PRESS CONFERENCE «NEFTEKHIMIK-AK BARS» 11/28/2021
28.11.2021
Press conference «Neftekhimik - Ak Bars »
Oleg Leontyev, the head coach of HC Neftekhimik:- It was a great game. Also, it was cool that quite a lot of our fans have visited this game. It is kind of inspiration for hockey players. Our team fought to the very end. Each player was ready for today’s game. We played great on the power play and our penalty kill was great too. Unfortunately, we made a mistake at the last seconds of the game and conceded a goal. We had two great chances in overtime, but didn't score. We played well in the shootout, but the opponent was more skillful. We played great but at the same time we did not take advantage of our goal-scoring chances. Nevertheless, I congratulated the team on 1 awarded point.
- Why Danila Popov is not playing for the second game in a row?
- Because he's a little sick.
- Why did you make a goalie change in the shootout?
- It was kind of intuition (laughs). Seriously, my personal opinion is that Alexander feels more confident in shootout. It seemed during our practices. This is my decision. Although Frans played great today. I would like to congratulate him on the fact that he kept the team in the game after such a long break. He played well, despite the fact that he faced 40 shots.
- It was your first Tatarstan crosstown rivalry. How does it feel? Was it kind of playoff game?
- Yes, this game was kind of playoff one. Our team was ready and the opponent played aggressivly. Now there are no easy games in the season. It was great game in terms of intensity, a lot of fans were in the stands, both teams wanted to win. The only thing that I didn't like is the last second of the game. We wish we had more games like this one, you know, passion for hockey, emotions, and then everything will be fine for us.
- Why did the team stop playing in the third period? Only two shots on goal. The conceded two goals.
- Kazan played more offensively. They had to change the score on the scoreboard. We did not have a task to play defensively. We never play on keeping the advantage. We play our offensive hockey. Regardless of the score and whether we play – home games or road games. They made more shots.
Dmitry Kvartalnov, the head coach of HC Ak Bars:
- We played well in the third period. On the road we were down 2 goals and tied the game 2-2. Shootout is like lottery. We were lucky. We did not succeed in the first and second periods. It was necessary to score like Nizhnekamsk scored: there were four our players near our net and one opposing team’ player scored from behind. These are goals you need to score from the slot. The first goal was scored, the second was scored – but was disallowed. Fortune smiles on us - we worked hard and received a reward.
