In the week’s first game, against Tappara, Joni Ikonen took a puck to the face just before the first intermission, but was back when play resumed in the second period. Against one of the top teams in Liiga, he featured for just short of 14 minutes, his lowest time on ice since his return.
The centre did step up in a good way, showing a lot of skill and drive. His shot locations were very good, most of them taken from within the home-plate area and two of them from the high-danger area just outside the crease. Ikonen mostly drove play from his own end to the Tappara end through the game, and it looked to be a more driven, strong, and mature centre who stood up well against the second-best team on the Liiga table.