Vladislav Tsitsyura: "We were patient and used our opportunity"

HC SKA forward Vladislav Tsitsyura:

- It was a good game from both teams. It was like a playoff match, one mistake decided the outcome. We were patient, used our opportunity and managed to hang on in the closing stages.

- Why was there only one goal?

- There were quite a few chances. Lars Johansson was great in our net, and Lokomotiv were also denied by the pipe. We had our opportunities too. These two teams have excellent goalkeepers, compete in a systematic manner and have strong defences and attacks, no one wanted to lose.

- You saved the day for SKA with an incredible play in the final seconds.

- Lokomotiv had swapped their goaltender for the extra skater. My job was to compete on the crease, where Lokomotiv had three players. From the left post, there was a pass towards the onrushing Reid Boucher, who was on the opposite flank. With my peripheral vision, I saw that Boucher had an empty the net to aim at, but I couldn't get across in time. Nevertheless, thankfully I managed to get something on the puck when diving towards it.