SKA - Dynamo Moscow. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

"We should have taken advantage of our chances while playing excellently in the first period. When it comes to our shots, it needs to be quality over quantity. Our guys fought hard, but we gave Dynamo the initiative after taking the lead. Instead of doing that, we should have continued playing our game, competed aggressively without the puck and controlled possession better. Individual mistakes resulted in the goals which we conceded.

"If we look at what happened in the third period, then we can see that a lack of communication let us down. The fourth goal which Dynamo scored is a perfect example of this. Our game overall is improving, but now we need to start achieving positive results too. 

"Did we think the game was done when we held a three-goal lead? No, but our penalties subsequently cost us. Everyone needs to look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves why they are taking such silly penalties. 

"Our goalkeeping situation? Artemiy Pleshkov, Pavel Moisevich and Yegor Zavragin are all strong goaltenders. Zavragin played today, but I think that a different goalkeeper will take to the ice on Saturday when we host Ufa.

"Nikita Zaitsev wasn't originally going to play today, but he had to step in as a consequence of Alexander Nikishin being injured. Ivan Demidov? We saw today just how tightly the opponents marked him. Opposing teams are already treating Ivan as a leader, so this means that they will try to give him a lot less space. It's a challenge for him and the whole team."

HC Dynamo Moscow head coach Alexei Kudashov:

"As a result of having not played for five days, we initially struggled in the first frame. Nevertheless, we have to give credit to our guys for finding the required energy and emotion when trailing by three. 

"Was Maxim Motorygin to blame for the conceded goals? No, not at all! Just look at how he played in the first period. From our point of view, we needed to do something in order to spark our skaters into life. We also made changes to our line formations.

"We gained a lot of momentum from the first goal which we scored. We knew what to do when three down, and I'm happy that our players dug deep and turned the match around. If we take the first period out of the equation, I liked our performance today."