Ilya Kovalchuk: "I am sure that in the next match everything will be better"

- You hadn't played for a long time before today. At what percent would you rate your form now?

- Training isn't the same as playing, so when you get an injury, it isn't nice. Physically I feel good, but I need to get back into the regime of playing. It's good, that I managed to play before such an important encounter with CSKA. I'm sure, that in the next match everything will be a lot better.

- SKA begun well, but let Severstal do what they wanted in the third period. What is this down to?

- We didn't follow our game plan. We gave them a lot of space, and we will make conclusions when reviewing the match on video.

- Igor Shestyorkin was named the best player of the game. Is this deserved?

- Yes. He saved us, especially in the third period. He only arrived back in Saint Petersburg a few days ago, and is acclimatizing again. You need a lot of time to recover when returning back to Russia, so we can only give him praise. He did a good job and played well.

- Did you manage to follow the World Junior Championship?

- Of course! I watched all the games, supporting the guys. They were great.

- Were you told to look after Igor Shestyorkin on his full SKA debut?

- What do you mean? He's a goalkeeper who has already played in the KHL. He plays at a high level. However of course, we tried to play well in front of him. Severstal had their moments though, especially in the first period.

- CSKA are well ahead of SKA in the table already. Does it not worry you, that your main opponent has a big advantage over your team?

- No, why should it give us pressure? The main thing for us is to find our game. The match will be interesting, and we need to prepare well.