Roman Rotenberg speaks after playing Lokomotiv in Yaroslavl

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

"We started well today. Overall I liked how we fought across the 60 minutes, our players picked up injuries along the way. For example, Pavel Akolzin broke his nose. It was a physical, playoff-like game in which we saw that our team is ready to fight until the end. We'll take the positives with us and prepare for Thursday.

"Of course, we're waiting for our injured guys to return, but we are not going to rush matters with the playoffs in mind. Sergei Plotnikov is letting the team down with his penalties? It's a result of his huge desire. However, we will have a talk together about this issue. Sergei is a perfect player for the playoffs, and the fact that he's won multiple Gagarin Cups proves this. 

"I'm not going to blame anyone individually, we battled hard out there and managed to equalise after losing one of our key players to injury in the second stanza.

"Am I worried about us being in seventh spot of the Western Conference? Well, as far as I know, we're only a few points off second. The most important part of the campaign is the playoffs. If we improve our discipline both in defence and our game overall, we'll win all of our matches. We can see that our team boasts plenty of character and fight.

"Why are we stuggling against Yaroslavl this season? Individual mistakes, just like the one which we witnessed in overtime today, are costing us. As I have already said, our focus is on the playoffs."