Press Conference «Neftekhimik – Avtomobilist» 9/24/2025
24.09.2025
Neftekhimik Head Coach Igor Grishin speaks with the media after a following 5–1 win over Avtomobilist.
– This is our second game in a row against the same opponent. We assumed that it is going to be a tough game. We played selflessly on defense, tried to move quickly from defense to attack, and we were not very successful at pressuring them at first, but we scored two goals, which gave us confidence. I cannot say that I am completely satisfied with today's game. We had some moments early on that I did not like, but the guys listened carefully in the locker room.The main thing is that everyone fought hard on defense, selflessly blocking shots. We still have a lot of work to do.
Are we the first team of Tatarstan? As it says: "Do not count your chickens before they hatch". There's a lot of attention on our team, it is nice and good that we get this attention, but let's not jump to conclusions.
We could have scored a goal on the power play; a player came on a bit early when we were scoring our second goal. Then, when we were ahead, we were a bit lazy on the power play, and the score affected it. There were other factors that also affected the opposing team, but I won't go into details; it's an internal matter.
As for Avtomobilist, they are a strong team with a great selection of players. They're going through a bit of a slump right now, and we hit a point where we started to find our game; we had a good overlap. This will give us confidence; we'll loosen up and perform better going forward, but I'm sure the opponent will find a way out of this situation.
