Hartley Says Playoffs Approaching After Lokomotiv's Win Over Spartak

The match between Yaroslavl«s Lokomotiv and Moscow»s Spartak, held on November 25 at the latter«s ice arena, ended with a score of 2:3 in favor of the visitors.

The coach of the winners, Bob Hartley, called this success a valuable away victory. «For us, the opponent is very skilled and fast. They caused us a lot of problems in attack, but we found a way to win,» the specialist stated.

According to Hartley, his team started well, but a large number of penalties allowed Spartak to seize the initiative. Lokomotiv managed to turn the tide of the game in the third period, which the coach called the best in the match.

«In overtime, just like Spartak, we had a great moment. Maltsev shot from a scoring position, Isaev saved. We took advantage of our chance,» added Hartley.

The coach also reported that the team is rotating the lineup to determine the optimal group of forwards before the start of the playoffs. «The playoffs are not far away, we are already trying to get into that playoff mentality. We have several rules for the defensive zone. If you»re under pressure and don«t have a good option to keep the puck, it»s better to move it to the neutral zone and continue the game from there,« he explained.

Spartak«s head coach Alexei Zhamnov linked his team»s defeat to a lack of luck. «The penalties slightly broke us, didn»t allow us to maintain the pace and play in the third period as we wanted,« he said.

Answering a question about psychological pressure after the third defeat to Lokomotiv, Zhamnov admitted: «Many say — »in sports, an uncomfortable team.« But I don»t think that«s the case. The opponent simply plays tenaciously on all parts of the ice, you need to engage in battle for the neutral puck, for everything.»

Despite the unsuccessful result, Spartak«s coach noted the team»s efforts, indicating that the game didn«t go entirely according to the planned scenario.