Press conference of head coaches Ilya Vorobyov and Yuri Mikhailis, as well as players Andrej Nestrasil and Arkady Shestakov

PRESS CONFERENCE

Ilya Vorobyov, Metallurg head coach:

– I think that for 60 minutes we were better, but lost in overtime. No one promised that it will be easy. Hockey is a game where you need to score more goals than your opponent. We didn't succeed today. We are going to Nur-Sultan, preparing for the third and fourth games.

– What is your forecast for Yakovlev?

– He goes to Kazakhstan.

– Why did Nikolay Kulemin was in the first link in overtime?

– He wasn't. It was a shift as Plotnikov's skate flew out, and he had to return quickly.

– How was the defense changed since Tuesday?

– We watched videos, corrected mistakes. Standard work.

– Both teams are excellent in power play in the series. Is the play at uneven is the key moment of a game?

– We need to improve our penalty kill. The power play is still good.

Yuri Mikhailis, Barys headcoach:

– Good game. Tough, with a lot of struggle. The mood of the team was visible, it was felt both in the locker room and on the ice. Ortio played well after the injury. Thanks to him and the whole team, we won. I thank the team for their dedication, will to win, and commitment.

– Do you think that you should have let Ortio play in the previous game?

– No, I don't. We gave Karlsson a rest before the playoffs, and before he had shown a stable game. But the fatigue became evident. So we put Ortio after the missed goals.

– Should we wait for Svedberg and the Valk?

– We hope to see Valk soon. Svedberg is rather not.

– How can you explain the absence of Asetov and Daniyar?

– We gave them time to rest, they had a heavy load. Asetov received a heavy load in the last game in Magnitogorsk. Samat is a young guy. I think, he felt a certain excitement. We gave the guys a chance to catch their breath.

– Maybe Barys needs a toughguy?

– No, we will not invent anything in this issue. I believe that every hockey player should be able to stand up for himself – whether it's Ryspaev or Akolzin, or someone else. We have guys like that.

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Andrej Nestrasil, Metallurg forward:

– Good game, the previous one was not so good. But we scored seven goals there, and today we scored only one. Sometimes it happens. We've lost only one game, but we need to win four. We are preparing further.

– Today Metallurg could score more if there had been someone on the slot.

– I agree. I watched stats: after the third period, we had 70 shots and only 22 on the net. It would be good to have someone on the slot but we also had to bring the puck to the net. But we shot in the players. And so we could have scored one or two more goals.

– Does the overtime issue weigh on you psychologically?

– I thought about it after the season. Then we lost six overtimes there. I thought that five-on-five would be better. It didn't work out today, it happens that way. We should focus only on it.

– Are games without spectators in Kazakhstan an advantage for the guest team?

– I feel better when one hundred percent of the fans are in the stands. This is the playoffs, it doesn't matter whether you play at home or away, but a good, powerful atmosphere is needed in any stadium.

– Do you think, can Ortio save the series for Barys and become a determining factor?

– I don't know, he's a good goalkeeper. Karlsson also played well in the season. But Ortio missed one goal both in the previous game and in today's game. I don't think he will be a key factor.

– Did Yakovlev's absence have a big impact on the game?

– He is a good player, he has a lot of points. We surely need a player like him. He plays in the power play link, it would be better with him tonight.

Arkady Shestakov, Barys forward:

– The game was very intense as we expected. We were going toe to toe, blocked many shots. And only in overtime we managed to win.

– Barys played so strictly in defensedensely, to help Orio or to correct the mistakes of the previous game?

– There are several reasons. We analyzed the mistakes of the first match, missed goals. Also we tried to help the goalkeeper. We were blocking more shots and played more dense.

– What do you think about overtime five-on-five?

– The game in overtime and in periods, in fact, is similar. We form the defense, as we played in the game. For this reason is there the tight defensive play.

– How did you avoid a drawdown in the third period today?

– This is the playoffs. We changed our tactics a little, started playing more defensively, more fighting. I think that's why we played hard today in the third period and didn't let the opponent do anything. At the same time, they actively moved in the attack, possessed the puck more, which is also important.

– Is this series differs a lot from the last year?

– We have a new coaching staff, the team has been updated, the regular season ended in a different way. In the playoffs, we fight, play defensively and counterattack.

– You will play at home without spectators. Have you already got used to it?

– We played like this all season. Of course, I would like to see the fans in the stands. What can a man do? Nur-Sultan does not ease the restrictions yet. In any case, we do not have such information.