Ilves began the evening in fourth place, but the gap to Lukko was so fine that even a narrow win in regulation would not guarantee they kept the spot if the Rauma side picked up a big win to swing the goal difference in their favour.
With that in mind, Ilves needed a strong start, only to fall behind in the ninth minute, when Antti Kalapudas put SaiPa in front. However, the match was won and the Quarter-final place sealed in the second period.
Teemu Engberg struck the equaliser in the third minute, and that lit the blue touch paper for the Lynx, who turned the match on its head through Joonas Nattinen, before Samuli Ratinen made it 3-1 just 49 seconds of play after Engberg's leveller.
Erik Borg struck another for the Tampere side midway through the match, and despite briefly conceding a 5-on-3 situation late in the period, Ilves comfortably held on for a 4-1 win, their fifth in their last six regular season matches. SaiPa also head to the Quarter-finals on the back of two defeats in three.
That result meant Lukko had to win by eight goals against a KalPa side who began the night a point behind in the battle for fourth, but they could only manage to seal a win in overtime after a thrilling match that ended 6-5.
The Lukko fans were thinking it was their night early on when Connor Ford and Nuutti Viitasalo had them 2-0 up inside five minutes, but not only did Cade Borchardt pull one back two minutes later, Patrick Curry got KalPa back on level terms early in the second period.
Suddenly it was all KalPa - Ville Ruotsalainen scored shorthanded to put them ahead and Juuso Kononen made it four unanswered, only for Eric Gelinas to stop the rot approaching the 40-minute mark.
Borchardt's second of the game, in between equalisers from Antti Saarela and Henri Ikonen saw the teams tied at 5-5 after 60 minutes. News filtering through of Ilves' win meant both sides knew they were wildcard round-bound before Antoine Morand struck the winner for Lukko two minutes into overtime.
Lukko finish fifth, a point shy of Ilves, while JYP climbed above KalPa into sixth, with a 5-4 win over Assat which was never going to be enough to reach the Quarter-finals with other results going against them.
The Pori side came from 3-0 down to level, but a second wind for JYP in the middle period was enough to end their three-game losing run, while Assat already knew they were destined to finish eighth before their first loss in three.
Hameenlinna fans were celebrating before overtime started, as despite throwing away a 2-0 lead against regular season title winners Tappara, Veeti Miettinen's last-minute winner for KooKoo inflicted a third consecutive loss on TPS Turku, 4-3, confirming HPK had held onto the final playoff place.
That also ensured the Kouvola team climbed above SaiPa and into second, snatching a place in the Champions Hockey League for next season.
HPK went onto mark their wildcard place in style, as Olli Korhonen scored the winner two minutes into OT to seal a 3-2 win, the home side's first victory in four, as Tappara finish the regular campaign with back-to-back defeats, finishing on 117 points, two clear of KooKoo
Kiekko-Espoo signed off their regular season in style, winning for the fourth game in a row and with a shutout for Petteri Rimpinen, who made 20 saves in a 3-0 triumph over Jukurit. A ninth-place finish sees KE safely into the wildcard round, while the Mikkeli side
Finishing in 10th and 11th respectively were IFK Helsinki and Pelicans, who faced off in the capital this evening attempting to take winning streaks into the playoffs, and it was HIFK who extended theirs to six matches with a 4-0 victory, as the Lahti side forced Hugo Alnefelt into just 10 saves.
Vaasan Sport finish the season with 20 consecutive defeats - they led after 40 minutes at home to Karpat, but three goals in the final period, including two in the final minute, saw the visitors win 3-1 and sign off their season in 14th, denying Sport just an 11th win of the campaign.
