Emil Galimov: "We move on with a positive mood"

SKA forward Emil Galimov:

- We played well, this is a good victory. We defended solidly during the five-minute Avangard powerplay at the start of the match.

- In the morning, did you feel that this was going to be a special day?

- I prepared for the game as normal. I had been on the sidelines for a full month, so I had really missed playing. I had a lot of desire to help the team. Thank you to my teammates today. Did they congratulate me in a special way? No, we will prepare for the next game.

- What happened to the caps which were thrown on the ice for your hat trick?

- To be honest, I didn't notice where they were taken. I haven't been given them yet. I wasn't focused on that, there were still around eight minutes left to play. I wanted to successfully see the match out.

- This is your first SKA goal if we take our markers into the empty net.

- I had scored during pre-season, so I wasn't worried. I knew that everything would be fine in the end.

- Did you want to score your fourth goal in the closing stages? You were often on the ice.

- No, I was simply told to play. As Pyotr Vorobyov says, you have to show a killer's instinct when on the ice.

- Which of the three goals was the most memorable?

- The first goal is always the most difficult. The puck dropped at my stick after a good shot from Vasily Tokranov. I felt like a weight had been taken off my shoulders.

- What changed after playing against Spartak Moscow?

- We were excellent in defence. Mikhail Berdin made the saves he needed to when we did make some errors. It wasn't a perfect game from us, we had to come from behind twice. No one has euphoria. We won and we'll move on with a positive mood.

- What emotions do you have?

- After losing to Avangard at home in pre-season and on the road in the KHL during September, we really wanted to win today and show our best ice hockey. All of us were focused on winning. Did I take the puck after scoring my third marker? No.