2021 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs

The 2021 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs or the 2021 Naisten Liiga playoffs (Finnish: Naisten Liiga pudotuspelit 2021) was the playoff tournament of the 2020–21 Naisten Liiga season. The Naisten Liiga playoffs began on 3 March and the Aurora Borealis Cup was awarded to Kiekko-Espoo, the 38th Finnish Champion in women's ice hockey, on 25 March.

2021 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs

Naisten Liiga pudotuspelit 2021 (Finnish) 2021 Naisten Liiga playoffs
Tournament details
Dates	3–25 March 2021
Format	Best-of
Teams	8
Defending champions	Kiekko-Espoo
Final positions
Champions	Kiekko-Espoo (15th title)
Runner-up	KalPa Kuopio
Third place	HIFK Helsinki
Fourth place	Ilves Tampere
Tournament statistics
Scoring leader(s)	Elisa Holopainen (KalPa) (16 points)
Awards
MVP	Tiia Pajarinen
← 2020 2022 →

Playoff bracket

International travel restrictions and quarantine protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated extended travel schedules for national teams competing in the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship, originally scheduled to begin on 4 April 2021, and the Naisten Liiga playoff structure was modified to conclude a week earlier than expected to accommodate a training camp within the quarantine period for the Finnish national team. On 27 February, it was announced that, in order to name the Finnish Champion by 27 March at the latest, the quarterfinal series were to be reduced from the standard best-of-five system to best-of-three. The best-of-five semifinals and finals and the bronze medal match remain unchanged.^[1][2]

In an unexpected twist, on 4 March the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced that the 2021 Women's Worlds were to be postponed until 6–16 May 2021.^[3] As the first games of the Naisten Liiga quarterfinals had already been played the day before, the playoff structure announced on 27 February remained in place following announcement of the postponement.

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
	1	Kiekko-Espoo	2
	8	Team Kuortane	0
						1	Kiekko-Espoo	3
						4	Ilves Tampere	1
	4	Ilves Tampere	2
	5	HPK Hämeenlinna	0
												Kiekko-Espoo	3
												KalPa Kuopio	1
	2	KalPa Kuopio	2
	7	Kärpät Oulu	0
						2	KalPa Kuopio	3			Bronze medal game
						3	HIFK Helsinki	2
	3	HIFK Helsinki	2									HIFK Helsinki	2
	6	TPS Turku	0								4	Ilves Tampere	1

Quarterfinals

The best-of-three quarterfinals (Finnish: Puolivälierät) began on 3 March 2021 and were scheduled to be continued on 6 March with a third 7 March, if necessary. Home ice advantage was granted to the higher seeded teams for the first and potential third games. Each of the four quarterfinal series concluded in two game sweeps in favor of the higher seeded teams.

(1) Kiekko-Espoo vs. (8) Team Kuortane

Kiekko-Espoo earned the first seed after winning the regular season title with 2.41 points per game, marking the team's third consecutive regular season victory, and finished with 65 points in 27 games.^[4] Team Kuortane defeated RoKi Rovaniemi in the last game on the last day of the season to claim second place in the lower division series and secure the eighth seed.^[5] The teams last met in the 2019–20 Aurora Borealis Cup semifinals, which Kiekko-Espoo won in three games.^[6] They faced one another only once during the 2020–21 season, a 5–3 victory for Kiekko-Espoo on 14 November 2020.

