Ilves came into their St Stephen's Day clash with Hameenlinna looking to extend their six-match winning run in league hockey, yet the side on the longest losing run in the division were making life tough.
It took until the 15th minute for Olli Palola to give Ilves the lead, while only a missed penalty from the hosts' Sami Paivarinta meant they still had their advantage come the end of the first period.
But the Tampere side made the difference in the first seven minutes of the second, as Lukas Jasek scored shorthanded before Samuli Ratinen and Matias Mantykivi made it 4-0.
Hameenlinna finally broke through via Cameron Wright to make it 4-1 by the 40-minute mark, but by that point, Ilves had only done half of their scoring. Lukas Svejkovsky and Kasper Bjorkqvist scored just 10 seconds of play apart, before Simon Johansson made it 7-1 with less than seven to play.
Markus Loponen and Oliver Kopiloff added consolations either side of a second shorthanded Ilves goal of the match, this time from Bjorkqvist, to complete an 8-3 rout. Ilves sit seventh, five points off the top four, having picked up as many wins in their last seven as they did in their first 25 matches.
Hameenlinna remain one place off the bottom following a fifth match in a row without picking up a point.
Tappara's lead at the summit remains five points after they cruised to a 5-0 victory over Pelicans, comprehensively ending the Lahti side's five-match winning run.
Jonathan Andersson and Jesper Mattila added second-period strikes to those from Kristian Tanus and Ondrej Pavel in the first, before Iivari Rasanen capped off a perfect night for the hosts with their fifth goal in the final period.
Juha Metsola made 18 saves to record a shutout for Tappara, who recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since the start of the month.
JYP moved back into second place despite throwing away a 3-0 lead at home to Karpat, before two goals in the final period got them over the line, 5-3, their third win in four, as Karpat stay a point and a place above Hameenlinna.
Alex Beaucage's goal in the fifth minute of overtime ensured the top three all won, as Lukko beat lowly Vaasan Sport 2-1. Only a two-point win was enough for Lukko to lose second place, as they are now a point shy of JYP, and six behind Tappara.
Ilves' winning streak of seven is now the longest in the Liiga, after SaiPa's eight-game winning series was ended in a repeat of last season's Playoff final. Again, it was KalPa who were their undoing, as the Kuopio side won 5-3 away. KooKoo and Assat not in action means SaiPa stay in fourth.
KalPa have climbed to eighth place thanks to Sami Rajaniemi, who made 17 saves for Kiekko-Espoo in their 1-0 win over TPS Turku. It's a first win in five for the visitors, who climb to 10th, a point and a place behind TPS.