SKA - CSKA. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- We have to give credit to our guys for their performance, this was our fourth game in a week. We spent almost an entire period shorthanded. To be honest, I had never previously seen a home team spend so much time competing on the PK! I won't comment on the officiating, I'll leave that for the journalists and fans. While playing shorthanded, we competed with commitment and blocked plenty of pucks. Guys such as Stepan Falkovsky and Artyom Zemchyonok are currently on the sidelines as a result of blocked shots. But, on the other hand, we were happy to have Zakhar Bardakov back today. Everyone is burning with desire. Matches with CSKA are always interesting, the ice hockey is of the highest level. We'll now prepare to host Spartak Moscow on Thursday.

- Initially, it was a slow start from SKA.

- We play as well as the opponents allow us to. CSKA are a top quality side, they have players who have won the Olympic Games, the World Championship and the Gagarin Cup. Furthermore, it's difficult to dominate when you are always playing shorthanded. It's worth pointing out that we did actually create a few chances while on the PK.

- SKA won a lot of the battles while playing shorthanded and consequently created opportunities on the counter.

- We achieved this thanks to our desire, character and commitment. Our players are following our plan.

- We can see how SKA are playing with commitment. Has the winning streak inspired your players to compete with more desire?

- We aren't paying attention to the standings or how many consecutive matches we've won. Instead, we simply go out there to give our best in every shift, every game. We are training with 100% effort too. The keys to success are discipline and hard work.

- When will SKA move to the SKA Arena? The new stadium will soon host the KHL All-Star Game.

- This is a question for Gazprom, our main sponsor.

- Grigory Gryaznov was Alexander Nikishin's partner in the first line today.

- Sadly, a lot of our defensemen are out injured at the moment. If you look at the amount of shots we've blocked in our most recent games, you'll see that we've probably broken a club record! Injuries are being suffered as a consequence. This season, Grigory had already played for Lada Tolyatti and SKA-Neva. He's a product of our system who's come a long way.

HC CSKA Moscow head coach Sergei Fyodorov:

- I would like to congratulate SKA with their victory, they punished us for two of the four awful mistakes which we committed. Nonetheless, we still had a chance to win the game. Our powerplay didn't click today, we competed with a lot of desire but we lost possession regularly when entering the attacking zone. Yes, we scored while playing 6-on-4, but we ran out of time. Overall, I thought that we moved the puck well and I liked our energy. Our four big mistakes at the start of the game prevented us from winning.

- What was lacking on the PP?

- We tried to enter the attacking zone with individual plays. SKA were great on the PK, they defended actively and not passively. Plus, when we did manage to get the puck deep in the SKA zone, we were lacking a finishing touch in front of goal. Taking into account how other teams played against SKA, we had told our players to crash the net after beating the opponent.

- CSKA appeared calm for the entire game.

- There's nothing much to say to the players during the match, they all understood the situation for themselves and they're experienced guys. We knew that SKA move excellently, they play a 'north-south' system. As I have already said, it was a good game from us, but our profligacy let us down.

HC SKA forward Vasily Glotov:

- The most important thing is that we won. Our positive play in the second half of the first stanza? CSKA were pinned in their zone, and we managed to take advantage of our chance and open the scoring. How did we hold on while playing shorthanded? Over the past month, our group has united even more both on and off the ice. When the players compete for each other, your PK improves greatly. Your PK reflects a team's unity.

HC SKA forward Andrei Chivilyov:

- In my opinion, the SKA - CSKA match-up is the best rivalry in the KHL! It's important that we earned the victory. Did my goal make up for the penalty which I had taken? Yes, you could say that. Vladimir Alistrov found me with a great pass, and I managed to beat the goaltender.