A 6-0 defeat to go 2-0 down in the series really put the number one seeds under pressure, but Tappara showed their mettle in game three to reduce the deficit with a 3-2 success. Judging by their first period performance, that win had been the perfect tonic for tonight's designated visitors.
They took the lead in the third minute when a scrap for the puck on the Ilves blue line saw Benjamin Rautiainen emerge with the puck and go through on goal, before sliding it across for Joachim Blichfeld to bury with a one-timer.
The second goal arrived less than six minutes later when a neat Kristian Tanus reverse pass was latched onto by Kasper Simontaival, who deked his way through the defence before slotting past the goaltender for 2-0.
Tappara failed to score outside of powerplays in games two and three, only to do just that three times in the opening 18 minutes this evening - Aapeli Rasanan made it 3-0 when he did just enough to poke Daniel Brickley's pass into the net as bodies and sticks went flying in the goal area.
After 21 Tappara shots to Ilves' five in the opening period, the second was a much more even contest, not that the Lynx could use that to their advantage, failing to make use of an early powerplay for slashing against Juuso Nykanen, setting the tone for a goalless 20 minutes.
That was no bother to Tappara, who then all but killed off the match three minutes into the third period, when Brickley was again the provider, teeing up Joni Tuulola to leather a one-time hit from the blue line which flew into the net.
Ilves at least got themselves on the board with a little over 12 minutes to play when Lukas Jasek and Luke Henman put together a confident attack before Jens Looke finished well from the middle of the Tappara zone.
That looked to be far too little too late, but the hosts still threw on an extra attacker in the final minutes, but on a night when little went Ilves' way, the conceded again, as Oiva Keskinen found the empty net to complete a 5-1 thrashing.
The series lead is on the line when the two meet in game five on Saturday 25th. 24 hours earlier, SaiPa welcome KooKoo for game four of their series, which the Kouvola side currently lead 2-1.