SKA - Avtomobilist. Press-conference of game one

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- As a result of our long break following the first round, we were rusty in the first period. We subsequently dominated the match, but we conceded three goals as a consequence of our avoidable mistakes. We understand Avtomobilist's strengths, but we also know how we can improve. The goals which we conceded today were really poor. Our disallowed goal in the second stanza? An opponent pushed Arseniy Gritsyuk into the goalkeeper, so I don't know why it was disallowed. When you play against such a strong team like Avtomobilist, you can't afford to give their players space. When will Alexander Nikishin and Borna Rendulic return? Hopefully on Tuesday.

HC Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg head coach Nikolai Zavarukhin:

- The SKA Arena really is a fantastic stadium, it's a delight to play here! I liked our performance in the maiden stanza, we pressed SKA well and managed to keep the opponents at bay. It was a different story in the second, we failed to clear our lines and consequently came under severe pressure. We asked our guys to catch SKA on the counter in the third, and that's exactly what happened. This is a hard-fought team win.

HC SKA forward Pavel Dedunov:

- We have a feeling of deja-vu today, the situation with Nizhny Novgorod has repeated itself. Just like when playing Torpedo in the first match, we conceded two cheap goals on the counter-attack. We improved as the game wore on, but we couldn't capitalise on the chances which we managed to create. The break between the first and second rounds? On one hand we were resting for a long time, but on the other we had time to train and analyse. It depends on how you look at the situation. Nikishin's absence can't be used as an excuse, instead we have to all pull our weight even more and find a solution to the problem.

HC SKA forward Vasily Glotov:

- Despite the result, there were a lot of positives which we now have to take into game two on Tuesday. Avtomobilist didn't take many penalties? This means that we have to draw more fouls out of them with our proactive approach. The long break before this match took its toll on us, it's a lot easier when we play every two days. Avtomobilist's third in the third period? Such goals usually turn out to be key in the playoffs, they scored immediately after we had equalised. Nonetheless, all of us on the bench supported one another and believed that we could get back in the game.