Igor Larionov speaks after beating Severstal on the road

HC SKA head coach Igor Larionov:

“I’m proud of our players for their performance today! The first period was superb in terms of the quality of our play. We subsequently gave Cherepovets the initiative in the second stanza, but we worked hard in the third to emerge victorious. We have to give credit to Severstal, they’re a young side which loves to have the puck. We can see that their team is growing.”

Only tallying three shots on target in the second frame…

“Despite our lack of shots, we did waste two huge scoring opportunities. Our penalties affected the game. We had warned our guys that Severstal are excellent when in possession, but we did end up giving them the initiative. Overall, though, the quality of our game in that period wasn’t that bad.”

Finally scoring on the PP…

“I’m happy with how we’re controlling the puck on the powerplay. However, the main statistic is how many goals you score. We asked our players to shoot more and make life difficult for the goalkeeper on the crease. Whenever you’re struggling on special teams, you just need one goal to give you a well-needed confidence boost. Furthermore, it was great to see Matvei Korotky tally a point again. We need to pounce on the rebounds and make them count.”

Lack of goals in matches between these teams…

“We can’t ignore the fact that the Severstal goalkeeper was great. At times, our players need to make more unexpected decisions and convert the chances which they’re creating. If you’re leading by three or four goals, there’s no need to move down to three lines. We’re working hard in order to become more ruthtless.”

Difficulty of playing in Cherepovets…

“I really like Andrei Kozyrev’s work as Severstal boss. They have lots of young, talented guys with plenty of potential. Yes, they make mistakes because of their system, but they display exciting ice hockey which fans love to watch. Games against Severstal are always full of entertainment rather than it being a chess match.”