SKA - CSKA. Press-conference of game two

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- The guys did a great job today, they followed the game plan. It was really important for us to win. I would like to thank our fans for their fantastic support, we had to earn the victory at home. We have things to improve, though, so we will now prepare for the next match.

- How does Igor Ozhiganov feel after he picked up an injury? And how did you manage to prevent CSKA from having a lot of shots?

- Igor is fine, he returned to the game later on. We managed to control the puck effectively in this match, the best form of defence is attack. As you can see, we had a lot of shots on target, but they could have been more dangerous. We will work hard.

- Why are SKA conceding goals at the start of games?

- Perhaps we need more concentration during the opening shifts. Looking forward, this is something which we will improve.

- What was the thinking behind the decision to move Zakhar Bardakov up to the first line with Andrei Kuzmenko and Anton Burdasov?

- We always try different options during games as we search for the winning formula. We can never rule out any possible decisions, it all depends on the situation on the ice.

- How satisfied are you with how your players are competing on the crease?

- We have to crash the net harder and block the goalkeeper's view. Ivan Fedotov is an excellent goaltender for CSKA, and the opponents have a strong team. Interesting matches are ahead of us.

- Nikita Gusev today made his 500th KHL appearance.

- Nikita is making a huge contribution to our results. However, everyone understands that he can play even better. We're working hard in order to help every player in our team progress and develop, including Nikita.

- Both SKA and CSKA are managed by young coaches. Can we compare this rivalry to Jose Mourinho against Pep Guardiola?

- It's a big honour for me to be compared to such great coaches, I have long been studying their work. I have a lot of respect for Sergei Fyodorov, I'm younger than him so I can remember watching him on the ice with Pavel Bure. A lot of interesting things are happening in ice hockey with new technology, methods and ideas. We are both working to help players develop in Russia and succeed at international level.

- SKA now possess five successive wins by the score of 2:1.

- We're watching all NHL, KHL, VHL and MHL matches in order to learn new things. We have our model, our system which we are constantly improving. Every year we are making tactical changes. If we look at our second goal, then we can see how our entire line worked hard, winning the neutral pucks and allowing Gusev to take that shot. We are satisfied that our system is working, but we now have to focus on Wednesday.

- Do you have enough energy to continue competing with such speed in this series?

- This is the way we want to play ice hockey, we've been working on this both physically and tactically for a number of years. I must note that we are always acting in accordance with what is happening on the ice, every shift and game gives us food for thought.

- This is CSKA's first defeat in these KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs. Will this help you moving forward?

- You can't achieve victories if you don't lose sometimes too. We will continue playing in this same manner.

HC CSKA Moscow head coach Sergei Fyodorov:

- I congratulate SKA with their win. We didn't have enough chances today, and we failed to use our 5-on-3 powerplay. Overall it was a quick, tense game. We managed to move the puck into the attacking zone, but sometimes we didn't finish our plays well enough. The opponents were solid in defence and made it difficult for us to create opportunities. Hopefully, we will achieve good results in Moscow.

- Why have CSKA given SKA the initiative in both second periods of the series so far?

- I thought it was different today. In my opinion, we were better in the second period in comparison to Saturday. It's true that we conceded goals, but we managed to execute a few plays which we had worked on at training.

- At one point, the shot count was 25-5 in SKA's favour. After taking the lead, did you ask your players to focus on defence?

- No, we never do that. SKA simply moved the puck really well, they were fast out there. From our side, we couldn't protect possession in attack. We didn't threaten enough.

- How satisfied are you with the start of the semi-final?

- We expected to play a lot better in the attacking zone today. However, if we look at the match as a whole, then our players did adhere to the plan. We weren't creative enough on the powerplay and our shots weren't great. 1-1 after two games on the road? The two teams are analysing each other. As I have already said, SKA moved the puck excellently and applied a lot of pressure on us, whereas we couldn't create many chances in their zone. We needed to use our 5-on-3 powerplay in the third period.

- SKA goalkeeper Lars Johansson knows how your players like to shoot the puck as a consequence of having played for CSKA. Is this a problem for you?

- Lars does know our guys, but I think that he is focused on his own game. I don't think that he's concentrating on our players.

- How does your team feel after losing for the first time in these playoffs?

- Our main focus is to travel home and prepare for the upcoming matches, we want to show the ice hockey which will allow us to achieve positive results. Naturally, I don't think that our players are in a good mood after this game. Our atmosphere in Moscow will help us.