A heated encounter in the capital saw Sean Josling and Teemu Engberg dismissed for fighting midway through the first period, yet despite an abundance of powerplays, there was only one that resulted in a goal.
It arrived in the eighth minute of the second period - Ilves were without Lukas Svejkovsky following an interference call - and HIFK went ahead through Petr Kodytek.
The visitors produced 22 shots on target to the hosts' 15, with a 9-3 count in Ilves' favour in the third period, but they fell to a 1-0 defeat, their first in domestic action since 28th November.
Rastislav Elias and Hugo Alnefelt both contributed to the HIFK shutout, as they climbed to 10th following a third win in a row.
Defeat to SaiPa last time out had seen KooKoo relinquish fourth place to their opponents, but they responded in style with a 6-1 thrashing of JYP on home ice.
After a goalless first 20 minutes, Ville Meskanen struck twice, either side of the game's midpoint, to give KooKoo a lead that Kim Nousiainen extended before the second period was up.
The Kuovola side were keen to make a statement, and Samuel Valkeejarvi added a fourth early in the final period, and though Jere Lassila pulled one back, there was no stopping KooKoo, and Meskanen in particular, as he completed his hattrick with an empty netter, before Vilmos Gallo completed the rout.
Back-to-back losses keep JYP third, though the two sides are now level on 66 points, three shy of Lukko in second, as the Rauma side returned to winning ways by cruising to a 4-1 victory over Karpat, who drop to second-bottom following back-to-back defeats.
The night got better for KooKoo, as two goals from Aleksi Saarela helped TPS Turku to a 1-4 away success at SaiPa, which means KooKoo and the Lapeenranta side swap places again in the battle for the top four. TPS sit ninth as they stopped a three-game losing rot for their first points of 2026.
The gap between first and second, meanwhile, remained at six points as six different scorers helped Tappara to a 6-2 victory over early pacesetters Assat. It's three wins from three in the new year for the Tampere side, while the Aces remain the picture of inconsistency in seventh place.
KalPa are now within three points of the Pori club but they were forced to come from behind and then cling on for the points in their 4-3 victory over last-placed Vaasan Sport. However, it's a fourth win in five for the champions, as Sport are now eight points adrift.
That is because a second win in three for Hameenlinna took them above Karpat into 14th - they won 2-0 at home to Kiekko-Espoo, as Cameron Wright scored his sixth goal in as many games and Kim Saarinen made 21 saves to shutout Kiekko, who have falled to 11th place.
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