Liiga champions KalPa were thrashed 5-1 by Sweden's Brynas on Tuesday, but they put that loss out of their minds with a 5-3 home win over Vaasan Sport.
It looked to be more of the same for KalPa when Johan Sundstrom struck for the visitors inside four minutes, but they restored parity through Teemu Hartikainen in the final minute of the first period.
Neither side could take advantage of early powerplays in the second, but once back up to a full quota, the hosts took full control.
Juuso Maenpaa gave KalPa their first lead of the night seven minutes into the period, then just 46 seconds of play later, Aleksi Klemetti put the Kuopio side 3-1 to the good. Five minutes later, Maenpaa was at it again, notching his second of the evening to put KalPa three goals clear.
Viljami Nieminen pulled one back for Sport in the third period, then the visitors went for broke in the final four minutes, pulling the goaltender when on a powerplay, but it backfired and Juuso Kononen sealed the win with an empty-net, shorthanded goal.
Nieminen added his second with the powerplay still ongoing, but it was a mere consolation for the Vaasa side, who remain bottom of the standings with three successive losses, while a fourth domestic win in five takes KalPa up to sixth.
Ilves came away from Lulea with a 3-2 loss on Tuesday, and they bounced back with a victory by the same scoreline against Hameenlinna in Tampere.
An early tripping call against the visitors' Markus Loponen was punished by Olli Palola in the fourth minute, before Arttu Pelli doubled the lead just two minutes later.
Jesse Kiiskinen took full advantage of the visitors' first powerplay to get them back into the match before the first period was out, but a second goal of the game for Palola restored Ilves' two-goal lead.
Viljami Jokirinne closed the gap to 3-2 just past the midpoint in the match, but despite nearly 30 minutes to find a leveller, Hameenlinna could not find a way through, only managing three shots on goal in the final 20 minutes, as the Lynx held on comfortably.
Ilves' win sees the two sides swap places, with the victors rising to 11th, as Hameenlinna drop to 12th.
On Wednesday, Tappara extended their lead at the top of the table to three points and did one of their nearest challengers some damage, beating JYP 6-3 at home, while second-placed Assat lost for the third time in four matches, going down 4-2 away in a shock loss to second-bottom IFK Helsinki.
Closing in on Assat are KooKoo, who moved above JYP into third by beating Pelicans, 4-2, while TPS Turku ended their three-match losing run in fine style, thrashing Kiekko-Espoo 5-0.