Mikhail Kravets: “Avangard” withstood the onslaught in the first period, but missed unnecessary goals in the second.”

“Vanguard” on Sunday, March 3, won in the second match of the playoff series with Lada at home 3:2 in overtime and took a 2:0 lead in the round. The head coach of our team, Mikhail Kravets, gave an assessment of the game.

The mentor noted: it is very valuable that the team did not give up at 0:2 and, continuing to fight, ultimately achieved success.

– Hard, intense game. We were sure that today our opponent would come out angrier, more persistent, and more persistent. And so it turned out.

We withstood the pressure in the first period, withstood the power moves, the guys endured and confidently responded when they could. Alas, in the second period we missed unnecessary goals and did not convert many chances ourselves.

But such matches are also necessary, they develop the team, the character of each player, and give confidence for the next meetings. It’s a great experience for everyone, I’m glad for the players that they didn’t fold their sticks.

– After two periods you changed the composition of the attacking threes. Zhafyarov came to Nikolishin and Igumnov. How did you decide to do this? In fact, this really helped, didn’t it?

– Indeed, we made these small changes, swapped Zhafyarov and Martynov. In principle, both three immediately began to play better, and both lines scored as a result, the move worked. I think that we will leave such links for the next match. During the second break, I asked the players to show character and start actively from the first shift. As a result, Spooner and Boucher immediately broke through to the goal and made a shot. From this shift we made it clear that we would play better.

– In the next games, as expected, episodes with opponent rudeness and fights are quite possible again. In this regard, in addition to Mark Verba, Roman Abrosimov would be very useful in the lineup. How great are his chances of getting into the lineup on March 5 and 7?

– Today Lada did not play rough. It was just a tough hockey game, which should be in the playoffs. This is hockey, a game of characters, a game of men who oppose themselves to each other and do not give in, but try to win in any combat. With Mark – he was very useful today on the bench, in the locker room, supporting the guys. It was not possible to release him in the game, but in the future he will still be declared as the 13th striker. And this is his help for victory too.

As for Abrosimov, he will only start skating on ice again in the next few days.

Previously, we gave an opinion on the game of the Hawks forward Ivan Nikolishin.