Jokerit took four goals to three past Tappara in a club friendly match on Wednesday evening. The game took place on August nineteenth, starting at half past three in the afternoon. It was another warm-up fixture for both sides as they prepare for the season ahead.
And here's the thing — Jokerit had been on something of a run before this one. They beat Saipa seven-one on the fifteenth, then saw off Mikkelin Jukurit three-one the day before. But they also dropped points on the seventh, losing twice to Hämeenlinna and Vasas while picking up a single win against TPS Turku.
Tappara's recent record looked steadier on paper. They drew three-two with Ilves Tampere on the seventh and had gone unbeaten in their last three meetings with Kuku, winning two of them two-one. Then came that heavy zero-two defeat at Espoo on the fourteenth, which must have sat uncomfortably with the management.
To be fair, neither side showed anything particularly alarming in this friendly. The scoreline suggests a game where both attacks found their rhythm without either defence being truly exposed. Four goals for Jokerit and three for Tappara — neither side was a menace all night, but both could raise the tempo when they needed to.
By then, both teams were looking at what this result meant in broader terms. Jokerit had shown they could finish with a positive scoreline after that mixed run of results. Tappara needed something to bounce back from the Espoo defeat, and a draw or loss would not have helped.
The friendly brought them together early, and the final score settled matters for one evening. Both managers will have seen what works and what does not, though neither would call this a true test of what they have assembled.