SKA - Spartak. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- We had prepared very seriously for this match, making improvements to our tactical approach. It's an important victory for us, but we can play even better. Thank you to our fans who provided us with positive energy today! Furthermore, I would like to note that head coach of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Sergei Semak was in attendance today, we engaged in a productive discussion and exchanged experiences. We will do everything in order for Saint Petersburg to win every game!

- SKA have now tallied seven consecutive wins. Can we say that the players are displaying the ice hockey which you want to see?

- We've been playing at a high level since the start of the season. In all of our games, we have created a large amount of scoring opportunities. As the campaign is progressing, we're getting rid of our mistakes and taking steps forward. I'm really proud of the guys who are competing shorthanded, they're blocking pucks and putting their bodies on the line. We have a lot of injuries at the moment as a consequence of playing shorthanded so often. Yes, we are improving our discipline, but everyone understands the situation and can see for themselves what's happening. We're winning our matches even while playing on the PK.

- You called Nikolai Goldobin and Pavel Poryadin up to the national team for the Channel One Cup. However, their linemate Ivan Morozov is out injured.

- We always have a Plan B in mind. Injuries are a part of ice hockey, we also have a lot of injured players right now. We're counting on every player in the preliminary list. We know Poryadin well, he played for Russia 25 last May and fully understands our system. We'll pick the final squad closer to the tournament's start date.

- Young Spartak defenseman Yegor Savikov is currently one of the KHL's leading players in terms of the plus/minus statistic.

- Savikov has often been called up to the national team. We know all of Yegor's qualities, players should always play to their strengths. In terms of who gets picked for the Channel One Cup, let's wait and see. The main thing is that everyone will be healthy.

- When preparing for games, are you putting special emphasis on your PK?

- Special teams form a vital component of ice hockey. Sadly, as you all know, injuries are suffered when you play shorthanded so often. We're also working on our powerplay, but we're not competing on the PP this season. I can't make any further comments.

- It was really cold inside the Ice Palace today. Was this because you wanted to improve the quality of the ice?

- Do you think it should be hot inside the arena? It's not beach volleyball! A lot of hard work was put in my those working at the Ice Palace, and I would like to thank them for their productive efforts. Recently, when we played in Cherepovets, the locals told me that they have encountered major problems with the ice because the authorities wanted to save electricity. In the end, the authorities fixed the issue. We require ice of high quality if we want to enjoy exciting ice hockey!

- Spartak are a completely different team this season.

- No, I wouldn't say that. We also had tough games against them last year. They're using the same system, but now they have new players who are excellent on the counter-attack. That's it. We respect all of our opponents.

- We can see how SKA are improving. How have you managed to take your game to the next level?

- It's all down to hard work and discipline. Thankfully, we have recently started to take advantage of our scoring chances. Our goal is to continue reducing the amount of mistakes which we're committing. Due to the fact that our guys are all enjoying themselves on the ice, we're achieving victories.

- After you played CSKA Moscow here on Monday, Sergei Fyodorov stated that SKA play north-south ice hockey.

- Yes, he means vertical ice hockey. The puck needs to be moved forward. Obviously, we're not going to give away any of our secrets, we don't want to provide our opponents with a helping hand. Ice hockey is like chess, you need to keep your tactics secret.

- Can we now say that Nikita Serebryakov's is SKA's number one goalkeeper?

- We have four strong goaltenders. We're satisfied with how Serebryakov, Johan Mattsson, Pavel Moisevich and Artemiy Pleshkov are working, they are all honest guys who are trying their best. We are also happy that we have fantastic goalkeeping coaches here. Ahead of the next game, we will speak with Nikita and see how he feels. There's no point in taking any injury risks.

HC Spartak Moscow head coach Alexei Zhamnov:

- Your captain Dmitry Vishnevsky is in your injured list. How is he feeling?

- He's travelled back to Moscow for a medical examination. More information will be available tomorrow.

- Why are your players starting to suffer more injuries? Maybe your opponents are playing with more aggression against you?

- I don't know. Fatigue is building up, but we can't moan. This is ice hockey, no one is guaranteed not to get injured. We know that injuries will happen, so we have to search for solutions to the problems.

- Only Kunlun Red Star have conceded more goals while competing on the PP than Spartak. Why is this continuing to happen?

- We're making a lot of unwise decisions. If we look at SKA's shorthanded goal today, then we can see that they scored as a consequence of our mistake. This is an area which requires major improvement.

- Spartak didn't register many shots on target during the maiden two periods. Was this because you were coming off the back of a challenging game in Yaroslavl against Lokomotiv?

- No, I wouldn't say that. If I'm honest, I don't think that we produced our best performance today, there were a lot of factors which contributed to this. I didn't like how we started the match, we played without concentration at the beginning of the first period and lost the battles for neutral pucks. Our decision-making was poor.

HC SKA forward Vasily Glotov:

- This is a very important win for us. Our motivation after the recent loss to Spartak in Moscow? Yes, it played a role today. We actually played well in that particular game on the road, but we conceded a goal in the last second. Our pressing disappeared after the first frame? Maybe we did take our feet off the pedal a bit. We're scoring a lot of goals while playing shorthanded? We always like to compete in a pro-active manner when on the PK, it's been proven with Alexander Nikishin's goal today and the marker scored by Stepan Falkovsky against Chelyabinsk. We like to pack the neutral zone and compete with aggression. In comparison to last season, this year I'm playing with more aggression, my psychology has improved. I want to continue progressing.

HC SKA forward Alex Galchenyuk:

- We played in a compact manner with intensity. It's an important victory, we fought until the end, believed in each other and found a way to win. How have we improved in our recent games? We've started to play with more intensity, energy and organisation. However, even when we were losing, we often actually played well. It's now vital to continue progressing and winning.