SKA - Spartak. Press-conference of game two

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- We followed the game plan. However, we know that we can play a lot better. The work continues, we will now prepare for the next match. I would like to thank our team and fans for their efforts.

- SKA played with a lot more aggression today. Was this part of the plan?

- We always want to play aggressively and on the front foot. Our plan was to be compact and not give the opponents time. After the first game of the series, we made tactical and personnel changes. Furthermore, both teams changed their approach during today's game. Our work continues.

- Marat Khusnutdinov was trusted with an important faceoff draw with only 90 seconds remaining in the third period.

- In terms of the faceoffs, Marat was one of our best forwards today. He plays an important role for our team, competing on the penalty kill and playing well in the defensive and attacking zones. The best players are on the ice for the decisive moments of matches, Marat deserved to take that faceoff draw.

- Evgeny Timkin and Evgeny Ketov didn't receive many minutes on the ice.

- It all depends on the flow of the game, we work in accordance with the situation. Both of them 100% fulfilled their roles. In the third period, Evgeny was on the ice when we were shorthanded. The guys did a good job.

- Are you satisfied with Alexander Volkov?

- The whole team can play better, including Alexander. He is a very talented player, I want to see him take more shots and block the goalkeeper's view. Over the course of the campaign, we can see how he's progressed.

- Igor Ozhiganov scored his maiden goal of the 2021/2022 KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs. How pleased are you with his play?

- He is progressing. Just like everyone else, Igor has room for improvement, but he is a player of the highest level. We're really happy that he scored today, and I think that he will improve with every passing game.

- Why did you replace Valentin Zykov with Danila Moiseev?

- Danila has played with Nikita Gusev and Mikhail Vorobyov all season long. We look at how each individual player feels. Danila's in good shape, he's been training well with the coaching staff. He deserves his place in the team and he plays in accordance with our system. Nevertheless, we have things to improve.

- What do Andrei Kuzmenko, Gusev and Anton Burdasov need to do in order to earn more points?

- The opponents are playing in a very compact manner against our leading players. But, at the same time, it gives an opportunity for our other guys to prove their worth. We need to make more surprise moves and unexpected plays, those three players will now work on this. They did have chances to score in this match.

- Did SKA gave Spartak the initiative in the third period?

- No, we didn't have a plan to do that. We will work on following our scheme for the full 60 minutes. We do have to give credit to the guys for blocking pucks, though, Zakhar Bardakov even blocked a shot with his face! Our players are all working for the good of the team. We have to improve both tactically and psychologically, we're only just getting started. The fans offered our team fantastic support today, we will be happy to see them at our away games in Moscow and at home matches in Saint Petersburg!

HC Spartak Moscow head coach Boris Mironov:

- It was a fast, physical playoff match. We knew that the opponents would play in a completely different manner in comparison to the first game of the series. However, we made one more mistake than them. We'll analyse our errors and prepare for the next match in Moscow.

- Did SKA surprise you?

- They were a lot more aggressive than on Friday. We were prepared for that, though, teams always play with more aggression after losing the previous game. We followed our game plan, but one mistake in the third period resulted in this loss. Yes, we could have equalised when playing 6-on-5, but the puck didn't go in.

- Will Spartak find it easier or tougher in Moscow?

- In the playoffs, it doesn't matter whether you're playing home or away. Everyone understands the situation. However, I do think our fans will help us, a lot of them will probably come to the arena. Your season depends on the playoffs, any mistake can result in your campaign ending.

- It was a very physical game this evening. Have your players received a lot of bruises?

- I don't know, I haven't seen the doctors yet. Bruises are normal for ice hockey.

- How satisfied are you with Spartak's performance in this match?

- We knew that the opponents would be more aggressive today, so we mainly focused on defence in the first period. Unfortunately, we committed one more mistake than SKA. This is ice hockey, you never know who is going to win. Even when you are 0-3 down in a series, you should fight until the end. The score in this series is 1-1, the most interesting matches are ahead of us.

- SKA play with a Canadian-sized rink, whereas your stadium has Finnish-sized ice.

- I don't think it makes a big difference, playoff games are always closely contested. The main thing is concentration and to play with a cool head. We took a couple of cheap penalties today which didn't help us. We will rest, analyse our mistakes and try to cut our errors down.

- How does Ivan Drozdov feel? He was on the end of a couple of crunching hits.

- I don't know yet, I haven't had the opportunity to speak to our doctors. If the doctors feel it's necessary, we'll give him a day off tomorrow. We need Ivan in every match.

- Both teams are not producing on the powerplay.

- All teams analyse how their opponents compete on the powerplay. We're analysing a lot of video footage, so we are aware of what SKA can do. Tomorrow, we will try to improve our powerplay during our training session.

- Goalkeeper Oscar Dansk received a lot of criticism during the regular season, but he's between the Spartak pipes in the playoffs.

- There were problems at the start of the campaign, but Oscar came to us from a different country and a different league. He needed time in which to adapt to the KHL. We didn't put him under any pressure, we helped him both on and off the ice and did everything to make him feel comfortable in our team. Oscar started playing a lot better midway through the season. He's making a lot of excellent saves in this series, we don't have any issues with his performances.

- Spartak put SKA under pressure during the third frame. Why didn't you press your opponents earlier?

- Everything depends on the score. SKA were leading, so they focused more on their defensive play and simply tried to clear the puck from their own zone. When you are losing, you play with more urgency.

- Will you make changes to your line-up for the next game on Tuesday?

- Maybe. Before we make any decisions, we need to calmly analyse this match.