SKA - Sochi. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- We initially dominated during the early stages. We controlled the puck excellently, but the opponents were solid in defence and goalkeeper Maxim Tretyak was certainly their best player. Instead of making too many unnecessary passes, we needed to crash the net harder and block the goaltender's view. We took our game to the next level in the third period, displaying true Leningrad tiki-taka ice hockey! We fought for Vladimir Alistrov, who sadly received an injury during the second stanza. Thank you to our fans for their brilliant support.

- Can you tell us the nature of Alistrov's injury?

- He tried to play the puck, whereas Sochi defenseman Danila Galenyuk wanted to land a hit. Alistrov didn't expect to receive the hit, and he consequently fell awkwardly into the boards with his ankle. Unfortunately, it seems that Vladimir will be out of action for a long time. Our medical team will do everything possible to ensure that he can return as soon as possible.

- SKA outshot Sochi 33-1 in the first period, but you only started scoring in the third.

- This was because we were making too many passes when presented with scoring opportunities. Sochi had analysed us well, they were expecting our players to dish out the passes which they made. Nonetheless, we're happy that the guys responded to the conversation which we had before the third period. We improved greatly, displayed character and emerged victorious. Are our players fatigued after the Channel One Cup? They're ready to play in all of our games! Our pre-season training camps were very effective.

- Surely this was Arseniy Gritsyuk's best performance since joining SKA.

- He made a contribution to the team win. Thankfully, Arseniy is now healthy and we can see how he's improving. Arseniy boasts huge potential and a lot of talent, he's a player who can make the difference in any game. We want him to do this in our next match on Thursday.

HC Sochi head coach Dmitry Kokorev:

- I would like to congratulate SKA with their victory. Having not played for a long time, we struggled in the opening frame. SKA gave us a lesson on how to play fast ice hockey. We did manage to even the game out at the end of the second period, but we failed to take advantage of the chances which we created. The third period went wrong after the second goal which we conceded, SKA picked us off on the counter-attack.

- Why didn't Mikhail Berdin play today? And did you think about replacing Tretyak when SKA started scoring their goals in the third period?

- No, I didn't have any thoughts about pulling Maxim. I think that he produced a good performance today, he made a lot of saves but appeared to feel fatigued in the third frame. Our players needed to help him out by blocking shots.

HC SKA forward Vasily Glotov:

- It's great to be back playing in the KHL again. We're happy that we won, but we now have to prepare for Thursday.

HC SKA forward Arseniy Gritsyuk:

- I liked our movement. I thought that we started really well today, but our profligacy in front of goal let us down. We competed with the initiative for practically the entirety of the first two periods. All of us were really determined to win the match in the third stanza, and we're happy that we managed to achieve the desired result. We all began to gain confidence when we finally started scoring our goals. Was this my best showing in a SKA jersey? I don't know about that, but I felt a lot more confident in terms of my movement and puck control. The only thing which was lacking was my finishing.