Roman Rotenberg speaks after playing Vityaz in Balashikha

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- Both teams attacked hard. Vityaz took advantage of their chances well, we knew that they were going to play with determination given that they're in the playoff race. We will analyse the mistakes which we committed. At the moment, we have a lot of injured and ill players. I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

- On one hand, you managed to get a point after losing 2:5, but on the other, you ended up on the losing side.

- I liked the character which our team displayed. I don't have any issues with the guys' commitment, but there are aspects which require improve ahead of the playoffs. We're waiting for our injured and ill players to return. This is an important, hard-fought point for us, we did our best to save the game by trying out different line formations. In the third period, we managed to score three goals over the course of just eight minutes. This game will serve as a good lesson for us. We have a young team which we're only just starting to build, and hopefully we will start making improvements straight away in 2023 from the first match. January will begin for us with tough away games against Traktor in Chelyabinsk and Salavat Yulaev in Ufa, but all of our players understand what needs to be done.

- Was this the most tense game of the campaign so far?

- This is the first match which we've saved from being three goals down! Our guys have character. After changing our line formations, we immediately started scoring goals in the third stanza. We have to win every duel, every shift, every micro match. Every single one of our players knows that they must win all of their battles out there, block pucks and score goals. I think that the fans enjoyed this game, but we don't want to be conceding five goals. However, at this moment in time, some of our leading defensemen are on the sidelines, and the guys from the VHL have dropped off a bit.

- SKA are continuing to save matches from very difficult positions. How are you motivating your players for third periods?

- We are improving as games progress. We've only lost one third period so far this season! Nonetheless, we'll keep our secrets concerning motivation within our group. Moving forward, we need to improve our performance level in the first and second frames. We can see that our players have a lot of character and desire. In our upcoming games, we are hopeful that we won't have to embark on such tough comebacks. We fought really hard to earn this point, but it's only 50% of what we came here for. I would like to point out Vladislav Podyapolsky, he struggled at first but then he subsequently improved after returning to the action.