SKA's reaction after defeating Dynamo

SKA Vice-President Roman Rotenberg:

- We managed to win the fifth game as a result of the fans' support. It was a level game, and both teams created the same amount of goalscoring chances. The hockey Gods were on our side though, and they helped us. This series with Dynamo has shown us that we are on the right track.

Dynamo tried to break us to change the tide of the series. At some moments during the match they managed to do that, and there was a feeling that Dynamo were coming back into it. The first victory, also in overtime, was very important for us. We also played well in the second, but couldn't score on our chances. You can pick out our defence and goaltender too, as we had a real team spirit.

The team deserves a day's rest, and then preparation for the next round will begin. We are moving from game to game, step by step. We want to speak less and do more.

We have beaten a strong team, which from an organisation point of view is an example to the rest of the KHL. You don't win two Gagarin Cups in a row by chance. Those four defeats during the regular season taught us a lot though, and we lost as many games as we could have done against Dynamo back then.

We analysed our mistakes and made conclusions from those games. The board, management and coaching staff put in a lot of work - as a united team we got this result. The main thing is that we are moving on, one step closer to our main goal.

A lot of changes have occurred in our club. The board, management and coaching staff changed a lot. The SKA System is starting to work differently. Our youth team SKA-1946 have also won, and that shows how are our system and academy is working. Our system allows us to beat opponents such as Dynamo.

(R-Sport)

Ilya Kovalchuk:

- You have got rid of the curse of Dynamo.

- There were some feelings after losing against them so many times before, but now we have a new team, new coaches and a new board. I wouldn't compare all of these games against each other. Today was our worst match of the series, as we began to sit back too much. At the same time though we had chances to score more. We should give our dues to the opponents - they are true fighters, and know how to play until the end. We knew that today would be a tough day.

- How have you managed to defeat Dynamo in the series overall?

- They probably didn't expect that we would have the same tactics as them. We knew how they would play in the neutral zone, and we didn't allow them to play with pace. We were lucky that Alexander Yeryomenko was injured - he is a fighter and knows how to play in the playoffs. Mikko Koskinen was fantastic for us.

- Did you find it hard after dropping the second game?

- Every match was on a knife's edge, even when we won 6:1. The score didn't reflect the actual game.We knew that it would be a close series, but we didn't want to return to Moscow again. Thank God that we finished it off today. Every game has been very emotional. I don't know how they work out the schedule, but the games are so close together in the playoffs. It wasn't like this during the regular season.

- Now you can see how CSKA will play in their series with Jokerit.

- You know, I don't care about that.

- During the first period your ear was hit by a stick, and blood is still visible now.

- Never mind, I'll live. The main thing is the victory.

- It seemed as though while the blood was cleared off the ice, the team had time to regroup.

-We dominated during the opening stages, scored a quick goal, and then began to sit back.

(Sport-Express)

Vadim Shipachyov:

- We played a bad game, and allowed Dynamo to create a lot of chances while not scoring ourselves. We should have closed the game out in normal time, and not go into overtime. We sat back however, and Dynamo started to put the pressure on and draw penalties out of us. It's good that we scored in the fourth period. I have no thoughts about the Western Conference final at all, we all go home to relax.

(R-Sport)

Artemiy Panarin:

- Why did the game go all the way into overtime?

- We wanted to win in normal time and not get too nervous, but we shouldn't talk about this now. The main thing is that we emerged victorious, even if it would have been in the tenth overtime. We're very happy, but a hard road is ahead of us, and it will be harder than it has already been.

- The team also beat Torpedo 4:1 in the first round. Was it psychologically harder against Dynamo?

- If I'm honest it's hard to answer this question. It's good that we played so well against Dynamo away from home. Dynamo's fans yelled a number of obscenities in our address, and I would like to send them some greetings too. We respect Dynamo as a club, and we are proud that we have beaten them.

- SKA fell to Dynamo four times during the regular season, and two times in past playoff campaigns...

- We played as we had planned during this series, and everything worked out.

- SKA-1946 also beat Dynamo's youth team HC MVD in the MHL Kharlamov Cup playoffs. Is Saint Petersburg having a good sporting year?

- I hope so! The city is behind us.

(Sovetskiy Sport)