Assat beat SaiPa in a shootout to extend their winning run to five matches two days earlier, but the visitors to Pori got their revenge in real style with a 5-0 hammering that sees them take a fourth win in the last five matches, as Assat slip to fourth, once place above the Lappeenranta side.
The night began badly for Assat when Alexandre Doucet's goal was disallowed after review, before Andrew Peski gave SaiPa the lead. Either side of the 20-minute mark Otto Hokkanen and Nick Zabaneh both scored shorthanded goals, and it was 5-0 before the end of the second as Janne Naukkarinen and Aarna Intonen added powerplay strikes. There were no more goals in the third period, as Kari Piiroinen took his save count to 22 to complete an impressive shutout on the road.
JYP ensured they would remain top of the pile thanks to a 4-3 win at IFK Helsinki, their sixth win inside regulation time out of six this season. HIFK stay just above the bottom three after suffering a fifth defeat from seven so far this term.
Valtteri Ojantakanen scored in the first two periods, either side of an Iiro Pakarinen equaliser and Reece Newkirk regaining the lead for JYP. The home side rallied in the third with strikes from Ossi Sippola and Daniel Makiaho in the final nine minutes, but Arvid Costmar's strike settled JYP nerves.
Ilves have moved into third in the standings, picking up a fourth win in a row by thrashing KooKoo 6-0, a seventh loss from seven this season for the Kouvola side, who remain on just one point.
Ilvari Heikkinen and Toni Utunen had the Tampere side 2-0 up in the first period before they added another two in the second through Timi Teuho-Markkola and Jarkko Parikka, and to complete the set, Ilves notched two more in the third - Luke Henman and John Nyberg added their names to the scoresheet, while Mantas Armalis made 24 saves to maintain his clean sheet.
Jukurit remain in second place but are now a point behind JYP after needing overtime to beat Kiekko-Espoo, 2-1. It's a sixth win in a row for the side who finished 15th last season, while KE have lost three of their last four, with three of those going to overtime.
It took until midway through the third period for the match to ignite, as Jacob Hayhurst gave Jukurit the lead, only for Linus Oberg to level for the visitors less than 30 seconds later. Over four minutes into OT, Connor Ford struck the game winner to hand the Mikkeli side two more points.
Jokerit were unable to build on their first win of the season last time out and instead stay 16th following a 2-1 loss to TPS Turku, who climb to sixth following a fourth win from seven thus far.
Joel Maatta broke the deadlock with just under five minutes to play in the second period, and the points weren't safe until two minutes of the 60 to play, when Otto Paajanen scored on a powerplay. At the other end, TPS were denied a shutout in the final minute when Riku Tuomola scored a consolation.