Roman Rotenberg speaks after playing Neftekhimik in Nizhnekamsk

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

“As always, there were a lot of physical duels and battles here in Nizhnekamsk. We had warned our players that a half-hearted effort wouldn’t be enough. To be honest, I can say that only our fourth line fully followed the game plan today! Grigory Kuzmin, Pavel Dedunov and Matvei Korotky scored all three of our goals. Korotky could have even scored a hat-trick, but he lacked ruthlessness in front of goal when presented with the chance. Nevertheless, I would like to congratulate Matvei with his first pair of KHL goals!

“At the same time, however, other players ended the match with a -3 plus/minus record. This game has shown us which aspects require improvement ahead of the playoffs. By the way, I’m surprised that Neftekhimik aren’t in the qualification spots for the playoffs, they were excellent today and fought hard across the ice.

“Zakhar Bardakov wasn’t on the ice today? He’s got a small injury, but he’ll be back for our next match in Cherepovets on Monday. We’re also looking forward to when Sergei Plotnikov and Arseniy Gritsyuk can return. We haven’t won in Nizhnekamsk since 2022? They’re a gritty side which fights really hard. In comparison, only some of our guys fought today. This was the difference.”