Press conference after SKA hosted Lada

HC SKA head coach Igor Larionov:

"Congratulations to everyone with this victory. It was a game of vertical ice hockey today against a strong opponent, both teams moved the puck well with good ideas. We gave Lada a chance in the second stanza, but we maintained control of the match and saw it out successfully."

What went wrong in the second period...

"We displayed the ice hockey which we always want to see in the first period. However, it's not realistic to maintain that tempo across the entire 60 minutes. Our task was to maintain control, withstand the pressure and think. We want to have more balance in our performances. Thankfully, we scored good goals on the powerplay and at equal strength with all four lines contributing."

Why Rocco Grimaldi didn't play...

"He's come down with a virus. It's normal for this time of year, especially with children returning to school and picking up viruses. Rocco will be fine for Friday."

Joseph Blandisi's full SKA debut...

"All Italians like to use hand gestures, but unfortunately the referees in Nizhny Novgorod didn't understand this and issued him a punishment. We asked him to become Russian and stop making gestures. Joseph perfomed well today, he displayed his North American style and was solid in his own zone. We can see just how much he is enjoying himself with his teammates. I don't want to single anyone out, though, because everyone was excellent today."

Changes in attacking play since the Nikolai Puchkov Tournament...

"With all due respect to that particular competition, we treated it as a friendly tournament. We've become more focused on getting to the net. Every attacking move should end with a shot on goal! With our speed, we should be constantly making the opposing goalkeeper work. We've started shooting more."

Whether Artemiy Pleshkov can be considered SKA's first choice goalkeeper...

"Let's make a judgement when we're maybe 20 matches into the season. We're only just getting started. Of course, we are happy that Artemiy is gaining confidence and receiving help from the skaters. He's making the big saves for the team."

Ivan Dishkovsky's progress...

"Every player has a moment when they receive a chance. Before the season started, I told everyone that this is their opportunity to write their names in our new open book. It's a clean slate for everyone. Every player has their strengths and weaknesses, but you can only see them when giving them the chance to show what they're about. But, we have to remember that this is only the beginning. A good start doesn't guarantee a bright future. After all, the opponents will begin to know how they play."

The decision to play with seven defensemen...

"We want to give Ivan Vydrenkov time on the ice. In my opinion, he's starting to gain vital confidence. By the way, did you see how Trevor Murphy stuck up for Matvei Polaykov? This is what we want to see. I think that young defensemen Vydrenkov and Nikita Smirnov performed well."

HC Lada Tolyatti head coach Boris Mironov:

"First and foremost, I would like to apologise to the fans for this performance. Our discipline was at a really low level. We took daft penalties, while SKA took advantage of their powerplays and scored goals. You can't play like this. We'll look into what happened and draw the correct conclusions. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time when we have given the opponents too many chances as a consequence of our ill-discipline."

Having just as many chances as SKA...

"The score is there for everyone to see. From our point of view, the main thing is that we're creating opportunities. We have to become ruthless in front of goal. Despite the dreadful first period, we improved in the second and even managed to score a couple of goals, albeit one of them being offside. We really do have to play with discipline too."

Lada having plenty of former SKA players on their books...

"You need to ask them why they didn't have the motivation to prove themselves against their former team. Vladislav Syomin, our captain, took a needless penalty. You have to apply your emotions correctly for the benefit of the team."

What brand of ice hockey he wants Tolyatti to display...

"I'm trying to ensure that our team will display entertaining, fast ice hockey. However, we have to remember that we've got practically a new team and therefore require time to gel. Championship-winning teams take years to build, not months. We'll continue searching for the optimal line formations."