Oleg Leontyev: «Sometimes we played well, but the outcome is not in our favour»
16.08.2024
Neftekhimik head coach Oleg Leontyev talks about 2–4 loss against Salavat Yulaev.
– It seems that Salavat came out with a second team. Nizhnekamsk looked like the undisputed favorites, but something went wrong. What went wrong?
– The first period was disappointing in terms of execution. There were five breakaways, but none of them were used. Hungry, young guys who want to get into the Ufa team want to show themselves. And it's a home arena. That's how it turned out.
– How much food for thought did today's game give? Today you played with a fighting team.
– Not all the leaders are in the ranks. We brought in new young guys, looked at them. Poor organization of defense in the middle zone. Quite weak implementation of the majority. All this added up to the fact that today we got such a result. Sometimes we played well, but the outcome is not in our favour. This is also food for thought for us.
–In the regular season, we could imagine something like this, that practically the main team of Neftekhimik lost to practically the reserve team of Salavat. Or is this a purely summer story?
– There are summer games when clubs from, say, the VHL beat the big boys. There is nothing wrong with that. Everyone is at different levels of readiness. Young guys from Ufa are trying to prove everything. They have the right to do so. Hockey is the most unpredictable sport.
– Zagidulin played today. Does this mean that Ozolin will play the next game?
– Yes, they are going in turn, it was already planned. There are some young players who have not yet made it into the lineup. A certain number of hockey players will rest.
– Dergachyov, Shafigullin and Serikov did not come to the tournament due to minor injuries. How are they?
– Yes, they are preparing individually in Nizhnekamsk. I wish they were ready for the Magnitogorsk tournament.
