Sibir - SKA. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Oleg Znarok:

- It was a good game, I think that the fans enjoyed it too. Sibir are a good team, their young goalkeeper played great. We had a lot of chances which we didn't take advantage of.

- Can we say that Sibir made SKA play playoff ice hockey?

- It was a very serious match. However, as I have already mentioned, we missed a lot of chances which we should have scored on. Sometimes, if you manage to score a couple, six more can come. When you fail to find the net, stange things start to happen. Sibir even scored against us with the help of a skate.

- Rate Patrik Hersley's performance.

- We didn't score on the powerplay, so it has to be negative. This was only his second game, he arrived in Saint Petersburg not in the best shape. We're trying to give him the opportunity to recover and get back on form.

- If Alexei Krasikov continues playing so well, will you give him a chance at the Euro Hockey Tour?

- I'm more worried about Maxim Shalunov.

- Are you following Sibir's Russian players?

- All of the national team coaches watch how they play. Hopefully, Maxim Shalunov will be fine.

- Can we expect to see any Sibir players in the Russian national team?

- Yes.

HC Sibir Novosibirsk head coach Andrei Skabelka:

- In terms of our team spirit, this was one of our best games for the past few seasons. All of the guys gave everything, we stuck to the game plan. We knew that SKA would hold a lot of possession, so we closed the middle of the ice down and let them play in the corners. Yes, the goalkeeper made a lot of saves, but we had some chances ourselves. Unfortunately, we conceded on a powerplay of our own, it would have been less disappointing if we had let in a goal shorthanded. I congratulate Oleg Znarok and SKA with their victory, we will prepare for CSKA.

- Are Sibir's players competing like heroes?

- What heroism? If some players get injured, it gives others a chance. If you use it, you will play in the league more often. However, our defensive performance really was heroic. It's tough when so many guys get injured. We don't know what condition Maxim Shalunov is in.

- You stuck Stepan Sannikov in a line with Joonas Kemppainen and Evgeny Artyukhin. Was this to keep Pavel Datsyuk and company at bay?

- Maxim Shalunov left after the first period, we had to change things up. We wanted to make that line more aggresive, not more defensive.