Roman Rotenberg speaks after beating CSKA in Moscow

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- We must give credit to CSKA Moscow, we knew that they were going to play the game of their lives today. This was a true playoff-like match. Our guys did a great job, they coped with CSKA's pressure, competed with discipline and showed aggressiveness. A component which requires improvement is our ruthlessness in front of goal. I would like to congratulate my team with this victory, it's an important one for us.

- Was this a goalkeeping duel?

- We have to point out the brilliant performance of CSKA goaltender Dmitry Gamzin. We knew where to shoot against him, but we needed to block his view more effectively. There were five clear chances today which we wasted, all we needed to do was lift the puck over the pads. Our players fought for Nikita Serebryakov, battled for each other and followed the game plan.

- CSKA registered 43 shots on target, but your players blocked a further 24.

- You can only win by working hard! CSKA have a team of high quality, their players have won the KHL and the Olympic Games. Furthermore, a lot of their guys have played in the

NHL. When you play against CSKA, you cannot afford to relax for a single second. We won because of our character, determination and team spirit.

- SKA have won four out of four against CSKA so far this season. After the playoff semi-final in April, you stated that CSKA's championship window was closing. Are these results proving that you were right?

- As I have already said, those words were spoken on emotion. This was only one game, we now have to prepare for our next match which is just as important for us. If we continue following the game plan, we'll be successful. We're operating as a united group. Nevertheless, there are mistakes which require fixing. Both teams displayed fantastic ice hockey today, we need more games like this. CSKA have an excellent team.

- How would you summarise 2023 for SKA?

- We won the KHL Continental Cup and gave everything we had in the semi-finals of the Gagarin Cup playoffs. In my opinion, this is the best SKA team which we've had since I've began working with the club. If you look at the statistics, then you'll see that no team won more KHL games than SKA in 2023! And we still have one more important match to play at home in Saint Petersburg before the calendar year ends. Every player in our team is giving 100%. Following the previous campaign, we made a lot of required changes to our management and squad. We're moving in the right direction. I would also like to point out that it's an honour for us to play at such fantastic arenas in Moscow, this is helping our ice hockey to develop and become more popular. In stark contrast to the arena here, we recently played in Nizhny Novgorod, where the boards broke during the match and the puck bounced around everywhere. We need to have top level stadiums and excellent ice in order to develop.