Tuto Hockey saw off Ketterä 6-3 in Mestis on Saturday evening, a result that keeps them steady in third place while Ketterä remain fifth. The home side got off to a decent enough start to the season, having won three of five games so far. Ketterä's record was more uneven, with two wins and three defeats across the same number of fixtures.
Both sides had come into this meeting with mixed recent form. Tuto had beaten KeuPa 3-2 on Friday and dispatched Hermes 4-0 before that. Ketterä's most recent outing saw them edge past Kiekko-Pojat Jyväskylä 4-2, but they had lost three of the five matches before that point.
We had tipped the hosts to win, though our confidence sat at just 45 per cent — not exactly a ringing endorsement. And here's the thing, the result didn't come as a complete surprise given where Tuto had been sitting in the table. They've shown they can string wins together when it matters.
The scoreline tells you something about how the game unfolded, even if you weren't watching. Six goals for the hosts against three for the visitors suggests Tuto found their rhythm sooner. Ketterä weren't entirely switched off, but they couldn't match the tempo when it counted.
By then, Tuto had built enough of a cushion to avoid any nervous moments late on. The home side now sits on three wins from five, while Ketterä's two victories keep them adrift by comparison. The gap between them is still small enough to matter.
