Roman Rotenberg speaks after defeating Traktor in Chelyabinsk

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- It was a good performance from us, the guys followed the game plan and gave 100% commitment. At the same time, we should not be conceding three goals. Nevertheless, we were ruthless in front of goal today, this will give us positive energy moving forward. We will now prepare for our next game, it's an important one in Ufa. I would like to thank all of our players and fans.

- You've enjoyed plenty of personal success in Chelyabinsk, notably winning the KHL All-Star Game recently and today's game. Don't you want to face Traktor in the Gagarin Cup final?

- Time will tell! Yes, we played really well today and scored lots of goals, but this is our job. We had a productive discussion after playing Vityaz in Balashikha, and our players proved that they've learnt their lesson. We crashed the net harder, competed with discipline and maintained full concentration. Chelyabinsk is a wonderful hockey town with plenty of tradition, the likes of Vyacheslav Bykov and Sergei Makarov produced through the system here. In my opinion, had Makarov played in the NHL, he would have scored more goals than Wayne Gretzky! It's good fun playing in Chelyabinsk and the supporters always create a superb atmosphere.

- Why did you substitute Vladislav Podyapolsky for 18-year-old Sergei Ivanov during the third period?

- Due to our current situation, Vladislav is participating in all of our games at the moment. Given that we already held a large lead, we decided to give him a rest ahead of our next match on Friday. A lot of our leading players were given more time to rest up during the third frame, the situation allowed for us to do so. It's a long season.