SKA - Salavat Yulaev. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

"I want to thank our fans for their wonderful support! I would also like to thank our players for their excellent performance, they fought hard for the entire 60 minutes against one of the KHL's strongest sides.

"We were solid in defence and played in an aggressive manner, not giving the opponents time and space. We deserved this victory. However, in more negative news, one of our players who represents the Russian national team will spend time on the sidelines as a result of an injury which he picked up today. Arseniy Gritsyuk? Yes, he will miss our next game on Tuesday.

"Did we try and protect the score in the third period? No, we always play in accordance with our own system. The statistics prove this. Artemiy Pleshkov? I think that he proved that he's SKA number one. He's a superb goalkeeper who fights for every single puck! Just look at one of his saves in the third period, when it seemed impossible to stop the puck. We believe in all of our goaltenders.

"Modern ice hockey requires you to play aggressively without the puck. If you manage to do this, you consequently take away space for the opposing team. Today we achieved this, but we still have room for improvement. 

"Ivan Demidov has struggled in the last two matches? No, I don't agree. He was great for us today, creating chances with his skillful play and causing problems for the Ufa defence. In the future, I'm confident that Ivan will help Russia win gold at the Olympic Games and World Championship!"

HC Salavat Yulaev Ufa head coach Viktor Kozlov:

"SKA pressed us at the start of the game, but we defended solidly. However, as a result of us losing pucks in the neutral zone in the second period, SKA took the initiative and punished us. We subsequently had opportunities to score, but Pleshkov was excellent in their net and we lacked coolness when presented with chances. When you play against teams like SKA, Kazan and Omsk, you have to play with emotion and give 100% on the ice. The team which controls the puck controls the game.

"Had we capitalised on our powerplays, it would have been possible to get back in the match. As a team, we didn't dig deeply enough. SKA were fresher than us? Yes, maybe they were, but we shouldn't have lost out in terms of commitment and desire. We lost the duels."