SKA - Severstal. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

"We understood the importance of this match. Unfortunately, some of our guys are currently out with illness. Nikita Zaitsev was going to play today, but he felt ill after our morning skate. This isn't an excuse, though, we're obliged to win with any line-up. We also have to point out that for a lot of our young players, such exterior pressure is something new.

"The fact we had two goals disallowed probably affected our players' psychology. We're creating chances and scoring lots of goals, but we're making too many mistakes in defence. We had a chance to equalise at the end, but Ilya Karpukhin missed the target and Severstal subsequently scored into the empty net.

"This will serve as a useful experience of our players. Pavel Moisevich was fantastic for us in the MHL Kharlamov Cup playoffs last season, but we can see that the younger Yegor Zavragin is coping with stressful situations brilliantly. Not all of our players coped with this stressful situation successfully.

"Instead of focusing on outside noise, we simply need to focus on ice hockey and start capitalising on our scoring opportunities. We're conceding tons of goals? Personally, it's embarassing that we've conceded seven today. I would like to apologise to everyone for the fact that we conceded seven markers in this home game. Nonetheless, despite this issue, we're continuing to score more goals than anyone else in the KHL.

"Our forwards need to help the defensemen more when we're moving the puck out from our zone. Tony DeAngelo has left us? This is down to family reasons. It was difficult for Tony here, not all of our guys speak English and he was without his family. Tony has already returned home to the US.

"Am I disappointed that Ivan Demidov will leave us? Of course, I would like the world's best players to represent SKA. Ivan is doing a fantastic job, he listens to us and always plays in accordance with our game plan. He's working incredibly hard and is progressing as a consequence. I will do everything I possibly can to keep this group of players together. If they want to make the move to the NHL, then they need to leave SKA after winning the Gagarin Cup this season! It would only be fitting.

"Do I have any worries about potentially losing my job? I've been working in the Gazprom structure since 2007! Only thanks to the support offered by Gazprom, Alexei Miller and Alexander Medvedev have we been successful and won trophies. Gazprom also paid a large role in our 2018 Olympic victory alongside our triumphs in the Gagarin Cup and Kharlamov Cup playoffs. You can't be afraid in sport, otherwise the sharks will eat you up. I am grateful to Alexei Miller and everyone who believes in us."

HC Severstal Cherepovets head coach Andrei Kozyrev:

"Two wins out of three during this road trip is a good result for our team. We won because of our team play today, we controlled the game and deservedly emerged victorious. Our video coaches played a huge role in this win with their advice concerning the disallowed SKA goals.

"Did I have extra motivation today considering that I used to work for SKA? No, I treated this as a normal game for two points, we're fighting for a playoff spot. 

"Was I worried that SKA were going to equalise? No, I thought we coped with the closing stages well. SKA gained emotions when they scored their fourth goal, but we also have to remember the quality of their team. 

"Seven goals in one match is a rarity for us? Yes. We always create lots of opportunities, but in other games we hadn't capitalised on them. I'm pleased that we took advantage of our chances today."