Mikhail Kravets: “Avangard” defeated “Torpedo”, giving little time to roll into our zone and meeting it in the middle”

On Tuesday, October 31, HC “Avangard” won in the KHL “Torpedo” on their ice 3:2. The deciding factor was a power play goal from defenseman Damir Sharipzyanov.

The meeting was assessed at the post-match press conference by the head coach of the Hawks, Mikhail Kravets. He also answered questions about the new forward Mark Verba, the goalkeepers’ performance and the difficult ending of the match.

– Today we played against a very good team, they play fast and active hockey, with short passes, are not afraid of anything, and try to spend most of the time in the attack zone.

We managed to prevent her from frequently rolling into our zone; we played well in the middle zone. We successfully reached the first attacking player and maintained good movement throughout the match.

Andrei Mishurov performed well in a difficult situation, helped the team, and in general, all 4 lines of field players were at their best. They looked confident. They showed themselves both in the majority and in the minority.

There is a very difficult away series ahead, we need to prepare for it. The most important thing is to believe in the guys, in the team, and support it.

– Why, in your opinion, is Avangard unstable – alternating good matches with those where everything goes wrong?

– I wouldn’t say, for example, that everything went wrong for us in the last game. It was just a good game there, but we made mistakes in the majority. The point is the concentration of the guys, they must understand that now each team can turn the outcome of the meeting in their favor within a few seconds. Any opponent.

Therefore, during the entire meeting you need to not relax and stick to our plan.

– Today Mark Verba played his first game for Avangard, how would you rate him so far? And how do you plan to use it?

– As a debut, it’s quite good for the first game, I think we need to teach him more, explain our tactics. But judging by the performance today, he is a good student, he absorbs knowledge and instructions, and tries to do the work that is required of him. .

– Did you initially want to bring Verba into the lineup, or did the management rather decide that he would now be useful for the lineup?

– Of course, we discussed and talked together. In general, it’s just that in this situation, due to the lack of players, he has experience, he has fighting qualities. I think with his character he will be useful to us.

– Today there were three goalkeepers in the lineup, what was the plan? What if something happens to Mishurov, then Berezhnoy will replace him, and if something happens to Berezhnoy, then Demchenko will come out?

– The plan was to support all three goalkeepers. Plus the opportunity to give Andrey a chance to play, to give him a chance to catch on, which is what he did. And if it hadn’t worked out for him, they would have probably tried Stas Berezhny in goal.

– Will any of the injured go to the field?

– No, they will remain in Omsk. It doesn’t make much sense, plus there are too many of them. We used to take someone with us to ride with the team. Now they will stay in the city, with a physical training coach, and will work together. Ilya Proskuryakov and field players.

– Previously, you were asked about Telegin, when he will return to duty. You answered that it was being restored, but did not give specific dates. Is it still the same now?

– Vanya, unfortunately, also had a relapse of another injury, so the deadlines have moved forward. He is skating, recovering, but it turns out that he will return no earlier than the next away series.

Previously we wrote how Kravets appreciated the meeting with Dynamo Minsk.