SKA - Dinamo Minsk. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- It was a hard-fought, difficult match. We were lacking strength as a consequence of this being our third game this week. Minsk are really strong opponents, they compete with organisation and structure. They created a lot of challenges for us today. I want to thank our guys for this victory, they displayed commitment and fought for each other. I would also like to thank our fans for the wonderful support inside the Ice Palace!

- Nikita Serebryakov was incredible in your net.

- It's important that we have a committed goalkeeper who helps the team win. The skaters are also helping him, they blocked pucks and put their bodies on the line. We have to thank everyone in our team for this positive result.

- Your players named Borna Rendulic as the player of the game? Why was that? After all, Serebryakov made 44 saves!

- The players always make that decision. We often outshoot the opponents, but it's no guarantee that you'll win. Dinamo were fresher than us today, we've had a lot of games recently and we musn't forget that we are coming off the back of a long six-match road trip.

Last season the schedule was different, we played three at home and then three on the road. I don't know why they changed the scheme for this season, it's a question which needs to be asked of the KHL. They make the decisions. Thankfully, we do now have the opportunity to recharge our batteries a bit. We won this game because we displayed our character, commitment and desire. Such a gritty victory against a really strong opponent is even sweeter! Plus, it's a good sign and will provide us with more confidence.

- What did you take into account after your recent match against Dinamo in Minsk?

- We've played a lot of games against Dmitry Kvartalnov in recent months, I'm sure that you can remember our series with Belarus in May. We changed a lot of things during the game today. Ahead of our matches, we always prepare for our specific opponent, and we have the opportunity to improve a lot of the small details. When the players follow the game plan, we achieve victories. We'll now prepare for our next match on Monday here.

- Borna Rendulic is in brilliant form.

- This was his fifth game of the week! We also can't forget that it took him five hours to fly to Saint Petersburg from Sochi. It's consequently a challenge for Borna, but he's still managing to score goals. When everyone is in optimal shape, we'll be even stronger.

HC Dinamo Minsk head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov:

- This was one of our best performances of the season. However, there is a but: we couldn't beat the SKA goalkeeper. We allowed him to get into his groove at the start of the game, and then we just couldn't find that finishing touch in front of goal. We will try to take advantage of our scoring chances in our upcoming matches.

- Despite registering 46 shots on target, you only scored twice.

- Did you want us to score 10 against SKA? As I've already said, we really did have a lot of opportunities, but we lacked the required level-headedness and quality to capitalise on them. The pipe also came to SKA's rescue sometimes. Our young guys are learning, this will serve as a good experience for them.

- This was Alexei Kolosov's third game in a row. Will Dylan Ferguson play in Ufa against Salavat Yulaev?

- We now have two days to think about that. Gemel Smith? There is a possibility that he will return for our next match,

- Although he's dished out seven assists, Alexander Volkov has only scored once since joining Dinamo.

- He's the best player in our team.

- Young 18-year-old forward Yegor Borikov received four minutes of ice time today against such a strong opponent. What can you say about this player?

- When I arrived here, I understood that Yegor wanted to move to North America. However, we managed to have a conversation and sort things out. Yegor is trying his best, he's a hard worker. If he continues working hard, then he will become a good player. We want to help him develop.

- Will fellow young prospect Daniil Lipsky receive a chance in the KHL? He's earning a lot of points with your MHL team.

- We're tracking his progress, and I won't rule out the possibility of him soon appearing in the KHL with us. If I'm not mistaken, he will soon play against Saint Petersburg on the road for our youth side.

- Serebryakov made 44 saves for SKA today. Did you try and give your players advice about how to convert their chances?

- It's very difficult to teach players how to score. The ability to score goals comes from God and your parents. On some occasions, our young players are lacking the required coolness to capitalise on their opportunities.

- Minsk have a lot of North American players. Do you consequently like to compete in a Canadian manner?

- We also have many young Belarusians in our set-up. We are signing players who can teach our younger guys important things. To be honest, I would have happily kept Vladimir Alistrov and Sergei Sapego in our team, they would be able to replace our foreign guys, but the club's policy is different.

- So you're working with the future in mind?

- This is the club policy. We will have a strong national team gathering soon, and you can see that a lot of Belarusians are playing in the KHL. If we take into account the Belarusian players currently in North America, then we really do have an excellent national team.

- Can you compare this game to the recent match against SKA in Belarus?

- In both games we conceded very quickly when playing shorthanded. The small details made the difference, but I'm satisfied with our team today.

HC SKA forward Vasily Glotov:

- The main thing is that we won. Ahead of our next game, we will analyse just why Dinamo registered more shots on target than us. We'll gain an understanding of how we can improve. Am I happy with my personal performance? I'll leave it to the coaches and fans to judge my display. As the game progressed, I felt that I improved with every passing shift. No matter how hard you train, you can never replace actual matches. I needed time to get used to playing in a game again.

HC SKA forward Sergei Tolchinsky:

- It was a very tough game for us, Minsk tallied more shots than us and we never really had an advantage in terms of game play. However, thanks to Serebryakov making vital saves, we managed to hang on. Overall, I also think that we displayed character and commitment. My goal? The puck dropped at my stick after Alexander Kadeikin's pass had taken a deflection. We scored a similar goal against CSKA in Moscow last week.