Vladislav Tsitsyura: "Ak Bars didn't allow us to create chances"

HC SKA forward Vladislav Tsitsyura:

- It was like a playoff game today, no one made many mistakes and both teams didn't take many shots. It was tense right until the end of the match, but we couldn't take advantage of our opportunities. We will improve and start capitalising on our scoring chances.

- Why didn't SKA play their normal way of ice hockey?

- This depended on a lot of factors. Maybe Ak Bars moved better than us, and as a consequence they didn't allow us to create chances to score. Furthermore, they blocked plenty of shots. We needed to play calmer and unleash more shots.

- Did Evgeny Ketov's disallowed goal affect SKA?

- At first, we felt deflated after it was disallowed, but there were still 17 minutes to play. We needed to take matters into our own hands.

- The game against CSKA Moscow was called off. How did that affect you?

- We trained well. I don't know, perhaps some of the guys were affected, but I can't judge that.

- How did you need to break down Kazan's defence?

- The coaches asked us to shoot more and take the initiative. When you play against an organised team, you have to shoot and crash the net.