Game times in Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00)

3 March 2021 19:05

Kiekko-Espoo

4–2 (2–2, 2–0, 0–0)

Team Kuortane

Tapiolan harjoitusareena, Espoo

Game reference
	Tiia Parjarinen	Goalies	Emilia Kyrkkö	Referee: Henna Åberg Linesmen: Salla-Maaria Raitala Julia Haiminen
	Vesa (Rajahuhta, Laitinen) – 5:13 1–0 1–1 7:50 – Sundelin (Vartiainen) 1–2 16:10 – Kaila (Tervonen) Rajahuhta (Rakkolainen) – 19:50 2–2 Rajahuhta – 37:18 3–2 Vesa (Rajahuhta, Rakkolainen) – 37:48 4–2
	2 min	Penalties	6 min
	51	Shots	21

6 March 2021 15:30

Team Kuortane

0–6

Kiekko-Espoo

Kuortaneen jäähalli, Kuortane

Game reference
	Aino Laitinen Emilia Kyrkkö	Goalies	Tiia Pajarinen	Referee: Henna Åberg Linesmen: Kristian Ouri Anssi Mutka
	0-1 16:38 – Vesa (Leinonen) (SH) 0-2 35:57 – Rajahuhta (Rakkolainen, Laitinen) 0-3 37:22 – Rakkolainen (Vesa, Laitinen) 0-4 42:42 – Viitasuo (Vesa, Villilä) (PP) 0-5 44:34 – Viitasuo (S. Nuutinen) (PP) 0-6 51:40 – Haukijärvi (Katjamäki, Vesa)
	29 min	Penalties	4 min
	25	Shots	42

(2) KalPa vs. (7) Kärpät

KalPa Kuopio secured the second seed after completing the regular season with 2.24 points per game (56 points in 25 games), propelled by the elite production of forwards Elisa Holopainen, who scored 32 goals and 22 assists (54 points) in 18 games of the qualifiers to rank first in every scoring metric of the series, and Matilda Nilsson, the regular season goal scoring champion, who tallied 8 goals in 7 regular season (upper division) games.^[4] Kärpät Oulu topped the lower division standings to secure the seventh seed with 24 points in 10 games. The teams last met in the 2019–20 Aurora Borealis Cup semifinals, which Kiekko-Espoo won in three games.^[6] KalPa won both games in this season's series during the Naisten Liiga qualifiers.

Game times in Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00)

3 March 2021 18:30

KalPa Kuopio

3–2 (2–1, 1–0, 0–1)

Kärpät Oulu

Niiralan Monttu, Kuopio

Game reference
	Tiina Ranne	Goalies	Johanna Oksman	Referee: Sini Kauhanen Linesmen: Santeri Smahl Joonas Heinonen
	0-1 9:34 – Antti-Roiko (Rahunen, Keränen) Holopainen (Saari) – 12:54 1-1 Rantanen (Koljonen, Juutilainen) – 19:25 2-1 Niskanen (Koljonen, Holopainen) – 36:14 3-1 3-2 55:47 – Kaijankoski (Antti-Roiko, Nousiainen) (PP)
	8 min	Penalties	2 min
	20	Shots	24

6 March 2021 (2021-03-06) 12:30

Kärpät Oulu

4–5 (0-2, 1-1, 3-1, 0-1)

KalPa Kuopio

Raksilan jäähalli, Oulu

Game reference
	Johanna Oksman	Goalies	Tiina Ranne	Referee: Johanna Tauriainen Linesmen: Linnea Sainio Jonne Mustonen
	0-1 2:57 – Holopainen (Niskanen, Saari) 0-2 11:44 – Saari (Holopainen, Niskanen) 0-3 21:53 – Mäkelä (Holopainen, Niskanen) (PP) Kaijankoski (Karjalainen, Havana) (PP) – 34:34 1-3 Karjalainen (Nousiainen, Antti-Roiko) (PP) – 41:54 2-3 Havana (Karjalainen) – 48:02 3-3 Sarkkinen Mata (Antti-Roiko) (DP) – 56:11 4-3 4-4 57:58 – Holopainen (Niskanen, Juutilainen) (PP) 4-5 69:47 – Mäkelä (Juutilainen, Saari) (PP)
	32 min	Penalties	12 min
	31	Shots	29

(3) HIFK vs. (6) TPS

Having gained promotion to the Naisten Liiga just two seasons prior, HIFK Helsinki continued their meteoric rise to finish third in the regular season with 2.11 points per game (57 points in 27 games). TPS Turku concluded the season with 1.44 points per game (39 points in 27 games) to finish sixth in the regular season and secure the team's first appearance in the playoffs – an impressive return after narrowly avoiding relegation in the previous season.^[7] HIFK won three of four matchups during the 2020–21 season. HIFK forward Michaela Pejzlová, the regular season scoring champion, scored 9 points in the season series with TPS.

