The head coaches of CSKA and Ak Bars summed up the match.
Sergey Fedorov, head coach of CSKA:
- Cheers to our rival. A very good game all 60 minutes from Ak Bars, we felt the pressure on the whole rink. We started the game correctly, led the score, then slowed down a little. Failed to score in the majority. There are no complaints about the attack, but they did not delivered their moments. We will still work on the defense zone. Of the three matches played, today was a good test for us. In some moments we managed, but the mistakes we made turned out to be the key ones.
- How much did the garbage goal in the locker room break the team?
- Everything happens, this is only the first period. The game continues. I don't think anything broke us, but the opponent added to the speed, and when the puck was in our zone, we didn't make the right decisions. Mistakes led to this result.
- Why did the choice fall on Alexander Sharychenkov before the game?
- It was the decision of the coaching staff, we knew that Alexander would play with Ak Bars.
- You said that you would not change the composition after Neftekhimik, but Sharychenkov appeared today.
- I really said that, but the goalkeeping topic is a little different.
- Did it not seem that the field players lacked freshness?
- There was no impression that we did not have enough strength. We are not getting the game all 60 minutes. Today is the day when a strong opponent showed that we have to work on this.
- Did you pay attention to the signature handwriting of the Znark teams? All his teams in the second period lock the opponent in the zone, use overlapping shifts. It was in the second period after a long siege of the goals that Ak Bars scored today.
- We have been working on our actions in preparation. We understand what a distant bench is and that Ak Bars will play fast hockey. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough speed, we didn't have time to close the attacker.
- How would you rate the game of young hockey players?
- The guys have proven themselves, they are in the squad not for nothing. We like what we have seen since the beginning of the training camp in their performance. But there are still certain steps in the work that need to be done with them.
- What qualities of Grigorenko give confidence that he will be able to play effectively in the center?
- He started working at the center from the beginning of the training camp. This position is not new for him, I think he is doing well. He hasn't played there for a long time, it's true. We will work in this direction.
- You worked with Radulov. Can you compare his then and now?
- Many years have passed. I liked him today. Skill and movement are visible, worked with the puck correctly.
Oleg Znarok, Head coach of Ak Bars:
- A difficult game, especially at first. We played well, the difference is big from the previous game with Dynamo. Cheers to everybody.
- Can we say that there were not enough garbage goals from Dynamo, but today we just managed to score them?
- I guess you could say that. And in general, we didn't play our own game with Dynamo. I don't know why it happened. We had a meeting yesterday, talked, and the mood today was completely different.
- Something didn't work out for Radulov, you transferred him to the second link, and the game went well for him and the team as a whole. How do you explain that the team played in the second period?
- We played it right. And I would say that in the beginning everything went fine. There are no comparisons with Dynamo, we played horrible there. Radulov's transfer is due to the fact that I also want to win, I'm looking for options.
- Have you thought about trying Zaripov instead of Dynyak in a link with Voronkov and Safonov?
- This link brings us great energy, they are our ringleaders. And Zaripov is ill now, he is not with us on the trip.
- Do you agree that Shipachev still feels out of place?
- I wouldn't say that. He does his job, feeds the extreme forwards with passes. The only problem we have now is the majority, there are no other problems.
