The goalie for the Russian national team and CSKA team summarized the results of the opening game at the Games in Beijing.
— The game was interesting, exactly as we expected. Interesting, aggressive. Everyone played to win. Today we were luckier. There were a lot of posts and dangerous chances.
— Lack of playing practice?
— No, why. They played great, shot well. We should not give them too much space on the ice, we needed to play closer.
— You didn't have any deflections at all. Did you have that confidence from the very beginning of the game?
— Everyone came out and understood that it was the first game. We hadn't played for a long time, so we had to enter the game with intensity and work. In the first period, we looked closely at first, and then we started playing our game and having fun. You don't have to give too much importance; it only adds to the pressure. You just have to play and have fun.
— What moment seemed the most dangerous to you?
— In the second period the Swiss had a good moment, several shots. There were a lot of chances when they shot well, shot to the upper V, including the post. There were enough good moments, they played smart. An interesting game.
— Slepyshev didn't get any complaints in the locker room about his stupid penalty?
— No, everyone understands. It's a team game, someone can be emotional at some point, it's all from a great desire. This is normal. We are all here for each other. There are 4 players who will work for their partner, and then he will help us. Anton scored a goal and brought us the victory.
— What do we need to improve?
— Add confidence. We should act more calmly, there was a lot of fuss. Somewhere in defense we need to rebuild a little. But so good movement, good tempo. The coaches will see, analyze and in the next game we will play much better.
— Near the end there was a moment when the goal was almost empty. What did that situation look like?
— The puck popped out there. They started playing tighter, piling on. The deflection was in front of me, I played tight in front of the opponent to block the space. Then I didn't quite right to keep going. In another situation, the goal would have been scored.
— Do you talk to the posts?
— Yes, the woodwork is a goalie's best friend, so I don't hide it. You can't go anywhere without them here. You could say that they are the best friend of every goalie on the ice.
— At what point did you realize that you would make a shutout?
— I didn't even think about it, I played and had fun. We just understood that we must play our game and not think about the pucks conceded. The main thing was to win in the end. Everything else is nuances.
— Was the shutout a big achievement for you personally?
— Of course, it's a nice feeling. But everyone understands, somewhere the post or crossbar played a large part, somewhere I turned aside. Yes, we conceded zero pucks in total, but there are moments in which we need to improve. We will be ready for the next game better.
