Anvar Gatiyatinin, head coach of Ak Bars, shared his thoughts following the team’s 1-3 loss to Lokomotiv in the first match of the Gagarin Cup final series.
“Overall, we managed to contain the opponent’s early emotions. We played decently and created good chances, but the beginning of the second period turned the game around – we conceded two goals. We’ll review the footage and analyze it. Thank you to our fans for their support.”
When asked whether the break affected the team’s tone, Gatiyatinin replied, “We need to be ready for any circumstances.”
Regarding the performance of the Falkovsky-Karpukhin pairing, which struggled in the game, he said, “We’ll see. I’ve repeatedly discussed our principles. We’ll analyze the game because there were plenty of good moments. Perhaps we lost our concentration. The first goal came from a deflection, then we rushed to recover and conceded on a counterattack, which the opponent capitalized on. We’ll review, think, and make a decision.”
On calling a timeout to stop the opponent’s momentum: “Yes, after conceding two goals, we needed to calm the players down a bit to prevent emotions from overwhelming us.”
Reflecting on his first Gagarin Cup final game: “We roughly expected a game like this and prepared for it. We’ve come a long way and want to play our best hockey. We prepared for the series in this manner.”
When asked if Ak Bars found themselves in a similar situation to Metallurg and Minsk Dynamo, facing tight defensive play, Gatiyatinin disagreed: “I wouldn’t say that. The first period showed we suppressed the opponent’s emotions. The start of the second period – as I mentioned – is about maintaining concentration throughout the whole game. We’ve prepared all season so that no matter how the previous shift or game went, we need to go into the next one with maximum focus.”
Regarding Alexander Radulov’s impact in the second period and his confrontation with Grigory Denisenko at the end of the first: “I understand why there are questions about Alexander. Yes, individual players are important, but both our team and the opponent play as a unit. The result is determined by collective actions.”
