SKA - Dinamo Minsk. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- I would like to congratulate everyone with our victory. I would also like to thank our fans who supported us throughout the entire match, it means a lot to have a sold-out Ice Palace. This was a tough game for us, the opponents played their best match. We knew that it was going to be difficult. Our guys did a good job, they followed the game plan and played as a united group. We will now prepare for the next game.

- Why aren't SKA taking advantage of their scoring opportunities? You outshot Dinamo 30-20 today, but only won in overtime.

- We have to appreciate our chances. We're always speaking about this with our players, they have to appreciate every opportunity to score and use it. We also need to shoot more, when we play at our best we often register around 45 shots on target. I liked our winning goal in overtime, it was scored on the rush. We have to make improvements.

- Dinamo Minsk have a lot of Canadian players. How did you cope with them?

- It's always interesting to play against Minsk, they have a Canadian coach and a strong coaching staff. Sometimes they are more aggressive, and on other occasions - like today - they are passive and focus on defence. They had a lot of fresh players on the ice for this match. We have to give the opponents credit, they created a lot of difficulties for us which we had to overcome. Such games are allowing us to develop as a team, we improved at the right time and earned the win.

- SKA took quite a few penalties in the first two periods.

- We have to take this out of our game. Nonetheless, it all depends on the situation, sometimes you take one for the team if there isn't any other option. We will look at the footage tomorrow and analyse what happened.

- Why didn't Alex Grant play in this match?

- We have competition within in our team. Alongside Alex, other guys didn't play either. Any player can take to the ice for us, we'll make a decision for our next game in Yaroslavl with Lokomotiv. Today, Valentin Zykov couldn't play, so we had to give Vladislav Tsitsyura a call not long before the match started. Thankfully, he lives nearby so it wasn't a problem.

HC Dinamo Minsk head coach Craig Woodcroft:

- It was a good hockey game. I was proud of my team's efforts, I liked how we competed with a shortened line-up. Our players took their opportunities and played as a team. We stayed in the game because we used our first, second and third chances, pushing back and pressing. Although we didn't get the result, we got a point here and we have to use the positives.

- Did you analyse the previous game against SKA?

- Yes, we did. Quite frankly, the score did not reflect the game. I thought that we played really well, but we lost because of our sleepy first five minutes in the second period. SKA don't need a lot of chances to score. In terms of the game play, though, I liked how we competed. That gave us confidence, we knew that we could compete with them. We showed that tonight with a shortened line-up.

- Which SKA players impressed you in this match?

- Marat Khairullin, Zakhar Bardakov and Igor Ozhiganov. That's a difficult question, because they have a lot of guys who you can pick from on any given night. We respect SKA. We always have good battles with them, I like their style of ice hockey as it's similar to ours. If you're a fan, you like to see both teams lay it all out on the ice. Our matches make for good entertainment.

- What did you make of Ilya Sushko's KHL debut?

- He's battling back from an injury which he sustained right at the end of our summer training camp, where he was one of our leaders in terms of fitness and strength. With the type of injury he had, there could have been issues concerning his fitness. We worked hard to make sure that he was sharp. In his first KHL game against a team like SKA, he did a good job. I'm happy for him.

- Why didn't Brandon Kozun and Cedric Paquette play?

- Injury.

- Dinamo have been suffering a lot of defeats recently, but the performance level is good. How are you managing to keep the players performing well, even if the results aren't there?

- We're working on the process and to get better every day. We are keeping positive, trying to build confidence while working on our skills and teaching structure. Nothing changes. All teams go through tough times, every club in this league will encounter some adversity this season. How do you manage it? You don't panic, you believe in what you do, you go and hard work at it every day and instill passion and fire. You go to the things you know. When teams go through hard times, the confidence always goes first. It's a delicate thing, confidence has to be protected. When confidence disappears, you have to build it back up. We're going through this process right now. I think today was an excellent step in that direction.

- It's the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Super Series between Canada and Russia. In the future, do you think that such a series will be possible again?

- It's interesting that you ask that, as I recently watched the highlights of the Super Series on YouTube while searching for inspiration. Wow, it was amazing! Both teams and all of the players showed great spirit in every game. It was really inspiring for me, and it got me thinking. We're trying to educate the new generation of players about that stuff. Absolutely, I would love to see it happen again. Both countries have a huge amount of talent. Hopefully, such an event will take place again in the future. It won't be the same though, back then it was different. The Russians played a beautiful style of hockey which was unknown for the North Americans. For their part, North America played with a lot of heart and grit. Nowadays, ice hockey is blended across the world.

HC SKA goalkeeper Alexander Samonov:

- It was a difficult match, but we showed determination to win.

- Could you have done anything about Minsk's second goal in the second period on the powerplay?

- It's hard to say now. The Minsk player was in a great position, but there is always a chance to save the shot.

- Did Minsk's Canadian players surprise you at all?

- As a goaltender, I don't have a lot of contact with them. They came up to me on the crease sometimes, but that was it. Nothing special.

- In comparison to the first match in Minsk against Dinamo which you won 5:1, how have the opponents changed?

- All teams analyse how we play, they want to beat us. This is why all of our games recently have been so hard-fought.

- Why didn't anyone give your stick back when you lost it during the third period?

- We have agreed that no one will give me their stick if that happens. There is no point in them wasting time doing that. If I had left my stick between the Dinamo player's skates, then I would have received a penalty.

HC SKA defenseman Alexander Nikishin:

- It was a tough game for us, but we scored our goals at the right times and our goalkeeper made the big saves. We will now focus on extending our winning streak in the upcoming matches.

- How did Dinamo's Canadian players surprise you?

- They didn't, except for the fact that they know how to swear in Russian.