Roman Rotenberg speaks after beating Barys in Astana

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

“We knew that Barys would display fast ice hockey today, they had a lot of young players on the ice and I know that they put a lot of physical work in during training. They created a lot of problems for us, they didn’t lose out in terms of speed and determination. We have to give Barys credit for the two goals which they scored.

“Overall, I think that we played solidly across all three periods. I really liked the goals which we scored, we work on such sharp passing plays and it’s nice that we’re pulling them off in matches. Incidentally, I would like to congratulate our team with reaching the 200-goal mark this season!
“Our powerplay isn’t working? You’ll soon see that it will improve. Evgeny Kuznetsov needs time, this was only his second game after he returned from a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Tony DeAngelo is playing for the New York Islanders in the US? He’s living with his family in New York. Family is always incredibly important, especially for Italians. When they’re away from their families, they traditionally struggle. Tony is now back home in America with his family.

“Yegor Zavragin could have done better for the two Barys goals? No, he wasn’t to blame at all, instead we have to look at who allowed the Astana players to shoot. Zavragin made several big saves for us. He’s only 19, but Yegor is already an excellent goalkeeper and we can see how he’s developing. Our players can only develop if they’re on the ice during stressful moments of games.

“Pavel Akolzin? He battles hard on the crease and scores vital goals at close range. If you fight hard enough on the crease, you can beat any defence and goalkeeper. He’s the type of player who will put his body on the line for the team, so we’re delighted to have him in our team.”