There were 10 points separating Vaasan Sport and second-bottom Karpat going into tonight's busy schedule, and few were anticipating an upset even after Sebastian Stalberg put the strugglers in front after five minutes.
But something was in the air in Vaasa when the home side took advantage of Tappara having too many men on the ice in the 12th minute, and Stalberg set up Kalle Miketinac to make it 2-0 on the powerplay.
In the first minute of the second period, Sport were in dreamland when Johan Sundstrom made it 3-0, but a first powerplay conceded by the hosts gave Tappara the chance to get back into the match, as Aapeli Rasanen made it a two-goal game again.
However, tensions boiling over late in the second gave Sport another man-advantage, and a goal five seconds before the break from Viljami Nieminen was precisely what they needed to thwart Tappara's comeback attempt.
Benjamin Rautiainen did pull one goal back after five minutes in the final period to make it 4-2, but that was how things stayed, as Sport picked up a second win in three, but a first in regulation since 22nd November. For the Tampere side, it's now two defeats in three.
Tappara's lead at the top is now two points, but now it's JYP who are their closest challengers, as they cruised to a 4-1 win away at Hameenlinna and overtook Assat, who drop back to third following a third defeat in a row, this time on penalties to Pelicans, 2-1.
Two Leevi Tukiainen goals helped JYP to a fourth win in five as Hameenlinna fall to 14th following a third regulation-time loss in a row. Joona Kumpula was Pelicans' hero, scoring the winning penalty for the Lahti side, who sit 11th. Assat now sit just a point inside the top four.
KooKoo moved back into the top four and are now level on points with Assat as they stormed past KalPa, 6-2. They have gone ahead of Lukko, who lost the battle of the teams on six-match winning runs, as they were defeated 5-2 away at SaiPa, who remain in sixth place.
Shooting up the standings into seventh place are Ilves, who despite a Champions Hockey League exit are now on a five-match winning streak, which they reached appropriately by thrashing Kiekko-Espoo 5-0 at home, as Dominik Pavlat made 20 saves en route to victory.
Finally, TPS Turku strengthened their position in the Playoff places, climbing to ninth with a 4-3 overtime success over IFK Helsinki, who missed the chance to climb into the top 12.
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