- Tappara scored four goals in under seven minutes
- Samuel Salonen scored a brace
- Three goals scored within final minute of the game
Tappara Tampere scored four goals in under seven minutes midway through the second period and added another two before the final buzzer to earn them the win in a heated duel against HC Lugano.
Samuel Salonen found the back of the net twice and Tyler Morley recorded two assists as the Finns held off a rejuvenated Lugano side in the final period to seal the deal.
Despite no goals, the first period was full of action – Tappara had a powerplay opportunity just three minutes into the game before a two plus two high-sticking call for Veli-Matti Vittasmäki returned the favour for the home team.
There were another two penalties called throughout the period, one on each side, as both teams ended the first 20 minutes having thoroughly tested both their powerplay units and penalty kill units.
Midway through the second period, Tappara turned the game on its head, scoring two goals in a span of just 29 seconds. The first came from a five-on-three powerplay, as Brady Austin let it loose from close to the blue line.
The second, knocked in by Kyle Platzer, came after a great few seconds of passing play that caught the Lugano defence and goaltender Niklas Schlegel totally off guard.
Tappara added their third as Samuel Salonen fired from straight in front of the Lugano net, before hitting the back of the net again with a lovely one-timer on the powerplay, ending their offensive explosion in the second period.
Christian Heljanko pulled off some big saves throughout the final period, as Lugano upped the pressure, eager to get back into the game. It took some time, but they finally knocked one back at 52:53 thanks to Daniel Carr, who fired an absolute howitzer into the Tappara net.
Lugano got their second just a minute later – Troy Josephs managed to wrap the puck behind the Tappara goaltender’s back and into the net.
Niklas Schlegel left his net three minutes before the final buzzer, but to no avail, as the only team that managed to score were Tappara with an empty-netter.
Sami Moilanen added extra salt into the wound scoring Tappara’s sixth and final goal of the night, but Lugano decided they weren’t done just yet.
With just three seconds to go, Evan Tschumi slotted in the final goal of this action-packed game.