Press Conference «Neftekhimik – Salavat Yulaev» 11/10/2026
10.11.2026
Neftekhimik Head Coach Igor Grishin speaks with the media after a following 4–3 (SO) win over Salavat Yulaev.
– It was an entertaining game. It is great that so many fans came out today and backed both our team and the visitors. The atmosphere was fantastic from start to finish – a fast, evenly matched game. We came out stronger in the shootout.– Could you let us in on the secret behind the special practice that had the team moving so well today?
– We brought back a couple of drills from our past work with another team. We ran short, high-intensity exercises. Everything came together nicely.
– The team’s intensity today was through the roof. You had plenty of powerplay chances in the first period, but the puck would not go in. Why was that?
– After the first period we went to the coaches’ room and looked at the shots. We were outshot 14–5. We were simply missing the target. Perhaps one of the four power plays did not go well, but on the others we kept good puck control and created solid chances; the puck was even sliding around right in the crease. Sometimes the puck just will not go in. But when we came out for the second period, we took a shot right away and scored.
– Today’s win is Neftekhimik’s 500th in the KHL. How much does it mean to you personally that this milestone win came under your leadership?
– What matters most to me is that it has finally happened. There has been constant talk about how the next win would be the 500th – that probably put some pressure on the guys. It is great that it is finally here. It is a nice number – fantastic!
– It looks like you found a solution to Semyon Vyazovoy. How satisfied are you with that?
– We have finally secured our second win in the last nine games. That is a good feeling. We have ended a run that had not been going our way. I hope this gives us confidence for our games against Salavat Yulaev.
Salavat Yulaev Head Coach Viktor Kozlov:
– We took a lot of penalties in the first period, three in all and that made it hard to roll all four lines. We managed to steady things, though, and even scored on the power play. In the third period we had a couple of poor line changes, and Neftekhimik made us pay for them. Still, the team did well to tie the game late. As for the shootout, our opponents simply had a bit more luck.
