Back-to-back victories by two goals had put KooKoo halfway to reaching the Liiga finals, but thanks to a strong first period, SaiPa ensured their opponents wouldn't any closer this evening.
The visitors took the lead in the ninth minute when Miikka Salomaki needed three bites of the cherry to score - two to get the better of goaltender Eetu Randelin and another to prod the puck over the line as Vilmos Gallo tried to clear.
In the final five minutes of the opening period, Antti Kalapudas registered his second assist by finding Santari Airola in space and he did the rest with a clean strike, then when Kim Nousiainen was guilty of a delay of game penalty, Patrik Siikanen made it 3-0 on the powerplay in the 20th minute.
KooKoo were in need of a response in the second period, but didn't get one - three minutes in, Kalapudas was again the provider, this time for Henri Nikkanen to bury SaiPa's fourth goal.
When Salomaki was penalised for roughing midway through the match, the Kouvola side got on the board through Oskari Luoto's powerplay goal.
A couple more powerplays in the third gave KooKoo the chance to mount a real comeback, but they failed to take advantage, and could only add an Otto Paajanen consolation with just over a minute to go, meaning SaiPa had done enough to win 4-2 and get right back in the series.
In Tampere, after a 3-2 win in game one, Ilves humiliated their local rivals Tappara 6-0 in game two to give themselves a huge chance of knocking out the top seeds.
If the Lynx do not go on to win the semi-final, they will look back on a slashing penalty against Otto Latvala as a key moment. He was dismissed for the foul in the eighth minute, and from it, Tappara opened up a 2-0 lead.
Less than a minute on from Latvala's dismissal, Kristian Tanus' pass unlocked the disadvantaged Ilves defence and Joachim Blichfeld fired in the opener. Less than three minutes later, Benjamin Rautiainen had all the time in the world to pick his spot and score the second powerplay goal.
When Ilves were back to full strength in period two, they showed their true capabilities - less than two minutes in, Matias Mantykivi stole the puck and played it across for Matic Torok to tuck home, and in the 35th minute they were level, as Carl Klingberg went through on goal and beat Christian Heljanko.
However, indiscipline was again the designated visitors' undoing. Inside the last six minutes of the match, Ilves committed too many men to the ice, and on the powerplay, Jyrki Jokipakka's shot was defelected in off the skate of Kasper Simontaival.
That was enough for Tappara to get a 3-2 win that halves the series deficit, despite not scoring a goal against a full-strength Ilves for two games in a row.
Ilves and Tappara will return for game four on Thursday 23rd, while SaiPa and KooKoo will be back on the ice on Friday 24th.
