Roman Rotenberg speaks after beating Lokomotiv in Yaroslavl

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

"First of all, I want to thank Lokomotiv for the organisation of this match. There is always a wonderful atmosphere here in Yaroslavl! Lokomotiv are a strong side, they defend solidly and make it difficult for opponents to break them down. Yes, we took too many penalties, but we managed to emerge victorious thanks to our determination and character.

"Yesterday, we watched how the Soviet national team used to compete on the powerplay, at neutral ice and in the defensive zone. Why copy other nations like Finland when we have our own culture and DNA? We're proud of our system and culture!

"This is personally a really important win for me. Interestingly, before the game, the KHL congratulated Yaroslavl forward Alexander Radulov with his 250th league goal, but forgot to congratulate the SKA head coach with his 200th championship match. Hopefully, the league won't discriminate in the future.

"Nikita Serebryakov? If we want to win, all of our players have to play with commitment and train hard. Maxim Sokolov became our goalkeeping coach this season, and it's a hard task to find a champion goaltender. Serebryakov is in our team, he's training with Sokolov. Time will tell.

"Why did Marat Khairullin and Ivan Demidov disappear? Injuries were suffered, but hopefully Marat will be ready for Thursday. Ivan is playing in all of our games. Mikhail Vorobyov? Just like Serebryakov and other guys, he didn't play because of our decision. We have to admit that our discipline wasn't great today, but this is an aspect which we will improve."