The head coach “Motorist » Nikolai Zavarukhin after beating Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the fourth game of the Gagarin Cup semi-final series, he explained how his team managed to come back.
On Tuesday, Avtomobilist defeated Metallurg on their ice in the fourth match of the Gagarin Cup – 5:3. In the first half, Zavarukhin’s team lost with a score of 0:3. Ural scored the winning goal 7 seconds before the end of the match.
— The beginning from us was just “damn.” The opponent was faster and scored good goals. And we haven’t done enough work there. It’s great that they believed until the end and showed their manly character in hockey. We had a difficult match against a strong team. We move forward, and the main thing is to recover so that the emotions return. We are going to Magnitogorsk for a difficult match against a very fast team which creates a lot of chances. Somehow we have to defend ourselves more.
But in this match we could have scored a lot of goals ourselves. Especially in the second half, we had many chances to break even, but we failed to convert. Thank you to the supporters for the atmosphere which pushed us forward. Especially when we lost, the support was palpable. Many fans appreciated the offensive and sharp hockey, as well as the defense. It’s more difficult for coaches to operate in such an environment. But we are very happy to have won and that the guys believed until the end.
— In these playoffs, when you were the first to fail, you always lost. What has changed now?
— We have not modified any drawings. We wanted to play more with the puck, but it didn’t work at the start of the match. Our opponent covered us everywhere and was faster. We turned the tide of the match, scored goals and that gave the guys confidence. We had a difficult match.
— Why did you include goalkeeper Vladimir Galkin in the starting lineup? And did you regret this decision later?
– I did not regret it. We were preparing it, and we had some questions about the goalkeepers. We thought he would play. But Galkin is not responsible for the missed goals. There is a break-even point and a completed volley. The guy was ready to play, but it turned out that after the second goal we missed, we replaced him. It is a sport.
— Stepan Khripunov became the hero of the evening, scored the winning goal, but the day before yesterday he was injured. Were there any doubts about his ability to play today?
—To be honest, there were doubts. But our entire team is heroes. We had a difficult match. I don’t want to isolate anyone. All the guys fought until the end.
— “Traktor” has already been eliminated from the playoffs. How did you support your brother Alexei Zavarukhin?
— I wrote him a message and supported him. He’s a good guy and he gave a good result. Let him continue to prepare for work,” Zavarukhin was quoted as saying by the correspondent.
The score in the best-of-four series is 2-2. The fifth match will take place on April 11 in Magnitogorsk.
Watch live broadcasts of the Fonbet KHL Championship playoff matches on the channel, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru sites.
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.
