Roman Rotenberg speaks after playing CSKA in Moscow

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

"Both teams tried to display their best ice hockey ahead of the New Year festivities. We knew that it would be a close, hard-fought contest.

"We can say that the first period was our worst of the season both in terms of the score and the game itself. However, we still managed to create a number of good opportunities ourselves.

"Following the first period, I can say that I'm proud of my team. There was a serious conversation in our dressing room after the opening stanza, with our leaders having their say. We saw a completely different team in the second and third periods. To be honest, the only aspect which annoys me is the sixth goal which we conceded. An individual mistake resulted in CSKA scoring that particular goal, but it wasn't committed by either Yegor Zavragin or Alexander Nikishin. 

"I want to point out the determination shown by our guys, they didn't give up. When you keep believing, there's always a chance to win. Our poor first period? We have to give credit to CSKA too, they came out hard and won all of the battles across the ice. All of us understood that they had prepared specifically for this game.

"We fought really hard to win the third period 4:1. CSKA are a top team, they have lots of guys who play for the Russian national side. It's great that we managed to score five goals, but we had enough opportunities to tally a lot more. The main thing for us is that we're creating chances.

"Unfortunately, Evgeny Kuznetsov will be out for a lengthy period of time due to the concussion which he received in the second stanza. How do our goalkeepers feel psychologically? Zavragin and Pavel Moisevich are not to blame for this result. For some of the goals which we conceded, our goaltenders couldn't see the puck because of their teammates blocking their view."