Oleg Leontyev: « It is great that we did our best and got a win»

Neftekhimik head coach Oleg Leontyev speaks with the media after a following 4–3 overtime win over Lada.

– It was a hard–battled game. At the end of the game, we played to the very end. Lada deserves its place in the top four. It was difficult to play after the Far East road games. We did not fully recover and did not fully show our advantage in terms of speed. It is great that we did our best and got a win. Thanks to the fans. We are preparing for the next game. We are trying to get out of this difficult situation.

– Yegor Corbit has already played 3 games for Neftekhimik, how would you rate his game?

– Not bad. It is difficult to rate because it takes some time.

– Do you pay attention to the standings of the teams who are direct competitors for our team in terms of making playoffs?

– Of course, we look at the standings and keep an eye on our opponents.

– Why the team did not win?

– We conceded all three goals from the slot. You need to play there in a right way and do not give your opponent any chance there.

– After the New Year, Shafigullin is not on the injury list. When will Bulat play?

– You will see tomorrow.

– In overtime, Dolganov wanted to skate to bench for an-extra player.

– It seemed for us that a couple more seconds could be added. Five–six seconds before the end of the game, we had a chance to score or to concede an empty–net goal. We did not want to give this opportunity to the opponent. It is what it is. We had a really good chance.

– How would you rate the way Kovalyov played?

– Not bad. He has KHL experience, and he played well in the previous team, we kept an eye on him.

Oleg Bratash, the head coach of HC Lada:

– Of course, we were very upset that we did not win and did not get two points. This is hockey; the opponent played to the very end and got a win. I did not like many things in the way we played. We will try to do our best in the next game.