Tampere Derby: Ilves Edge Tappara to Open Liiga Semi-Finals

Ilves survive late tappara rally to take game 1 of Tampere derby

 

Ilves beat Tappara 3-2 in Game 1 of the Liiga semi-final at Nokia Arena, surviving a late comeback after racing to a 2-0 lead in 94 seconds.

Ilves strike early, hold on late to beat Tappara in game 1. Ratinen, Looke lift Ilves past Tappara in semi-final game 1...

Ilves held off a mounting Tappara comeback to win the opening game of Liiga’s all-Tampere playoff semi-final, 3-2.

With the whole best-of-seven series for a spot in the finals taking place at Nokia Arena, neither side is likely to benefit from home advantage, as was proven this evening, though Ilves still had to deal with a hostile atmosphere from the blue-and-orange clad fans.

The tone was set in the first minute, even though Ondrej Kos' goal was disallowed following a video review. Ilves then scored one that counted less than two minutes later, when a scramble for the puck deep in Tappara territory ended with Carl Klingberg finding Peter Quenneville, who finished from close range.

Just 14 seconds of play later, it was 2-0, as Erik Borg forced a Tappara turnover at center ice before Samuli Ratinen took control, raced into the attacking zone and fired in his first goal of the postseason.

That's how things stayed until the second period, in which Ratinen and Jarkko Parikka both took penalties, but the regular season champions failed to capitalize on either power play.

Early in the third period, the Lynx were at it again, extending their lead when Jens Looke and Lukas Jasek played a slick one-two to beat an exposed Tappara defence, before Looke finished the move in style.

🚨 RATI-RITI!

Vain 14 sekuntia edellisestä ja @ilveshockey kaksi edelle 💥

📺 @MTVUrheilu | #Liiga https://t.co/MX9iq60Di4 pic.twitter.com/OziNm8xzsD

— Liiga (@smliiga) April 16, 2026

The Battle Axe then turned to Otto Rauhala and Joni Tuulola to mount a fightback - three minutes after conceding, Rauhala played the puck back to Tuulola at the blue line, and his speculative shot went all the way through.

With just under 11 minutes to play, the comeback was really on when Rauhala tried a shot from the left that was blocked, and coming in from the left was Tuulola to collect the rebound in the slot and find the gap through traffic and past the goaltender to make it 3-2.

But after setting up the grandstand finish, Tappara failed to find the equaliser, and Ilves held on to beat their Tampere rivals and take a 1-0 series lead. The pair meet again on April 19, with the fourth seeds the designated hosts next time.