SKA - CSKA. Press-conference of game two

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- It was a hard-fought playoff game against a strong opponent. The match was contested at a high tempo. Our guys did a great job, they fought hard for each other and were excellent on the penalty kill. We improved the small details and consequently won.

- SKA played like Pep Guardiola's Manchester City today by trying to protect possession. However, mistakes were also committed. How can you keep the balance between puck possession and solid defensive play?

- Thank you for comparing us to such a fantastic coach as Guardiola. We have always kept an eye on his work, especially when he coached Barcelona. Yes, mistakes are being committed, but you can't avoid them all of the time. We will improve our errors and continue playing in accordance with our style of ice hockey.

- Has the fight after the buzzer guaranteed that we will see more physical ice hockey in Moscow?

- You can't play ice hockey without emotion! I haven't analysed what happened for that incident yet, but we have to remember that everyone wants to win. The series is only just starting.

- Did you include Mikhail Pashnin and Evgeny Ketov in the line-up in order to add some physical strength?

- Our excellent teamwork is allowing us to win games. Nonetheless, we have things which require improvement, for example our ruthlessness in front of goal. We need to start scoring more goals. Before game three on Thursday, we will analyse our what happened today and think about our line-up. The small details are making the difference in this series.

- SKA showed character in both of these two matches in Saint Petersburg to recover after conceding early. Would you say that the games were similar?

- The main thing is that we have character. In such matches, it's certainly required. CSKA's system is to wait for our mistakes. For our upcoming games, we will work on committing less mistakes and scoring more goals.

- A lot of your players hadn't played in the semi-finals of the KHL playoffs before. In terms of their psychology, how important is today's win?

- Victory depends on the training process, your physical state and your mental state. We have faith in all of our players.

- Once again, CSKA were more pro-active in the first period.

- As you know, we were training while CSKA were playing in their quarter-final series. There are a lot of details which need to be analysed. CSKA are strong, experienced opponents, we won the Olympic Games with them in 2018. The battles on the crease? If you win the battles there, you win the game.

- Alexei Miller was at the Ice Palace today.

- We are really happy that we have the support of Gazprom and Alexei Miller. Our journey is only just starting. I would like to thank our fans, Gazprom and the journalists for supporting us, it's vital to feel everyone's support. There was a fantastic atmosphere inside the stadium!

- Matvei Michkov's father has tragically passed away. How did the team respond to this terrible news?

- I had been speaking closely with Andrei Michkov even before his son moved to SKA. He worked with Matvei in order to take him to the next level. Andrei worked for our club, helping us and analysing games. I would like to extend my condolences to the Michkov family, we will support them as much as we can.

HC CSKA Moscow head coach Sergei Fyodorov:

- I would like to congratulate SKA with their win. We had enough opportunities to score at the right time and not concede the two goals. We've recieved a good experience. We will now prepare for the next two matches in Moscow.

- These two games in Saint Petersburg seemed similar.

- No, I wouldn't say that. There were similar moments, but overall the two matches were different.

- How does Sergei Plotnikov feel? SKA seemed to be landing hits against him with particular regularity.

- I don't think that it's something personal. Both teams are trying to play in a physical manner, it's normal for playoff ice hockey. I don't know the information yet, but we're counting on Sergei playing in game three.

- In both of these matches, CSKA conceded two consecutive goals after initially scoring first.

- It's not a tendency. However, we do have a problem of conceding goals after initially being in possession of the puck.

- CSKA took a lot of unnecessary penalties.

- That's not a question for me.

- Maybe it would have been worth putting Matvei Guskov in the middle and Takhir Mingachyov on the right?

- Maybe, but we didn't.

- In comparison to last season, how have SKA changed?

- They mainly have the same players, but they're competing in a more intense, quick manner. SKA have a talented team which likes to enjoy puck possession. The ingredients are the same, but they're a bit better than last year.

- SKA have a physically stronger team than in 2022. Has the ice hockey in this series become more physical?

- There were a lot of physical duels today. It was a good, tense game in which everyone tried to compete in a clean manner. Each penalty is worth its wait in gold. Players on both teams understand that the series is only just starting.

- Prokhor Poltapov was born in Saint Petersburg. Taking that fact into account, is he playing with even more motivation?

- I wouldn't like to speak on his behalf. This year, he's spent the entire season with our senior team. We can see that he is displaying mature ice hockey in this series.

HC SKA forward Valentin Zykov:

- Just like on Sunday, it was a tight game. Both teams had their spells of pressure. At the same time, the two goalkeepers are playing well. I would like to thank our fans for their passionate support, they made a huge contribution to today's win. All matches against CSKA are always hard-fought, but we're just trying to play our way.

HC SKA forward Evgeny Ketov:

- Thank you to our fans for their wonderful support. We simply had to win this game. I hadn't played for a long time? Initially it was difficult, but I subsequently eased my way into the match. The guys in our dressing room supported me. The fight at the end of the game? It wasn't much of a fight if I'm honest. We were lacking emotions like that at the beginning of the match, we didn't start particularly well. We started competing with emotion in the second stanza. My mistake ahead of CSKA's goal? I wanted to find a teammate with a pass, but the opponents crowded me out.