Game times in Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00)

3 March 2021 (2021-03-03) 19:00

HIFK Helsinki

3–0 (2-0, 1-0, 0-0)

TPS Turku

Malmin jäähalli, Helsinki

Game reference
	Iina Kuusela	Goalies	Isabella Laiho	Referee: Henna-Maria Koivuluoma Linesmen: Jenni Heikkinen Helinä Anttila
	Passard (Pejzlová, Rantamäki) (PP) – 2:15 1-0 Rantamäki (Pejzlová, Mäkelä) – 3:20 2-0 Mäkelä (Pejzlová) – 25:53 3-0
	20 min	Penalties	2 min
	27	Shots	24

6 March 2021 13:20

TPS Turku

2–4 (0-1, 0-1, 2-2)

HIFK Helsinki

Kupittaan jäähalli, Turku

Game reference
	Isabella Laiho	Goalies	Iina Kuusela	Referee: Kaisa Ketonen Linesmen: Johanna Oksanen Jenni Jaatinen
	0-1 17:55 – Passard (Rozier, Pejzlová) (PP) 0-2 33:21 – Passard 0-3 42:57 – Juusela (Passard, Kemppainen) 0-4 57:15 – Rozier (Pejzlová) (SH, EN) Heikkinen (Otamo, Serdar) (NG) – 58:51 1-4 Serdar (Vuorenmaa, Robinson) (NG) – 59:36 2-4
	24 min	Penalties	10 min
	30	Shots	35

(4) Ilves vs. (5) HPK

Ilves Tampere earned the fourth seed after finishing the season with 47 points in 28 games for a 1.68 points percentage and HPK Hämeenlinna earned the fifth seed after finishing the season with 46 points in 29 games for a 1.59 points percentage. This was the first quarterfinal match-up between the two teams since 2015 and their fourth playoff match-up in ten seasons. HPK won two of the three previous series, including defeating Ilves in the 2011 Aurora Borealis Cup final. HPK won three of four games in this year's season series.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Game times in Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00)

3 March 2021 (2021-03-03) 19:15

Ilves Tampere

1–0 (1-0, 0-0, 0-0)

HPK Hämeenlinna

Tesoman jäähalli, Tampere

Game reference
	Anni Keisala	Goalies	Meeri Räisänen	Referee: Anniina Nurmi Linesmen: Tiina Saarimäki Reetta-Kaisa Lusi
	Suokko (Jokikokko, Vanhanen) – 2:48 1-0
	6 min	Penalties	18 min
	23	Shots	27

6 March 2021 14:00

HPK Hämeenlinna

0–2 (0-0, 0-0, 0-2)

Ilves Tampere

Jääliikuntakeskus Hakio, Hämeenlinna

Game reference
	Meeri Räisänen	Goalies	Anni Keisala	Referee: Anniina Nurmi Linesmen: Tiina Saarimäki Reetta-Kaisa Lusi
	0-1 56:39 – Vanhanen (Varpula, Suokko) 0-2 59:37 – Suokko (Kilponen) (EN)
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	38	Shots	31

Semifinals

(1) Kiekko-Espoo vs. (4) Ilves

Game times in Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00)

9 March 2021 19:05

Kiekko-Espoo

2–0 (0-0, 1-0, 1-0)

Ilves Tampere

Tapiolan harjoitusareena, Espoo

Game reference
	Tiia Pajarinen	Goalies	Anni Keisala	Referee: Henna-Maria Koivuluoma Linesmen: Jenni Heikkinen Helinä Anttila
	Haukijärvi (S. Nuutinen) – 34:16 1-0 Vesa (Rakkolainen, Laitinen) (PP) – 42:44 2-0
	6 min	Penalties	6 min
	33	Shots	17

