Postgame comments of head coaches of "Neftekhimik" and "Ak Bars"
02.03.2020
Vyacheslav Butsayev, the head coach of HC "Neftekhimik":
- We lost today. Nevertheless, we showed that we can play successfully. Unfortunately, in the games like this one, the price of mistakes is increasing. If you make less mistakes than your opponent, you win the game. In the third period we made a mistake and "Ak Bars" scored.
- Sharychenkov showed a good hockey in the last games before playoffs. Why did the coaching staff choose Barulin for this game?
- Because we made a decision. Another decision – another goalie.
- If we talk not about individual skills, was there any feeling that "Ak Bars" played against second team? Is your team able to compete with "Ak Bars"?
- Hockey is a game of mistakes. "Ak Bars" made some mistakes and we did not use these opportunities.
- There was an information about extra money for wins over "Ak Bars"...
- I answered on this question before. Where did you get this information? We have a Regulation on Payment of Bonuses.
- Was it hard to motivate the team? "Neftekhimik" played great in the last games of the regular season...
- What do you mean? It seems to me that this is the time for a hockey player to do his best in the playoffs. Well, our opponent is a leader of our conference. Are we supposed to give up? Character and experience are main things in games such this one. Maybe "Ak Bars" have more experience, we can’t change it.
Dmitry Kvartalnov, the head coach of HC "Ak Bars":
- It was a difficult game – "Neftekhimik" was charged, they play very aggressively, they played in our defensive zone. We asked the guys to pay attention on attacks. Bilyalov played well and our defensive line played was great too. In the third period we scored on the power play and won 2:0. It’s good.
