Mikhail Kravets: “Avangard had several key problematic moments today”

On October 7, Avangard lost at home to Traktor 1:4 in the KHL championship match. The meeting was appreciated by the head coach of our team, Mikhail Kravets.

The specialist also noted that it was necessary to act competently here, including in standard simple situations.

– The very result of the meeting speaks about how we played, first of all. But at the same time, we also had moments that we could have used, we had to score in them. And then the score would probably have been different. But for some reason today, from the first shift, we decided to play more in our zone. Of course, it was more exhausting for us. There was less strength left to attack. So we made mistakes in the defensive zone. And we didn’t create enough chances in attack.

The only bright spot is the goalkeepers’ performance. And the game is in the minority. Everything there was decent.

We will prepare for our next opponent, Metallurg. Let’s rest for a day and understand what needs to be worked on – that’s what we’ll do.

– There was a lot of positive things in the game at the end of the trip – both the match with Torpedo and even in Kazan. Why has the team moved away from this a little in terms of mood today?

– I don’t want to make excuses and say general words, stock phrases. But the mood was there today.

– You successfully used one of the players as a 13th striker on the road. Why couldn’t this be done today?

– Because according to the regulations, we should have a young player 13th. Plus we had 7 defenders. And Ilya Reingardt was injured.

– Perhaps the most defining moment was when you missed Kalinin’s goal and it became 0:3? It was very successful for the guests and unsuccessful for Avangard. And after that it was very difficult to change anything, almost impossible.

– There were several most unsuccessful ones. Standard. Including: at the end of the third period – a missed goal. I wouldn’t say that the opponent had an advantage there.

In addition, Kalinin’s goal began not from defense, but from a throw-in. This is also a standard, in such moments you need to play correctly. Hoping that your opponent simply won’t be able to take the puck from you is wrong and naive. The defenders need to get the puck out with the first movement, and not lose it and then play in their own zone for 45 seconds. Wrong decisions made in simple set-piece situations lead to missed goals.

Previously we wrote how Mikhail Kravets appreciated away game with Ak Bars.