SKA - Salavat Yulaev. Press-conference

HC Salavat Yulaev Ufa head coach Viktor Kozlov:

- It was a good match. We struggled at the start, we were nervous and took a lot of penalties as a result of mistakes in our own zone. However, we started to play our game during the second half of the match, controlling the puck and creating scoring opportunities. The opponents created chances too, Andrei Kareyev kept us in the game. The guys did a great job to equalise, and we heard our travelling fans well.

- What were you lacking on the powerplay?

- It was clear that our players felt nervous, as we committed errors with our passes. SKA defended well too.

- Alexander Kadeikin took his marker out of the game with one hand and made a pass.

- He had done that in training as well. Sergei Shmelyov did well to score there, and Nikolai Kulyomin made a good play too. Our line did excellently for that goal.

- Why did Andrei Kareyev play today instead of former SKA goaltender Ilya Ezhov?

- Yes, we knew that Ilya had been a big part of SKA, but we decided that Kareyev was going to play in this game.

- Why didn't Grigory Panin, Pavel Koledov and Evgeny Timkin play?

- Grigory was suspended, while the latter too are recovering from illness.

- Salavat often allowed SKA to have odd-man rushes when you were on the powerplay.

- We knew that SKA are dangerous shorthanded on the counter-attack, plus we felt the pressure of the first competitive match of the campaign. It was a full house and the atmosphere in Saint Petersburg always puts pressure on you. In the end, I'm satisfied that we showed character to equalise.

- Josh Ho-Sang was in the third line for your team.

- He has been playing well in the line with Danil Alalykin and Danil Bashkirov, they play energetic ice hockey. We have three lines which can create opportunities to score and control the puck. Also, our fourth line of Artyom Pimenov, Gleb Kuzmin and Alexei Pustozyorov played well in this game.

- Salavat lost out in terms of faceoffs.

- Faceoffs are very important, so we definitely have to make an improvement there. It's good that the season is only just starting.

HC SKA forward Damir Zhafyarov:

- It was a good, emotional game. It's a shame that we took the match to overtime, but we have the two points. We will move on and improve.

- How did you escape your marker for the winning goal in overtime?

- Alexander Nikishin cleared the puck, I managed to skate forwards quickly and I escaped the Salavat defence.

- SKA have four consecutive home matches to start the KHL campaign with. Does this put pressure on you?

- This gives us confidence! Thank you to all of the fans who came today, there hadn't been a sold-out Ice Palace for a long time because of the situation in the world. The atmosphere was fantastic!

- In the summer, Salavat Yulaev stated that they didn't want to sign you because they don't think you can be a leader for them. What's your version of events?

- I can't say for sure. Their words were said after I signed for SKA, my agent held the negotiations. Saint Petersburg was my decision and the decision of my family, I don't regret anything.

- What did you make of Dmitry Nikolaev's performance in net?

- He was confident all game long. The two goals which we conceded in the third period were messy from the skaters' point of view, he can't be blamed at all. He gave us energy and support.

HC SKA forward Artyom Fyodorov:

- Thank you to our supporters for the superb atmosphere! We're happy that we won the first match of the campaign.

- What were your emotions when you opened the scoring in the maiden frame?

- It was a great, any forward always wants to score a goal as soon as possible. We will continue working.

- You have performed well for SKA this summer. What have you done differently in comparison to previous years?

- I won't even speak about last season. Saint Petersburg has an excellent system, we trained hard, worked on our tactics and built mutual understanding within our group.

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- Our guys did a great job to stick to the game plan. We have to things to work on, and we will now prepare for the next match on Monday.

- Why did you struggle to score after initially breaking the deadlock in the first period?

- We have to give credit to Salavat, they are a strong opponent. They have strong players who boast NHL experience. Our young guys coped with the challenge, though, it was the first game at this level for a lot of them. I would like to extend my gratitude to our fans for their brilliant support, in the future we want to score more goals and shoot more often.

- What did you make of Damir Zhafyarov's overtime winner?

- It's the result of our great teamwork. During the pre-season, we had participated in a lot of overtime periods. Overtime is an important component of the game. Damir did brilliantly for his goal, he decided the match in our favour. Zhafyarov made the whole of Saint Petersburg happy!

- Why did you put Dmitry Nikolaev in net today?

- We have two strong goalkeepers. The season is long, everyone will receive the opportunity to play. Dmitry is a product of our youth system, he has been training excellently. Before today, he had played in a few KHL games and in matches for the national team. Dmitry has always shown the qualities of a winner. We're happy that he managed to play so well today, especially taking into account that Salavat had former NHL players such as Josh Ho-Sang and Alexander Chmelevski on the ice. Nikolaev coped with the challenge successfully. Thanks to his solid performance, we emerged victorious. We always want the products of our youth system to play, those who have grown up in Saint Petersburg.

- This was your maiden season-opener as SKA head coach. Just to make it even more special, the Ice Palace was full with 12,000 fans in attendance.

- It's wonderful to play at home. When we play in Saint Petersburg, we are obliged to win. Our entire team appreciates the support offered by the fans, we want to win for them again on Monday. We had been preparing for the start of the season for more than a month, a lot of hard work was undertaken. Serious foundations needed to be laid for the long season ahead, we have paid attention to all of the details during the pre-season. Not all teams do this.

- What happened for Ufa's first goal? Marat Khusnutdinov was easily beaten by Kadeikin behind Nikolaev's net.

- Ice hockey is a game of mistakes. Marat was born in 2002, he's a young guy. The same can be said for Dmitry Buchelnikov, who was born a year later in 2003. Khusnutdinov is a leader for us, but we will work on the mistakes. We will analyse the goal and help Marat not to repeat the same error in the next game. In any case, every player on the ice should help out, if one player commits a mistake another should compensate. Mistakes happen.

- Artyom Fyodorov scored SKA's first goal of the 2022/2023 KHL regular season. Will you congratulate him in a special way?

- We have special rituals in our dressing room which we won't share. We are grateful to the players who take leading roles on the ice, we need them and we require goals. Our young players were impressive? Well, we can and will play better. It was tough for some of our guys to play inside a completely full Ice Palace, but they passed the exam and successfully coped with the challenge. We will train tomorrow and prepare to face Barys Nur-Sultan.

- SKA are starting the campaign with four straight home games in Saint Petersburg. Is this an advantage, or is it applying more pressure on your young players?

- The first game is always the most difficult one. A positive start is half of our job, and we achieved it. Our task today was to win. The fact that we won inside a packed arena will help us, the guys will feel easier psychologically moving forward. Other cities don't have such high attendances like Saint Petersburg. Hopefully, we will have a full Ice Palace again on Monday.