Artemiy Panarin: "The series will be a real spectacle"

- Are you more worried about taking on Dynamo, or are you determined to break them down?

- We have a lot of desire. For some reason we really wanted to play with Dynamo this time, and we will try to break their wall down and ruin the stereotypes.

- It was quite a physical training session today. Were you not worried about picking up an injury?

- Not really. We are seriously preparing, and we have to play physical all the time.

- Vyacheslav Bykov mentioned that Dynamo have no weaknesses. Has he told the team the same thing too?

- We haven't had such a conversation yet. Maybe it will happen closer to game day. We ourselves need to weaken them.

- Someone today even tried to be one of the tough guys. Is this because of excess energy?

- All the guys are burning with desire to take on Dynamo. We need to use our emotions cleverly, and make sure they help us to move in the right direction. I want the game to come around quicker, it will be a real spectacle.

- Are you not afraid of burning up with too many emotions?

- I hope not.

- Does the fact that SKA dropped four games against Dynamo during the regular season add pressure?

- I haven't even been reminding myself about this. It wouldn't be right to think about this, and no one is. We have a huge desire to just get this series going.

- Is it an advantage beginning the series at home?

- If I'm honest I don't know. In the previous series we lost one at home, while winning two away. However of course our fans help us, that isn't in question. We have fantastic fans, and we could have played all four games here.

- Do you think that CSKA are the clear favourites in the other Western Conference semi final?

- No - both CSKA and Jokerit are strong. They will have an interesting series too.

- Why are Dynamo such awkward opponents for SKA?

- If we would have known, probably we wouldn't have lost to them four times during the regular season. We have made our conclusions from those matches though, and we will see our results on the ice.

- Your team has had more time to prepare for this series. Is that a plus point?

- They have been keeping themselves in game shape, although we have also been training. We will see after the series what was better.