Valeri Bragin speaks after playing Torpedo in Nizhny Novgorod
HC SKA head coach Valeri Bragin:
- Both teams had a lot of opportunities today, but the key was that they used their powerplays. We needed to score on the two-man advantage.
- Did the break after the previous match hinder you?
- I wouldn't say that, we had a lot of chances which we couldn't use. We played well at equal strength.
- Alexander Samonov once again conceded three goals. Is there a problem with his psychology?
- I don't think so. He wasn't to blame for the goals.
- If he wasn't to blame, why did you pull him?
- We needed to change something.
- Linden Vey is in the first line, but he's not playing overly well.
- We're searching for the best line combinations and chemistry.
- Was the poor powerplay performance the decisive factor?
- They scored, whereas we didn't. The key moment was when we didn't score on the 5-on-3.
- Matvei Michkov only spent around five minutes on the ice. Was this your plan?
- The game turned out this way, we were on the penalty kill and powerplay regularly. That's why he didn't play much.
- Why didn't Vasily Tokranov play?
- He has a small injury.
- Are you happy with the changes made to the first two lines?
- We are searching for chemistry. We will analyse the match and decide what to do in future games.
- You seemed to play quite open in defence.
- I wouldn't say that. There was a positional mistake for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod's third goal, but otherwise we were solid at the back. The problem was that we allowed the opponents to score three early goals.