— We had the advantage, we scored first. But for some reason, the beginning of the second period did not go well. It's kind of weird we got two goals. A team like ours has no right to start a period like this. I won't say that we didn't devote time to these problems throughout the season. We do not observe a competent game on the ice in the second period. We had chances in the third period, three consecutive power plays, but the puck did not go in the goal. No one is happy with the result. I clearly understand what was missing. There's a lot of energy right now, it's not really positive. I don't want to say too much so that our rivals can play on that. Several of our players did not show their best qualities in this match. In such games, all players are needed against. That's the only thing I can say.
— There is no encouraging news on Averin. How to prepare the team for the next match? You live and learn. We're also learning as much as the guys. More intuition. There's a game every other day, training tomorrow. Alekseev's statistics speak for itself. Stability and leadership qualities are not just a flash, it's stability throughout the playoffs. Likhachev is in his first year with the team, almost everyone else has already been through playoff series. There is a time for everything. We don't want to penalize him, make him look bad. He's in the process. On the one hand, everything is in his hands, and on the other, the playoffs are another competition.
