Jarvenpaa vs K-Vantaa

Järvenpää opened the scoring early. Tomi Palo put the hosts ahead at 1:50, finishing from Vertti Volotinen and Atte Kalliomäki to give Haukat a dream start in front of 263 spectators.

K-Vantaa responded through Tommy Willberg at 11:13, who levelled the scores with help from Ron Gustafsson and Antti Virtanen. The visitors then struck a decisive blow in the dying seconds of the first period. With Järvenpää's Leevi Leipijärvi in the penalty box for high sticking, Niclas Tenhovuori scored a power-play goal at 19:59 — just one second before the intermission — to make it 2-1.

The second period belonged entirely to K-Vantaa. Tenhovuori struck again at 24:43 to extend the lead, then completed his hat-trick at 37:47 with another power-play marker, again set up by Gustafsson and Virtanen. K-Vantaa took a 4-1 lead into the final frame.

The third period brought more pressure from the visitors. Pyry Pajuriutta made it 5-1 at 43:14, Teemu Toikka added a sixth at 46:28, and Veeti Räsänen scored a power-play goal at 49:56 to push the lead to 7-1. Lukas Olenius pulled one back for Haukat at 57:13, but the damage was long done.

The game turned in the final minute of the first period. Järvenpää had matched K-Vantaa for the opening 18 minutes after Willberg's equaliser, but Leipijärvi's high-sticking call at 19:57 handed the visitors a power play with seconds remaining. Tenhovuori's goal at 19:59 — essentially the last play of the period — gave K-Vantaa a lead they never surrendered and deflated the hosts heading into the locker room.

From that point, K-Vantaa outscored Haukat 5-1 over the final 40 minutes.

Niclas Tenhovuori (K-Vantaa) — The forward was clinical, scoring three goals including two on the power play. His first-period strike just before the buzzer was the match's defining moment. The hat-trick marked a statement pre-season performance.

Antti Virtanen (K-Vantaa) — Virtanen orchestrated the attack from the back, recording four primary assists across all three periods. He was involved in every key sequence for the visitors.

Niku Halla-Aho (Haukat) — The Järvenpää goaltender made 33 saves in a losing cause, facing heavy pressure particularly in the second and third periods. The scoreline would have been wider without his workload.

Aleksandrs Losevs (K-Vantaa) — The K-Vantaa netminder stopped 30 of 32 shots, comfortably handling Haukat's attempts, especially a quieter opening two periods where he faced only 12 shots.

The shot count (33-30 in saves) reflects K-Vantaa's territorial dominance, particularly in the middle frame where they outshot Haukat decisively. The special teams battle was one-sided: K-Vantaa converted three of their four power-play opportunities, while Haukat failed to score on their lone man advantage. Haukat conceded four minor penalties to K-Vantaa's one — a discipline gap that proved costly.

The assist sheet tells the story of K-Vantaa's structure: Virtanen (four assists) and Gustafsson (three) combined for seven of the visitors' 13 assists on the night, orchestrating play through the neutral zone and finding open men in the offensive end.

The match was part of Mestis pre-season preparations ahead of the 2026-27 regular season, which begins on 11 September. K-Vantaa's next scheduled friendly is at home against Pyry on 18 August. For Haukat Järvenpää, who play in Suomi-sarja (the third tier), the fixture provided a valuable test against Mestis-level opposition. They continue their pre-season schedule with further friendlies ahead of their league campaign.

K-Vantaa looked sharp for an August friendly, with their power play clicking at 75% and their top line combining for seven points. Tenhovuori's hat-trick and Virtanen's four-assist night suggest the Mestis side's attacking structure is already well-drilled. Haukat had moments but were undone by penalties and could not cope with K-Vantaa's depth once the visitors found their rhythm in the second period.