Roman Rotenberg speaks after beating Spartak in Moscow

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- We expected the match to be contested in this manner. We didn't play in the correct manner in the opening stanza, but we subsequently improved after our conversation in the dressing room. However, we needed to play better in the third period. I would like to congratulate everyone with this victory, we'll now work hard to fix our errors and improve further.

- Nikolai Polyakov's disallowed goal only seemed to fire your players up even more.

- Regardless of what's happening on the ice, you always have to remain calm and continue working. Our guys did a great job, they didn't give up after the goal was chalked off. We played with fire in our eyes and scored wonderful goals.

- Are you disappointed with the third stanza?

- We always have things to work on. The main thing is the final score. In order to stop taking so many penalties, we must control our emotions better and stop committing silly fouls. There aren't any secrets, it's all down to hard work and discipline.

- SKA won the faceoff count 39-20.

- We've been working on our faceoffs since the start of our training camps in the summer. Faceoffs are a vital part of the game, they determine who possesses the puck. Our strength is puck control.

- Former SKA forward Ilya Kovalchuk took to the ice for Spartak today in Moscow.

- I don't want to comment on the opponents. What do I think of Ilya? He's an excellent player and person. It's great that at 40 years of age, he's still playing and setting an example of a healthy lifestyle.

- During the first two periods, we saw just how well SKA had prepared to play Spartak.

- Ahead of every game, we always analyse the opponents. The chances which Spartak had arrived because of our mistakes. The second stanza is a perfect example for the future, we must follow the game plan and avoid committing needless errors. We will analyse what happened in our team meeting tomorrow.

- Nikita Serebryakov was fantastic in your net. Did his saves inspire the skaters to start scoring?

- Every player made a contribution to our win.