halfway through the period when a ricocheted shot eventually found its way back to Teemu Kivihalme, who fired a slapshot past the screened Dragons netminder. 

A tightly fought contest in the second period, which included some gritty neutral zone play, was eventually put to bed by the hosts with a powerplay goal. Scorer Lasse Kukkonen collected his own rebound after tipping a shot towards the net, taking a heavy check from behind for his efforts. The Dragon’s attempts, however, weren’t left unnoticed by Kärpät netminder Jussi Rynnäs, whose helmet was stung by an effort from forward Alexander Aleardi.

An untimely line change by the Dragons allowed Mika Pyörälä to score the fourth and final goal of the game, in what proved to be an otherwise uneventful third period. The French Champions were left outshot and outclassed by a Finnish side who got the job done in front of their home fans.