SKA - Lokomotiv. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Valeri Bragin:

- We had a lot of players with the national team, so we only had one full training session together before this match. This factor took its toll on our performance. As we expected, the first period was messy. After that, we started to compete in the correct manner, but we couldn't come back from three goals down despite the chances which we had. There were a few controversial moments concerning the penalties which weren't given to Lokomotiv, maybe those extra powerplays would have allowed us to get closer to the opponents. Lokomotiv scored their goals and then waited for our mistakes.

- SKA only registered one shot on target during the first period.

- As I have already said, the first period was messy from our point of view. Yaroslavl had already played in Belarus on Monday, they were in better shape. We didn't take any penalties today? It's good that we played with discipline.

- Why did Leo Komarov play as a centre forward?

- Joonas Kemppainen is out with injury, and Leo has experience of playing in that position. He played well.

- Did his hits in the third period help fire the team up?

- Yes, one of his best qualities is that he always competes hard.

- How serious is the injury suffered by defenseman Mikko Lehtonen?

- He has a fracture. I think that he will be out for a long time, at least for a month.

- SKA have a lot of new players. How will they all come together?

- We will improve. Valentin Zykov, Alexander Volkov and Kemppainen are all coming back, they are key players for us.

- Are you satisfied with Nikita Gusev's performance?

- Nikita is playing better now, he's shooting from any angle possible. He just needs a couple of goals to get going.

HC Lokomotiv Yaroslavl head coach Igor Nikitin:

- It was a complete performance from our team. We reacted to the conceded goal in the right way, our guys deserved to win. We kept the opponents at bay and played well in the attacking zone, we're happy with the victory.

- What did you focus on during the international break?

- We rested psychologically and put in the work physically.

- What happened when Alexander Elesin had an argument with Leo Komarov?

- I haven't seen whether Leo's hit was clean or not. Nevertheless, it's great that our players are always sticking up for each other.

- For you, was this performance better than the one in Belarus against Dinamo Minsk?

- Yes, it certainly was. In Minsk, we only played well for spells of the game, but today it was a complete performance from all four lines.