Mikhail Kravets: “In the first period, Avangard played rather timidly because of two deletions”

Saturday, April 1, in Kazan “Avangard” lost in the first leg of the semi-finals Gagarin Cup “Ak Bars” 2:3 in overtime. After the game, it was appreciated by the head coach of the team Mikhail Kravets.

As the specialist noted, the advantage is that the “hawks” returned to the game and managed to stick to their line.

– The game was tense throughout all periods, unfortunately, we had two unjustified removals at the very beginning, such removals should not be. In general, the guys returned to the game, bent their line quite confidently, worked well in defense, losing 0:2, had a very good third period. Well, then Ak Bars decided the issue in overtime.

– Is defeat in overtime a failure, bad luck? Or is there some kind of systematic error?

– No, it’s not a systematic mistake, there specifically one player showed skill, threw well. There is no lottery here, good luck. We had a great start to overtime, in fact, in every shift we played in a foreign zone. The opponent threw the puck, picked it up, threw it great from under the defender. It’s all about skill.

– From the side it seemed that in the first two periods Avangard had almost no scoring chances. If so, what do you think is the reason?

– No, you looked bad. Disagree. There were scoring chances, and especially for Gritsyuk in the second period, when Bilyalov beat off the pancake perfectly. In the second and third periods, the hosts did not control the course of the match, in the first – rather, we played timidly, backed off a bit, I do not deny it. More due to two deletions.

Kravets also talked about the psychological impact of the starting defeat – either it is a plus, that they managed to recoup three seconds before the siren, or a minus, which in the end they still lost. According to him, it was not a miracle that helped to recoup, but skill, and psychologically this should not be a blow. The next game is on the way, the played one needs to be analyzed and prepared.

The mentor suggested that further games would be tense, but it would be easier for Omsk residents to navigate the opponent’s game after an exploration match.

“Mistakes will be visible in this game, it will be clear what needs to be corrected after watching,” he said.

Previously, on our Zen channel, we brought Commentary by Hawks forward Alex Broadhurst about expectations from the series with “leopards”.