Roman Rotenberg speaks after defeating Dynamo in Moscow

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

"We tried to play in accordance with our game plan from the first whistle, but some factors did take their toll. As a consequence of this, we made changes to our lines. Thankfully, those alterations worked. We equalised and subsequently took the lead. When Valentin Zykov could have scored into the empty net, he told me that he felt his stick being struck by a Dynamo player. We need to have another look at what happened there.

"Overall, it was a good, entertaining game against a strong opponent. Both teams played exciting ice hockey. Dynamo have lots of quality players, hopefully they will all receive Russian passports so that they will continue playing in the KHL. 

"We started overtime well. One mistake was committed, but our goalkeeper kept us alive with a big save. After that, we put together a neat passing move and emerged victorious. Thank you to fans of the two teams for the wonderful atmosphere here in Moscow!

"Why did we start the first period so poorly? Our guys committed individual mistakes. A lot of our players in today's line-up hadn't competed at this level beforehand, so that's why those errors were made. Unfortunately, some of our leading players are currently on the sidelines with injuries. We saw that Ivan Demidov and Alexander Nikishin took responsibility and played like leaders.

"We've set an anti-record concerning the amount of conceded goals? Well, how many have we scored? We've scored more than we have conceded. Yes, I do agree that we need to improve in defence, but we have now won four on the bounce. Defence wins championships? When we hoisted the Gagarin Cup aloft in 2015 and 2017, we won because of our potent attacking play. The same can be said about the Olympic gold medal which we won in 2018.

"Nikita Gusev? He's a master of the game. I'm happy that he drew the right conclusions after our conversation. Back when he initially joined SKA, Alexander Medvedev and I put in a lot of effort to make sure that we signed him from Yugra. The governor of Khanty-Mansiysk was involved in the negotiations. No one wanted him when he was playing for Yugra, but then he became one of the best players in the world. 

"Is there a possibility that Nikishin will remain a SKA player beyond this season? We need to look at his development. Alexander is a great player, he's improving on a daily basis and always sticks to our game plan. From our side, we will do everything possible to ensure that he continues playing here. Managers of NHL clubs often call our players, offering them contracts amounting to 10 million dollars! It's difficult situation for us, but we will try our best to keep all of our players. The fact that NHL managers are calling them proves that we're helping our players develop. For example, today I spoke with the Montreal Canadiens.

"Our fans were fined for swearing during our game with Spartak in Moscow on Thursday? We will punish those fans and they won't attend such games again. Furthermore, if any SKA fans swear in the stands during future matches, we will impose lifetime bans on those particular people for both home and away games. When children start swearing in front of their parents, we have a major social problem on our hands. 

"Andrei Pedan played a vital role after having not played against Spartak on Thursday? Each match requires its own approach, that's what game management is all about. As you know, Andrei had been out with a serious injury for a long time. For the benefit of his health, we have to be careful as to how we use him. He scored a very important goal today and contributed greatly to our victory. If he continues like this, he will play all of the time.

"Demidov was on the ice for the whole of overtime? He had short shifts. Ivan didn't play a lot in the third period, meaning that he was fresh for OT. Instead of being selfish and taking the shot, he found Nikishin with an accurate pass and we won the match. Any shot which doesn't go in during overtime can allow the opponents to gain possession and counter-attack. Ivan put together a superb play for our winner."