Roman Rotenberg speaks after beating Sochi away

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- There was a great atmosphere inside the stadium! I'm happy that more and more fans are attending Sochi's games. Both teams had their chances, the game was contested at a high pace. Sochi have a young, determined side which created a lot of difficulties for us which we had to overcome. Our guys did a good job, they responded to the serious discussion which we had in our dressing room after the first period. I would like to thank our fans who supported us and Sochi for their organisation. We only have one day to recover before playing Spartak Moscow in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday.

- Nikolai Prokhorkin made his season debut. How would you rate his performance?

- He hadn't played for almost a year. Given that the season is only just starting for him, it's obvious that he found it tough today. We're happy that our injured guys are starting to return. We know Nikolai well, we previously won the Gagarin Cup and the Olympic Games together. Today's match proved that he possesses a lot of unique qualities, but we need time for him to return to top form. He will get back into shape by participating in games. Just like everyone else, Nikolai contributed to our win today, but all of our players have room for improvement.

- Prokhorkin's line with Dmitrij Jaskin and Nikita Gusev looks really dangerous. When you signed him, did you immediately have the idea of putting the trio in one line?

- Yes, I did. I remember when he played with Gusev and Nikita Kucherov in one line in the MHL. Nikolai knows how to play in one line with Gusev, they have excellent mutual understanding. We have to take it step by step. Thank God that Nikolai was able to continue playing ice hockey, and now our job is to make sure that he returns to his previous level. In this particular game, I would like to point out that all of our players played really well and at a high tempo.

- SKA conceded a minimum of three goals in all three of these away games.

- We've lost a lot of energy when having to dig deep in order to save matches from difficult positions. Furthermore, you have to think in the correct manner after winning games. There was a bit of euphoria after our large victory in Chelyabinsk, but sometimes you have to be calmer and save your energy for the next game. I'm sure that the correct conclusions have been drawn. Before this match, we held a similar meeting to the one which we had at the start of pre-season in Novogorsk. The fact that we're conceding goals is something to consider.

- Matvei Michkov enjoyed a 1+1 night for Sochi.

- Matvei understands which he needs to do in order to take the next step. By the way, today we presented him with his championship ring for winning the Kharlamov Cup with SKA-1946 last season. Matvei has to improve his physical play. Of course, there are other aspects which also require improvement, but we'll keep them between ourselves. We would like to thank Sochi for taking Matvei on loan, they're deservedly giving him a lot of ice time in games. Matvei did well today, but he missed his penalty shot against CSKA in Moscow the other day. We spoke about that with Matvei today. CSKA's goalkeeper already knew where Matvei was going to shoot, all he needed to do was stick out his pad. Instead, he needed to look at the goalkeeper and make a different decision. Nonetheless, we know just how good his ice hockey IQ is and how much talent he possesses. Also, his physical attributes have already improved since joining Sochi. I would like to wish Matvei and Sochi more wins!