Igor Larionov speaks after the second match in Khabarovsk

HC SKA head coach Igor Larionov:

“Overall, we’re satisfied that we earned seven points from these four away games. It wouldn’t be fair to demand any more from our players; I’m proud of them. Congratulations to Khabarovsk for saving the match and subsequently winning it, and I would like to wish them luck for the rest of the campaign. We will now prepare for our next stretch of matches.”

What happened in the second half of the third period…

“We’ve constantly lost players during this series. Valentin Zykov and Andrei Loktionov couldn’t play today, and Sergei Sapego received a lower-body injury towards the end of this match. We couldn’t hold on and didn’t have enough wise heads out there. Furthermore, we can’t ignore the fact that fatigue played a part. Amur were better in the penalty shootout, but we’re happy that we managed to force overtime.”

Factor of playing a home match on the road…

“It’s a strange experience. If we look at this series as a whole, then it’s really difficult to play in three matches across only four days. Back-to-back games are especially challenging! Nonetheless, our young players tried their best and produced a good performance. Some of our older guys looked a bit tired. Hopefully, all of our players will be able to play again when the KHL resumes later on this month.”

SKA’s preparation for Amur…

“The main thing after Saturday was recovering in time for today’s game. Unfortunately, we ran out of energy for the third period. We have to give credit to Amur, though; they’re a tough side to face when playing on their home ice. When you’re in a situation like this, you have to remain fresh and rational psychologically. Our players aren’t robots, they can make mistakes too.”