Salavat Yulaev - SKA. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Sergei Zubov:

- I congratulate Salavat Yulaev with their win. It was an interesting game, both teams fought, and it was like a playoff game. At the end of the match we were a bit unlucky, we couldn't score on our chances, but we are still happy for the one point. The guys tried, especially in the third period when we needed a goal. We got it, and we are satisfied with what we have.

- Why were the first and second matches with Salavat so different?

- We asked the players to pay more attention to the defence, and that probably had its effect on the outcome. Both teams played to win today.

- Maybe your team were tired after the tough match in Magnitogorsk?

- No, we have energy. We needed a goal, and we took our tempo up a notch and found strength in ourselves.

- Why did Andrei Zubarev miss this match?

- We had an optimal line-up for this game, this was a coaching staff's decision.

HC Salavat Yulaev Ufa head coach Igor Zakharkin:

- I think that we are bit lucky that SKA are finishing a really hard road trip, they had tough matches. I had spoken about the fact that these four matches before the break we will play in a playoff style. It was very important to take back revenge against the teams which we had lost to, and today's game was just like the playoffs. During today's match, one thing kept surprising me. We want our defencemen to join in the attack, but why are these young players poorly following on from their predecessors? Sitting next to me is the best NHL attacking defenceman, he has scored more goals than anyone else. What do our defencemen do? They get into shooting positions and make passes. I cannot understand why. Their passes are aimless. We have such big reserves in our hockey, especially looking up to what these players' predecessors have done. Today, this thought was constantly going through my mind. I am very happy that we won, the match was interesting. It's great that we had the charity events with the soft toys because it's the holiday season. It's Christmas in Europe, and New Year is coming soon to us. At this time of year you always feel good inside, and I am happy that the fans enjoyed today's match.

- Did you make up for you mistakes in the match with Spartak?

- Yes. We saw that the players improved in today's match, and in our organisation we saw a better balance between defence and offence.

- Will Oleg Saprykin play against Vityaz?

- He's needs to keep on preparing, and then he will play. He will miss the game with Vityaz.

- Is it worth waiting for Vladimir Sokhatsky to be on the ice?

- He skates on to the ice before every game! He will play when it's his turn. We can't have one goaltender all season, we need a reliable second for the playoffs.

- When doing special acts in aid of charity, Salavat always win. Should you do this every game?

- If it was that simple to do something charitable every game, we would be very happy to support that.

- Will Rafael Khakimov get a chance this season?

- I can't look so far ahead now. I would like him to return to the team, as he is playing well with Toros. I think that soon we will call him up to our training, and we will then decide his hockey future.