Andrei Nikolishin: it could have turned the other way, but we were in luck

Andrei Nikolishin, Traktor head coach:
- Tonight was a tough and nervous matchup. It was not that spectacular maybe, but every team wants to play it safe and rational because everyone needs points at the start of the season. I think we did not take enough shots tonight; however, it’s great that we took the lead and were able to hang onto it. Demchenko shut it out tonight, which is also good. The game could have turned the other way, but we were luckier.

Vaclav Sikora, Severstal head coach:
- We had a bad game. It was only at the end of the second period that my team started sticking to the game plan. Unfortunately, then we started to collect penalties. The second goal we allowed was the final nail in our coffin; we could not get back into the game. Plus, like I said before, we have a hard time scoring.

Question to Sikora: Why wasn’t Stepanek in the net tonight?
Sikora: We did not want to make him exert too much energy at the start of the season. Magarilov played a decent game tonight, by the way.