SKA - Slovan. Press-conference

13 January 2016

HC Slovan Bratislava head coach Milos Riha:

- We began today's game just as we finished it - without a heart and without a hockey soul. For whatever reason, we were afraid. I didn't like the first two periods at all, but in the third we began to play. However, you cannot make such mistakes with twenty seconds remaining. I thank SKA for this game, they deservedly won.

- With what mood did you return to Saint Petersburg?

- It's always nice to come here, I have friends and a lot of warm memories connected to this city.

- Is it very important for you personally to beat SKA?

- I wouldn't say that it is important just because of the fact we are playing SKA. We wanted to keep our winning streak going, especially against such an opponent. We are getting close to the playoffs, and we want to play there.

- Why is Andrei Potaichuk not working with you in Slovan?

- Andrei has always worked with me in Russia, yes. When I began working with Slovan, he was working elsewhere.

- Can you tell us why Michael Garnett played instead of Barry Brust?

- We needed to give Barry a rest, and Michael has to play at some point. Also, Barry didn't feel too good, so as a result we went for the healthy goaltender. It was hard for Michael, especially given how Barry has played recently. He did his job today.

HC SKA head coach Sergei Zubov:

- Thank you for the congratulations. We began well, and controlled the game. However, the bad tendency continued - for the second match in a row we lost our concentration at an important moment, and made things difficult for ourselves. Nevertheless we are happy with the win, and will work over the problems.

- What is wrong with Vyacheslav Voynov?

- He is ill, but will soon be back in the team.

- What words do you need when you see a two goal lead evaporate?

- Words aren't required, we should play and not lose concentration at important moments.

- What are new coach's Vladimir Fedosov's functions?

- We have a lot of national team players, and Vladimir will help strengthen our defence.

- Pavel Buchnevich and Sergei Shirokov ended up switching lines. Are you searching for Ilya Kovalchuk's ideal line partners?

- We are looking for optimal line combinations, and some players are performing better than others.

- Does that mean that you are not pleased with Pavel Buchnevich's game?

- No, everything is fine. I just want to control some moments.

- Anton Belov spent half of the match as a fourth forward.

- We want our defencemen to join in the rush, it's a part of modern hockey.