LeKi hosted Jyvaskylan Palloseura in the Sumi-sarja on Thursday evening, and the visitors took all three points with a 3:4 victory. We had tipped the home side at 54 per cent confidence going in, but the match followed a different script entirely. To be fair, the result doesn't come out of nowhere when you look at what happened on the ice.
LeKi arrived in decent form, having won four of their last five before this outing. They had dismantled Muik Hockey 4:1 and thrashed FPS 6:0, with only the narrow 2:3 defeat to Urho Jyvaskyla denting that run. And here's the thing — they had already beaten Jyvaskyla 5:1 back in September, so the visitors knew exactly what they were up against.
Jyvaskyla's recent run told a more mixed story. They had lost 1:5 to LeKi in that September meeting, then dropped points against Raahen Kiekko 1:4 and picked up wins against Hunters 4:2 and SaPKo 4:2. By then, you could sense they weren't going to roll over again. There was something different about how they approached this one.
The visitors had already proven they could handle LeKi's style, and this time they turned it around after falling behind early. The hosts tightened things up in the final period, but the guests gave away too many cheap penalties at crucial moments and couldn't hold on. It wasn't a dominant display from either side, but the visitors were sharper when it mattered.
LeKi remain top of the table with seven games played and six wins, though the gap at the summit is razor-thin. Jyvaskyla sit third, still five wins from seven, but this result closes the gap considerably. Both sides have accumulated zero points in the standings data, which means the table is still finding its shape.
What this match showed is that no team in this division is safe. LeKi had looked comfortable, but Jyvaskyla responded in a way that reminded everyone how unpredictable this league can be. The visitors now have momentum heading into their next fixture, and the hosts will need to regroup quickly.
