It’s too early to draw conclusions on the first playoffs of the Fonbet KHL Championship, the favorites have more safety margin, the double Olympic champion in the USSR national team tells RB Sport Alexander Kojevnikov .
On the first match day of the playoffs, SKA lost at home to Dynamo Minsk 4: 6, Salavat to Admiral (1: 2), Lokomotiv to Vityaz (0: 1), Ak Bars – “Neftekhimik” (2: 3 ). The last three games have required overtime.
– It happens that sensations at the start. said Kojevnikov. – Favorites are not set. God forbid those who “shot” enough for a few games. There may be six or seven. Now the leaders will have a different attitude. We have to move forward and improve. The playoffs just show where there is a team and where not.
— How did SKA manage to lose at home to Dynamo Minsk 4:6?
– They had such failures in defense in the championship too. The opponent was lucky on two goals. Nothing in particular. SKA did not lose 0:6. Let’s see – what do we begin to draw conclusions from the first game? It is too early. There is an old Russian saying: only a bad horse gallops. SKA at the start of the last home qualifier, “leak”, remember, “Spartak”. And then he won all the matches.
– With us, when the championship is launched, we say: we have to wait, everything will be decided by the playoffs. Played the first game of the playoffs – again they say: it does not mean anything, wait with the conclusions.
– It’s true. What happened now? We looked at who is in the mood, who is ready after the break. The series continues. I understand if someone won yesterday 5:0, 5:2, 4:1… But in three games everything was decided in extra time.
– Do you think that those who won the first games will “drag” the series accordingly?
– No I do not know. The favorites have a long bench. The system works. The wounded arrive. SKA, Salavat, Lokomotiv, Ak Bars have a bigger margin of safety. And the level of the players is higher.
– It doesn’t always happen that all the favorites lose, and even on their own ice.
“Well, you see, it happened. For the viewers, it’s more fun. What’s the excitement around hockey.
Watch live broadcasts of KHL matches on the federal channel , thematic channels of the holding, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
RB Sports
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
