Of their previous eight successive wins, the last six had all come in regulation time, yet when Matyas Kantner gave Karpat the lead in the eighth minute, the Tampere side knew they would have their work cut out to keep that run going.
Yet, three minutes into the second period, the hosts would have taken a win of any kind, as a holding call against Simon Johansson resulted in Aleksi Antti-Roiko putting the Oulu side two goals to the good.
However, a four-minute spell at the end of the second showed exactly why Ilves are Liiga's form team, as Teemu Engberg got them back in the game, before Lukas Jasak grabbed a powerplay goal to level the scores.
The Lynx's momentum counted for little in the third period, as neither side could force a winner in regulation. It was beginning to look like a shootout would be needed to separate the sides, until five minutes into overtime, when Radek Kucerik struck to give Ilves the points and the 3-2 win.
Ilves are still in seventh place - showing just how far off the pace they were before this run - but are now level on points with SaiPa and only three behind KooKoo in fourth, neither of whom were in action tonight. The point Karpat gained keeps them in 14th position.
Tappara will be top at New Year after JYP needed overtime to beat Hameenlinna, 3-2. Leevi Tukiainen scored in regulation and a penalty in overtime to give JYP the win, but two points as opposed to three saw them draw level on 66 with Tappara club, but stay below them on goal difference.
Hameenlinna remain level on points on Karpat, but also have a worse goal difference, keeping them in 15th place. On the back of six successive defeats, they will be happier than anyone to see the back of 2025.
To compound matters for Hameenlinna, they are now only six points off the bottom, as Vaasan Sport picked up a second win in five, downing Assat 2-1 at home.
Brad Hunt gave the side propping up the standings an eighth-minute lead, but normal service looked to have been restored when Aleksi Anttalainen equalised in the final minute of the opening period.
However, not only did the Pori side fail to kick on, their indisclipline cost them late on. Peter Tiivola was dismissed for slashing in the final eight minutes, allowing Johan Sundstrom to grab the winner for Sport.
A seventh loss in nine keeps Assat in fifth place, and makes them rivals with Hameenlinna for who has had the worst end to the year.
Wrapping up 2025, Thomas Olsen scored twice for Jukurit as they eventually pulled away from Pelicans to record a 5-3 home victory. The hosts leapfrog their opponents to climb to 11th, while the Lahti side occupy the final Playoff place following a third loss on the spin.
Review all tonight's Liiga action, plus all the stats and standings, on Flashscore.
