Falling to a an overtime loss on home ice in game two, KalPa could barely afford to go 3-0 down in their series with Ilves, but they found themselves up against it in the first period, as the hosts had 16 shots on goal to their six, but they held out until the 20-minute mark with the game still goalless.
Tempers flared in period two when both teams had two players penalised for fighting, and after KalPa survived their second powerplay conceded of the match, they made Ilves pay for not taking chances, as Ville Ruotsalainen set up Lasse Lappalainen to break the deadlock midway through the game.
The lead lasted little more than a minute, as Luke Henman found Radek Kucerik on the left and he squeezed the equaliser in at the near post, but KalPa were back in front five minutes later when Tim Soderlund drew the goaltender and hooked the puck back for Jaakko Lantta to score.
In the first minute of the final period, the sides were all-square again when Lukas Jasek's pas found Jens Looke in front, and he produced a great finish, but the match swung KalPa's way for good in the final seven minutes, following a Carl Klingberg penalty for interference.
Andreas Okany took it upon himself to cut in from the left and bury a shot that put the away side in front again, but this time there was no Ilves equaliser, and with two minutes left, Jaakko Rissanen found the empty net to give the reigning champions a two-goal cushion.
Henman pulled a goal back, but his second of the game was just a consolation, as KalPa won 4-3 and will have the chance to level the series back at home on Monday 6th.
Following two games lasting over 90 minutes each, game three between SaiPa and Assat was done and dusted within 60 minutes, and it was the Lappeenranta side celebrating the early finish, as they won 4-1 on home ice to take their first series lead.
Two of three powerplays awarded in the first period were conceded by Ondrej Trebal, but this one was also goalless after 20 minutes. That changed three minutes into period two, when Santeri Airola's strike from range somehow evaded traffic and flew in.
An illegal check to the head by Miikka Salomaki looked to have slowed the SaiPa momentum soon after, but within a minute they had scored shorthanded, as Eero Klintrup was given far too much space on the left to go through on goal and fire home a second goal.
Assat's evening got worse in the third period, when they were guilty of too many men on the ice and Henri Nikkanen scored on the powerplay, before Maxime Fortier put the game to bed with SaiPa's fourth in the final 10 minutes.
Fortier was then dismissed for cross-checking, and though Valtteri Lipiainen scored a consolation on the powerplay in the final three minutes, Assat's goal was no more than that. The two sides will meet again in Pori for game four, also on 6th April.
