Roman Rotenberg speaks after beating Dynamo in Moscow

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- There was a fantastic atmosphere inside the arena. I would like to thank our fans for travelling here to support us, we're looking forward to seeing them in Tolyatti on Monday! Dynamo are a strong, disciplined opponent. Their game is based on winning duels and competing with character. They have a strong squad too, some of their players are Olympic champions. It was a very difficult match, but we had prepared well for it. I'm grateful to all of our guys for following the game plan, they reacted after the first period and showed their character to win.

- Why did SKA concede so early?

- If you noticed, one of our players lost a blade. The opponents took advantage of this situation to score. Nonetheless, the main thing is that we reacted in the right way. All of our training camps in the summer took place with the aim of allowing our players to move well and compete with desire. However, we must work on our discipline, we took too many penalties. The guys on the PK did a superb job. It was important to begin the season with a victory, the players competed as a united unit and our new guys played for the benefit of the team. We will make improvements to our game.

- Did Dynamo surprise you?

- Yes, they did make some changes to their approach, and they were more aggressive today. At the same time, though, a lot of aspects have remained the same. It's tough to surprise us, we always analyse our opponents. For example, we had watched all of Dynamo's games at the Moscow Mayor Cup this summer. It's important to focus on your own approach.

- What moment was key?

- The second period in which we managed to hold on and survive Dynamo's onslaught. The Moscow hosts applied pressure on us, but we soaked it up effectively. There are some tactical aspects which we aren't happy with, but it was the first game of the season and we had lots of emotion. It was a tough challenge for us today, but we successfully coped with it.

- We hadn't expected to see Alexander Kadeikin on the ice until the end of October. How would you summarise his performance?

- It was only the journalists' prediction that he would return in October. We didn't want the opponents to know all of our inside information! From our side, we knew that Alexander would be able to compete today. The best training session is always an official match. It was tough for him, but he will improve. We really need him in our team.

- How does Alex Galchenyuk feel? He hasn't been training with SKA for long since signing.

- Alex is a professional. He had been studying our tactics before joining us, modern technology allowed for this to happen. We held theory lessons with him across two weeks while he was in Toronto and other cities. Alex has huge potential, but we don't want to focus on individual players. Everyone did a great job today.

- Matvei Michkov performed well during pre-season. How can he earn a spot in your team?

- Matvei is competing with other young players for a place in the line-up. Ivan Demidov, who is younger than Matvei, is one of his competitors. Ivan was on the ice for the decisive moments of today's game. We have competition within our team, and you have to win it in accordance with sporting principles. Matvei is training, and he will play. But first of all, you have to deserve it.

- Is there chemistry in this SKA team?

- This was only one game, let's not draw any conclusions yet. Our next match is always the most important one. We're satisfied with this victory, but we are not drawing any conclusions. We want everyone to see that our guys have the desire to win every game.