Dinar Khafizullin: "It's always nice to beat strong opponents"

We knew that CSKA aren't accidentally in first place. We prepared seriously.

- What is the secret of such a confident victory?

- The team fought. It was hard in the final stages, as CSKA have a good powerplay unit. Our guys were brilliant killing penalties, and I want to say thank you to them for that.

- SKA were very composed and disciplined all the way through the game, and then penalties started to come. Why is this? Was it down to tiredness?

- No. We felt good all the time. I don't know why, maybe the referees began to call more fouls. We had more powerplays at the beginning, and then they gave CSKA the chance to play with a player extra.

- Alexander Radulov wasn't as emotional as usual. Was this because of SKA's defensive play?

- I hope it's that way.

- Did you expect any sort of provocation from Yevgeni Artyukhin?

- We don't look at individual players, we prepared to take on CSKA's overall team. We knew that they play hard, but we didn't expect any provocation.

- Does such a victory over a strong opponent give SKA more strength and confidence?

- Of course. We have more confidence, strength, and positive emotions. Nevertheless we have a game very soon against Dinamo Riga, so we need to forget this match and get ready for the next one.

- Are there discussions inside the team that you need to be in first place?

- No. No discussions, no such thoughts. We need to keep on playing until the end of the championship.

- What is the main thing for SKA now?

- To improve our game, as the play-offs aren't far away. We need to perform better in defence.

- Would you like to play against CSKA in the play-offs?

- We don't choose who we play against. It's always nice to beat strong opponents, but in the West there are a lot of other tough teams with whom you can fight.

- Will it be hard to prepare for Dinamo Riga after such an energetic duel with CSKA?

- We will have a bath and massage now to try and relax. I think that we will recover in time.