Igor Larionov speaks after game five against CSKA

HC SKA head coach Igor Larionov:

"I would like to start by congratulating CSKA Moscow with their qualification. It was a tough season for us with difficulties concerning our squad and injuries. Nevertheless, this is CSKA's evening."

Rocco Grimaldi's absence...

"This decision had been a long time coming. We want our more experienced players to produce the goods on the ice. After four games in the series, Rocco didn't have a single point and racked up a -4 plus/minus rating. Therefore, we decided to give Ignat Lutfullin a chance, and I think that he played well."

Game plan...

"We have to look at our players' character, desire and unity before analysing tactics. Unfortunately, some of our players didn't perform accordingly today. Pavel Koledov and Scott Wilson did all they could having returned from injury, and our young players were good too.

"Overall, I feel huge disappointment. We travelled here to take the series back to Saint Petersburg. There was a big chance when the score was 1:3, but we couldn't turn the puck in on the line. We had hope of turning it around. Sadly, all ricochets were against us in this series. We really did lack good fortune."

Losing the battles on the crease...

"We knew that CSKA always like to shoot a lot, block the goalkeeper's view on the slot and get under their opponents' skin. We had warned our defensemen and centre forwards to allow our goalkeeper to see the puck. The fourth CSKA goal, which decided the outcome today, arrived in this situation. We couldn't fix the mistakes which we committed in defence."

Why Artemiy Pleshkov played tonight...

"We've been switching our goalkeepers all season long. In my opinion, but Artemiy and Sergei Ivanov had solid campaigns. Sergei was bit tired after the two games in Saint Petersburg, and Artemiy had initially started the series in Moscow well."