Happee defeated Oilers - Kauko reached 400. assists

Happee hosted Esport Oilers in the tenth game of the season. The game was even as expected, but Happee decided in the third period.

The moose pack started strong. The home team dominated the ball and every line kept the pressure in the visitor’s end. Petri Kauko assisted Veli-Matti Hynynen, who scored the first of the evening from a great position in front of the net. Happee icon Kauko gained his 400. assist and became the first player with 400 regular season assists in the history of the Finnish league. The first period continued goalless even if both teams had some great chances.

Oilers controlled the ball in the second period and slowed down the pace. Their plan worked out and soon Christian Remes equalized from a rebound. Onni Piiparinen suffered a two-minute penalty in middle of the period and the highly effective Happee power play showed its strength once again. Veli-Matti Hynynen raced towards the net from the corner and lifted his second of the evening in the far corner.

The third period started with an exciting one goal lead for the home team. Oilers pursued vividly for the equalizer but Happee defended strong and played long attacks. The decision came when the visitors took a few penalties in the last five minutes. First Petri Kauko scored a power play goal and soon after Hynynen finalized his hat trick with five on three. Jami Manninen scored the last goal of the game in empty net.

The man of the match was undoubtly Petri Kauko, who celebrated his 38th birthday with a goal and three assists. He has 242 goals, 402 assists and 644 points combined in 511 regular season games. He has scored all of his points wearing the Happee jersey which makes the achievement even more valuable. Kauko and Hynynen has been a lethal pair for many years and they showed their stuff once again.

- It's about time that Hynynen starts scoring from these passes, Kauko joked after the game.

Head coach Mikko Lehto thought that the match was high class, even if he expected more goals.

- Both teams defended extremely well five on five in this match. Both goalies were great as well. There is some room for improvement in our ball control. We stayed on the sides in the end and failed to race to the net hard enough. A solid performance from us overall, said Lehto.

Lehto summarized the weekend in the press conference.

- I'm very happy with this weekends performance. We have 22 healthy players in our roster at the moment and everyone got to play at least one of the two games. The players accepted this rotation with great attitude and took responsibility, Lehto praised.

Happee took third place in the standings. Next game is away in Tampere against Classic on the 29.11.

Highlights