SKA - Dynamo Moscow. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- The energy inside the Ice Palace was fantastic today! The problem today was our lack of discipline. Our performance level improved greatly, but we took too many penalties. I would like to congratulate Dynamo with their victory, they're a strong opponent and their team is older than ours. The fact that we are currently going through a tough period means that consequently we will be immune to further difficulties. As you saw today, the players are beginning to compete with energy again, their movement was a lot better in this match. Johan Mattsson received an injury today unfortunately, but Sergei Ivanov was excellent after replacing him. Dmitry Nikolaev is also on the sidelines with an injury. In the final game of the Nikolai Puchkov Tournament, Artemiy Pleshkov was phenomenal in our net, but he also received an injury and only today returned to action with SKA-Neva in the VHL. Artemiy will now return to our senior group, and we'll make a decision with regard to who plays in our next match on Sunday.

We've been unlucky recently? You have to deserve luck! We will get through this period thanks to our hard work and effort. Without a shadow of doubt, our team is a contender for the Gagarin Cup. We will do everything in order to win our next game!

HC Dynamo Moscow head coach Alexei Kudashov:

- It was a difficult, emotional game. As usual, the atmosphere inside the Ice Palace was fantastic, and the fans got to see plenty of wonderful goals, beautiful plays and physical duels. We were fully prepared for how SKA were going to play, we knew what to do when they were pressing and defending. We have several former SKA players? The fact that they're familiar with the atmosphere here helped them cope with the challenge. The schedule? We're playing every two days, so we simply don't have time to study the opponents in huge detail everytime. We play against SKA on a regular basis, so we both understand each other well.

HC SKA defenseman Artyom Sergeev:

- I would like to thank the fans who packed the Ice Palace out after our poor game against Spartak Moscow on Tuesday. In my opinion, the decisive moment today was the second stanza, in which we took too many penalties instead of applying pressure on the opponents. As a consequence of our ill discipline, we allowed Dynamo to compete with the momentum. In future games, we also have to start taking advantage of our scoring opportunities.

HC SKA forward Zakhar Bardakov:

- I liked how we played today, we competed on the front foot, with the initiative and put together excellent passing plays. We had confidence going into the second frame, but we took far too many penalties. Subsequently, in the third, we failed to use the numerous chances which we created. We conceded twice shorthanded? We had analysed their powerplay, but not the player who actually scored. Not all of us understand how to play correctly in the defensive zone yet because we haven't played many matches, but it will come with experience.