It was fitting that Ilves moved onto a record of five wins and zero defeats by recording a 5-0 win away at Kometa Brno on Wednesday night that returns them to the summit of the 24-team standings.
It took until the 18th minute for the Tampere side to break the deadlock in the Czech Republic when Otto Latvala found the net. But from then on it was plain sailing for Ilves, who increased their lead in the second period, through Julius Hermonen and Jiko Laitinen.
In the final period, Czech Radek Kucerik returned to his homeland to add number four, before Lukas Svejkovsky completed the rout which saw Roope Taponen make 17 saves in his shutout.
Brno remain on seven points which keeps them in the top 16 for now. Ilves will have to beat reigning champions ZSC Lions if they are to finish the Regular Season with a perfect record.
Winning their opening game in overtime instead of regulation is the only thing preventing KalPa from joining Ilves on 15 points - they are on 14 and in second place following a 5-1 win over Mountfield HK on Tuesday.
Kevin Klima responded for the home side in the dying seconds of the opening period after KalPa had gone in front through Juuso Maenpaa. But the Czech side had no answer in the second, which saw unanswered goals from Konsta Kapanen, Patrick Curry and Iivari Rasanen.
The Hradec Kralove side pulled the goaltender early in the third, but to no avail, as Kapanen added his second of the game to make it 5-1 and leave Mountfield just outside the top 16.
It's three Finnish sides in the top six, let alone the top 16, as Lukko made it a perfect midweek for Liiga teams in the CHL with a 1-0 win over Zug at home.
The only goal of the match arrived in the sixth minute of the second period, through Arttu Valila, while Antti Raanta made 21 saves to keep the Swiss side at bay for 60 minutes.
It's a return to winning ways for Lukko after an overtime loss in Round 4. They move onto 10 points, overtaking Zug, who remain on eight and drop to 10th place, still at risk of not making it to the knockout stages.
Check out all the results and standings from the CHL on Flashscore.