11 March 2021 19:15

Ilves Tampere

0–2 (0-2, 0-0, 0-0)

Kiekko-Espoo

Tesoman jäähalli, Tampere

Game reference
	Anni Keisala	Goalies	Tiia Pajarinen	Referee: Anniina Nurmi Linesmen: Tiina Saarimäki Reetta-Kaisa Lusi
	0-1 03:05 – Rajahuhta (Vesa, Laitinen) (PP) 0-2 17:36 – Rakkolainen (Rajahuhta, Laitinen) (PP)
	10 min	Penalties	6 min
	26	Shots	40

13 March 2021 17:45

Kiekko-Espoo

2–3 GWS (1-0, 1-2, 0-0) (OT: 0-0) (SO: 1-0)

Ilves Tampere

Tapiolan harjoitusareena, Espoo

Game reference
	Tiia Pajarinen	Goalies	Anni Keisala	Referee: Henna-Maria Koivuluoma Linesmen: Helinä Anttila Jenni Heikkinen
	Haukijärvi (Katjamäki) – 08:57 1-0 1-1 29:15 – Rouhiainen (Jokikokko) 1-2 29:34 – Varpula (Puputti) Katjamäki (Viitasuo, Leinonen) – 30:17 2-2
	Laitinen Vesa Rajahuhta Haukijärvi Rakkolainen Rakkolainen	Shootout	Riipinen Vanhanen Varpula Kilponen Suokko Kilponen
	18 min	Penalties	4 min
	49	Shots	28

14 March 2021 12:15

Ilves Tampere

1–2 (1-0, 0-1, 0-1)

Kiekko-Espoo

Tesoman jäähalli, Tampere

Game reference
	Anni Keisala	Goalies	Tiia Pajarinen	Referee: Henna-Maria Koivuluoma Linesmen: Johanna Oksanen Jenni Jaatinen
	Puputti (Rouhiainen) – 08:51 1-0 1-1 23:15 – Leinonen (Haukijärvi, Katajamäki) 1-2 50:01 – S. Nuutinen (Haukijärvi)
	2 min	Penalties	2 min
	15	Shots	39

(2) KalPa vs. (3) HIFK

Game times in Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00)

9 March 2021 13:00

KalPa Kuopio

3–7 (1-3, 2-2, 0-2)

HIFK Helsinki

Niiralan Monttu, Kuopio

Game reference
	Tiina Ranne	Goalies	Iina Kuusela	Referee: Johanna Tauriainen Linesmen: Linnea Sainio Aino Härkönen
	Kastikainen (Koljonen, Nilsson) – 04:09 1-0 1-1 14:58 – Kemppainen (Parkkonen, Yrjölä) 1-2 16:55 – PP – Mäkelä (Yrjölä, Parkkonen) 1-3 18:37 – Pasanen (Virtanen, Locatelli) Niskanen (Holopainen, Nilsson) – 28:45 2-3 2-4 29:05 – Pasanen (Yrjölä) Holopainen (Niskanen) – 30:17 3-4 3-5 31:01 – Pejzlová (Rozier, Lamminaho) 3-6 49:14 – Mäkelä (Yrjölä, Mehtonen) 3-7 58:32 – EN – Parkkonen
	8 min	Penalties	8 min
	33	Shots	28

11 March 2021 19:15

HIFK Helsinki

5–2 (1-0, 2-0, 2-2)

KalPa Kuopio

Malmin jäähalli, Helsinki

Game reference
	Iina Kuusela	Goalies	Tiina Ranne	Referee: Henna Åberg Linesmen: Johanna Oksanen Jenni Jaatinen
	Rozier – SH – 13:47 1-0 Mäkelä (Rantamäki, Pejzlová) – 25:06 2-0 Passard (Rozier) – 35:21 3-0 Mäkelä (Locatelli, Parkkonen) – 53:35 4-0 4-1 54:51 – NG – Nilsson (Holopainen, Niskanen) 4-2 55:24 – NG – Holopainen (Niskanen) Pejzlová – EN – 57:52 5-2
	4 min	Penalties	4 min
	33	Shots	29

