The head coach SKA Romain Rotenberg after the loss to Kazan Ak Bars in the KHL regular season game, he noted that his team was statistically dominant on the field, but this did not translate into goals scored.
On Tuesday, Ak Bars, without its two leaders Alexander Radulov and Vadim Shipachev, won in St. Petersburg over SKA – 3:2 (1:2, 2:0, 0:0). Former SKA strikers Dmitry Yashkin and Dmitry Kagarlitsky scored two goals against the hosts.
“We understood that there would be such a match and that the opponent would catch up with us on the counter-attacks. Ak Bars is a strong, very structured team. It was a playoff level match. Good start from us. We immediately crushed it and threw it into the crossbar. Created enough scoring chances to score more than two goals in the first half. And we could have scored a lot more in the game as a whole.
We made a few mistakes and missed a few offensive goals. It’s our goalkeeper Artemy Pleshkov’s birthday, and we expected the team to play for him, add and convert those same chances. And we created 20 chances to score, like in many other games! This is enough to score more than two goals. We will work on the implementation. In the next match we will show a different game and we will have changes in the lineup. Thank God we have reserves and these guys coming back into the team. Marat Khairullin returned today. It was a difficult match for him. He came in well, well done, helped the team today. Our situation is such that we must continue to work. And further improve your chances of finishing.
We studied the statistics: in 23 matches, we created more scoring chances than last season! You just have to score. And then we will start winning with a clear advantage.
— SKA dominated Ak Bars (45-21), while the opponent made 27 blocks. Can we say that we see total hockey played by SKA, what are you aiming for? And how can you guarantee your club plays like this for a full 60 minutes?
“And we played like that the whole game.” Created 20 scoring chances. Lots of throws, you’re right. We spent 12 minutes in attack and the opponent spent four. But Ak Bars punished us on the counter-attacks. You can’t make mistakes, you need composure. There’s always half a second to throw where you need it. Played well today (Timur) Bilyalov is an excellent goalkeeper. And we will train on implementation. At the same time, we established discipline, obtaining only two deletions. The judges did a good job. Although when a team spends that much time with the puck and creates that many chances, we probably need to take a look to make sure everything is fair.
— Were the scoring opportunities clear?
– Yes, one hundred percent! And to score, you need leaders. Hero! We found them against CSKA and Lokomotiv. But today our guys showed insufficient heroism and leadership.
– And at that moment, they scored against you.
— All our missed goals are the result of gross individual errors. Let’s not point the finger at anyone. We lose together and we win together. But the errors must be corrected,” reports a correspondent, according to Rotenberg.
After 23 league matches, SKA occupies eighth place in the Western Conference with 24 points.
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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.
