Anton Belov: "It's always interesting to play against Jokerit"

16 January 2020

- SKA improved in the second period.

- Recently, our performance level in the second periods of matches has improved. Before the game started, we spoke about playing well straight away. In the third period, we did give the initiative to Jokerit, but we got back on track after they scored their goal. Evgeny Ketov netted a very important goal for us.

- Did the opponents apply pressure in the third period?

- As I have already said, we gave them the initiative. When we play in the correct manner, we don't have any problems in matches.

- What did you speak about during the time-out?

- We needed to calm the game down.

- Did it help?

- The score says it all.

- Taking into account what happened in Finland, did you have extra motivation today?

- No, two points are two points. We are preparing for the playoffs. Of course, that was a nasty defeat, but no one was focusing on that.

- Do the Finns compete in a physical manner?

- It's always interesting to play against them.

- This was a successful KHL home series for SKA? Do you feel that you're gaining momentum?

- We feel good. We had tough training sessions before this series, it's clear how the coaches are preparing us for the playoffs.