13 March 2021 12:00

KalPa Kuopio

6–2 (2-2, 1-0, 3-0)

HIFK Helsinki

Niiralan Monttu, Kuopio

Game reference
	Tiina Ranne	Goalies	Iina Kuusela	Referee: Johanna Tauriainen Linesmen: Jenna Puhakka Linnea Sainio
	0-1 03:20 – Passard (Juusela, Locatelli) Nilsson (Juutilainen) – 03:45 1-1 1-2 05:05 – PP – Rozier (Rantamäki) Katajisto (Rantanen, Lappi) – 8:52 2-2 Holopainen (Niskanen) – 32:58 3-2 Niskanen (Saari, Koljonen) – 45:11 4-2 Nilsson (Kastikainen, Juutilainen) – 57:01 5-2 Holopainen – EN – 58:12 6-2
	20 min	Penalties	10 min
	30	Shots	20

14 March 2021 16:00

HIFK Helsinki

1–3 (0-0, 1-2, 0-1)

KalPa Kuopio

Malmin jäähalli, Helsinki

Game reference
	Iina Kuusela	Goalies	Tiina Ranne	Referee: Anniina Nurmi Linesmen: Tiina Saarimäki Salla-Maaria Raitala
	0-1 22:33 – Rantanen (Kastikainen) Mäkelä (Kemppainen) – 36:48 1-1 1-2 37:54 – PP – Saari (Holopainen, Niskanen) 1-3 59:59 – EN – Holopainen
	12 min	Penalties	20 min
	30	Shots	29

17 March 2021 18:30

KalPa Kuopio

3–1 (0-0, 2-0, 1-1)

HIFK Helsinki

Niiralan Monttu, Kuopio

Game reference
	Tinna Ranne	Goalies	Iina Kuusela	Referee: Johanna Tauriainen Linesmen: Linnea Sainio Jenna Puhakka
	Ritari (Saari) – SH – 25:53 1-0 Saari (Niskanen, Juutilainen) – PP – 31:27 2-0 2-1 52:20 – PP – Pejzlová (Mäkelä) Holopainen – 55:42 3-1
	8 min	Penalties	18 min
	31	Shots	34

Bronze medal game

^[12]

March 20, 2021 (2021-03-20) 15:30

HIFK Helsinki

2–1 (2-1, 0-0, 0-0)

Ilves Tampere

Malmin jäähalli, Helsinki

Game reference
	Iina Kuusela	Goalies	Anni Keisala	Referee: Henna Åberg Linesmen: Johanna Oksanen Jenni Jaatinen
	Rantamäki (Pejzlová, Mäkelä) – 00:22 1-0 1-1 02:12 – Varpula Mäkelä (Rantamäki, Parkkonen) – 18:22 2-1
	4 min	Penalties	4 min
	25	Shots	19

Finals

Game times in Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00)

20 March 2021 (2021-03-20) 12:45

Kiekko-Espoo

2–0 (1-0, 1-0, 0-0)

KalPa Kuopio

Tapiolan harjoitusareena, Espoo

Game reference
	Tiia Pajarinen	Goalies	Tiina Ranne	Referee: Anniina Nurmi Linesmen: Tiina Saarimäki Jenni Heikkinen
	Laitinen (Leinonen, Rajahuhta) (PP) – 13:34 1–0 Haukijärvi (S. Nuutinen) – 25:51 2-0
	60 min	Penalties	8 min
	37	Shots	41

21 March 2021 (2021-03-21) 13:30

KalPa Kuopio

0–2 (0-0, 0-1, 0-1)

