— Congratulations on victory to our guys, Amur played very well, quickly. We need such games in terms of preparing for the next stage. I am glad that we reacted to this speed, in this match we did not replay the line changes, so the guys did well, made the right conclusions and achieved the result we are working for.
— Why, after all, with a large number of chances, the convertion suffers? Is there any understanding?
— It's all individual, you see the same thing as me, I have many versions, maybe they are even close to the real situation. You know, there are chances without scoring chances in abundance. Therefore, the coaching staff is happy that there is an abundance of chances, and we believe that the goals will come, because we are working on it.
— Today Nikolay Makarov was put in the first pair with Nikita Nesterov. Why did they decide to put a young player with such an experienced defender?
— It's just that we develop young people. Nikolay has shown a certain level and our captain is an experienced player, and this communication between an experienced and a young player is always welcome. This does not always happen, so I hope that Kolya took note of the hints from Nikita. Nikita is our leader and captain, I am glad that we celebrated his award, that he became the best defender in Russian history. It's a lot of hard work, but coming back to a young player, it's a real reason that will help us move on.
— Transfer of Guskov to Svetlakov and Sorkin in the third period instead of Brukvin. A few words about this.
— Vladimir got a minor injury, we decided to take care of him, we don't know the extent of the injury yet, but he couldn't continue the match, Matvey was ready, came out and played great. As for the injuries, Maxim Mamin also has a small injury, as soon as the pain syndrome subsides, he will join the main group, and will appear in the next matches. Artem Sergeyev was given a little rest and to physically prepare, because the last game did not come out very well.
— In the first period, despite the fact that we owned the puck, we failed to score. How did the team charge up during the break?
— Our best chances come at the end of the match. In the second period we were looking for the keys, the initiative was ours. Amur is not an easy team. It was clear that they were fighting for the eight and intense play. Our guys were ready for such a rhythm and movement, they managed to take advantage of their moments. When you play with the puck, the opponent spends more energy. We did it in the third period.
— How did the team converted the shootouts?
— We train them at every training session, waiting for conversion. Maybe because we don't get shots of this kind, we change the goalkeeper in overtime. But we are working on this aspect, so far it does not work out. Shootouts are not our priority. But in the regular season it matters, I would like the guys to score them.
Vadim Epanchintsev, head coach of Amur:
— It's hard to say when you in the power play, you miss the second year. Nevertheless, in this game, the highest performing skills of the opponent allowed them to win this match, and us to play. And as for dedication, this is the fourth game almost every other day on the road, maybe there was not enough energy, which was in the previous matches. But, I think, as for the game and dedication, that there are no big claims against the guys, but we allowed the opponent to create tiny chances that did not allow us to score. There is a defeat, there is the home series in two days. We need time to recover and prepare.
— In the January matches, the team shows decent hockey, today they closed the zones quite compactly. Is this the hockey that you want to see from your team, or are there other points that need to be improved?
— Yes, of course there is. I think any coach would say that. There is dedication, the guys are trying to play hockey, which brings results, pleases the fans. But there are points that need to be corrected.
— You have quite heavy flights now and the fight is tight in the east for reaching the playoffs. Does it put pressure psychologically?
— On the one hand, it puts pressure, on the other, there are a lot of young players who are ok with it. Somewhere, the aged players have sunk a little physically, and the youth are playing, pleasing the fans and the coaching staff. We understand this schedule, we knew where we were going. Yes, it's hard. But, we will do the right recovery. We will try to go out every match and play to win. The will is there, everyone knows how to do the rest. And I think our fans at home will help us.
