Igor Larionov speaks after playing Salavat Yulaev away

HC SKA head coach Igor Larionov:

"First of all, I want to congratulate the hosts with their victory. We dominated the first period, but we didn't take advantage of the opportunities which we managed to create. In terms of our performance level and the amount of chances we had to score, it was our best period of the season so far. Unfortunately, we gave the opponents a breath of fresh air for their equaliser on the counter-attack. I won't make excuses, but when you play a lot of matches across a short period of time, fatigue builds up and you lack the required focus to capitalise on your chances. I'm disappointed that we're leaving Ufa without points to show for our efforts."

Physical struggles...

"We can see just how many of our guys are currently unavailable due to injury and illness. We asked our players to compete with short shifts, in order to ensure that we remain fresh. Sadly, your words aren't always heard by the players. We lost some shifts which resulted in us becoming very tired. We hit the bar late in the third frame, but we should have already decided the outcome in the first period."

Lack of ruthlessness in front of goal...

"Either the goalkeepers are playing brilliantly, or our players lack confidence in front of goal. Even though we won in Omsk 1:0, it's really difficult to emerge victorious when you only score once. Three or four goals should be enough to win. We have enough quality to capitalise on our opportunities, but right now it's not happening."

Why Marat Khairullin didn't play...

"He's ill. At this moment time, there is a virus going around our camp. He was already feeling ill against Avangard, and there wasn't any point in forcing him to play today. Nevertheless, Marat will be ready for Sunday."

Ignat Lutfullin's progress...

"When I became the head coach of SKA, I analysed the list of players who are a part of our senior team, SKA-VMF, SKA-1946 and the SKA Academy. I spoke with all of the coaches. Ignat is only 20, but this is the age when he should be knocking on the first team's door. We don't have many players like Ignat who can make creative decisions with the puck and surprise the opponents with unusual moves."

Decision to put Yegor Zavragin in net...

"Sergei Ivanov was fantastic against Omsk, but he had a huge amount of work to do! As a consequence of this, we decided to put the fresher Yegor in net. Artemiy Pleshkov? He's in Saint Petersburg as he continues to recover from his lower-body injury. Hopefully, he will be able to return for our match against Magnitogorsk on Sunday."