Kiekko-Espoo

Niiralan Monttu, Kuopio

Game reference
	Tiina Ranne	Goalies	Tiia Pajarinen	Referee: Johanna Tauriainen Linesmen: Linnea Sainio Jenna Puhakka
	0-1 35:23 – PP – Leinonen (Aro, Rajahuhta) 0-2 57:02 – Katjamäki (S. Nuutinen, Haukijärvi)
	4 min	Penalties	8 min
	31	Shots	35

23 March 2021 (2021-03-23) 18:45

Kiekko-Espoo

2–5 (0-4, 2-1, 0-0)

KalPa Kuopio

Tapiolan harjoitusareena, Espoo

Game reference
	Tiia Pajarinen Erika Jaskari	Goalies	Tiina Ranne	Referee: Annina Nurmi Linesmen: Tiina Saarimäki Jenni Heikkinen
	0-1 00:41 – PP – Niskanen (Holopainen) 0-2 08:16 – Katajisto (Juutilainen, Mäkelä) 0-3 08:39 – Niskanen (Saari, Holopainen) 0-4 14:44 – Holopainen (Nilsson) 0-5 22:56 – PP – Holopainen Haukijärvi (Viitasuo) – PP – 32:11 1-5 Katjamäki (Viitasuo, Villilä) – 33:23 2-5
	14 min	Penalties	8 min
	28	Shots	23

25 March 2021 (2021-03-25) 18:30

KalPa Kuopio

2–3 (0-1, 0-1, 2-1)

Kiekko-Espoo

Niiralan Monttu, Kuopio

Game reference
	Tiina Ranne	Goalies	Tiia Pajarinen	Referee: Johanna Tauriainen Linesmen: Linnea Sainio Jenna Puhakka
	0-1 00:58 – Viitasuo (Villilä, Vesa) 0-2 31:50 – PP – S. Nuutinen Holopainen – PS – 40:30 1-2 Niskanen (Saari, Holopainen) – PP – 53:08 2-2 2-3 56:33 – Rajahuhta
	12 min	Penalties	16 min
	35	Shots	31

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players were led the league in playoff points at the conclusion of the playoffs on 25 March 2021.^[13]

	Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1	Elisa Holopainen	KalPa	11	12	9	21	6
2	Tanja Niskanen	KalPa	11	6	10	16	14
3	Miressa Mäkelä	HIFK	8	7	3	10	2
4	Annina Rajahuhta	K-Espoo	10	5	5	10	8
5	Michaela Pejzlová	HIFK	8	3	7	10	8
6	Saila Saari	KalPa	11	3	7	10	4
7	Emilia Vesa	K-Espoo	10	4	5	9	27
8	Tinja-Mariia Haukijärvi	K-Espoo	10	5	3	8	4
9	Nelli Laitinen	K-Espoo	10	1	6	7	6
10	Johanna Juutilainen	KalPa	11	0	7	7	2
11	Emmanuelle Passard	HIFK	8	5	1	6	8

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders lead the league in playoff save percentage at the conclusion of the playoffs on 25 March 2021, while playing at least one third of matches.^[14]

	Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	L	SA	GA	SO	SV%	GA60
1	Meeri Räisänen	HPK	2	117:30	0	2	54	2	0	.964	1.02
2	Anni Keisala	Ilves	7	436:27	2	4	251	10	2	.962	1.37
3	Tiia Pajarinen	K-Espoo	10	588:19	8	1	250	10	5	.962	1.02
4	Emilia Kyrkkö	Kuortane	2	74:56	0	1	64	5	0	.928	4.00
5	Iina Kuusela	HIFK	8	476:08	5	3	225	18	1	.926	2.27
6	Tiina Ranne	KalPa	11	659:11	6	5	331	29	0	.919	2.64
7	Isabella Laiho	TPS	2	115:11	0	2	62	6	0	.912	3.13
8	Johanna Oksman	Kärpät	2	127:35	0	2	49	8	0	.860	3.76
9	Aino Laitinen	Kuortane	2	44:34	0	1	29	5	0	.853	6.73