SKA - Avangard. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

"It was an excellent, hard-fought match. I want to thank our players for their commitment and effort out there on the ice, they helped Artemiy Pleshkov who was superb in our net. We won the 50/50 battles and scored beautiful goals. 

"However, when playing agaiskanst a quality side which boasts such a strong PP, we don't have the right to take penalties. Their American players simply waited for powerplay opportunities, because while playing 5-on-5 they didn't show anything. We will improve further once we take the penalties out of our game.

"All of our players are working really hard. The fact that some of them asked to go and train on the ice after today's game speaks volumes about their desire! Is it worth giving Semyon Demidov a chance, given that he's scoring so many goals in the VHL? Let's see. 

"Pleshkov has taken Nikita Serebryakov's place as our starting goalkeeper? We don't have a number one goaltender, they are all really strong. Don't forget that Pavel Moisevich, who won the Kharlamov Cup with us in the spring, has been out on the sidelines with injury. In modern ice hockey, goalkeepers make the difference. Pleshkov was solid today and made the key saves."

HC Avangard Omsk head coach Sergei Zvyagin:

"We gave ourselves a chance after the first period, but then we moved away from our scheme and committed decisive mistakes for SKA's concluding two goals. Those two markers ruined our chances of emerging victorious.

"Our coach's challenge for SKA's second goal? It was very close to being a foul, but I haven't had a chance yet to analyse that incident in detail. When you have a situation like this one when it's 50/50, you can never tell what the decision is going to be. Nonetheless, I have full confidence in our video coaches.

"We struggled physically in the third period? No, I wouldn't say that, both teams competed at an intense tempo throughout. Everyone felt confident that the match wouldn't slip away from us, but sadly our mistakes let us down."

HC SKA forward Valentin Zykov:

"It was an intense match of a high level. My goal? We took advantage of a quick 3-on-2 attack after stealing possession. I've already scored three goals this season? My focus is on the team's results, not personal statistics."