Andrei Nikolishin: it was a true Ural derby

Mike Keenan, Metallurg Magnitogorsk head coach:
– It was a competitive game, a playoffs style game. I thought that Traktor had the better part of the first two periods, but we found more emotion in the third period, pushed them back really well, capitalizing in the OT. It was a tight, playoffs style game.

How would you explain Metallurg’s poor power play performance in tonight’s game?
Our power play was actually pretty good last game, but it was not as effective in this game. We did not shoot the puck enough, and we will address it with the team, but certainly I would like to see more scoring chances on the power play. Each team had three power plays, but we weren’t putting the puck in the net. We were looking more for perfect passes, much more than we probably should have. However, they collapsed towards the net, and there wasn’t much access to the net in the shooting lanes.

Would you agree that Yunkov’s line played their best game to date tonight?
Yes, they played with more cohesiveness; they looked like they were reading off of each other better and getting confidence as a group.

Andrei Nikolishin, Traktor head coach:
– First of all, I would like to congratulate our opponent on tonight’s victory. It was a Ural derby in its true sense of the word; both teams played from the beginning until the end, giving a nice treat to their fans, to their coaches and partners. I would like to thank my team for their ability to find strength and emotion to put on a great performance after three hard away games, to be a threat to the current champions in this playoff-like game. The fact that we earned only one point should not make us upset – it’s hockey, someone always wins, someone always loses. There are four home games that close out the regular season, and we need to fulfil our goal, which is getting to the playoffs.

It’s not too long ago that Traktor played against Metallurg here in Magnitogorsk, and, compared to that last encounter, Traktor looked much better. What changes did you make for this to happen?
Of course we have made some corrections. The return of Jan Bulis gave us a more aggressive, more confident top line. Ever since Bulis returned, and Pare was moved to the wing, the latter started to feel himself a lot more comfortable than he did when he played center. Plus, the closer we are to the playoffs, the more the players are starting to realize that they actually can hang with the best of them.

Avtomobilist lost to Neftekhimik earlier on, so there’s a good chance that Traktor will face Magnitka in the first round of playoffs. What doyou think?
We really don’t care when, where and against whom we play. Hockey is a pleasure for us, and we as coaches motivate our players to go out there in the same mood.