Lokomotiv Coach Hartley on Playoffs After Spartak Win

On November 25, Yaroslavl Lokomotiv defeated Spartak Moscow 3-2 in a match held in Moscow.

Lokomotiv head coach Bob Hartley shared his opinion on the game, calling it a good 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,» Hartley noted.

Hartley said that Lokomotiv controlled the initiative well but took too many penalties. Due to several turnovers, the initiative was lost to the opponent. The team regained the advantage in the third period, which Hartley called the best.

«In overtime, just like Spartak, we had a great chance. Maltsev shot from a scoring position, Isaev made the save. We capitalized on our opportunity,» the Lokomotiv coach said.

Hartley added that there is ongoing player rotation, and the coaching staff is selecting the forwards for the playoff roster.

«The playoffs are not far off, and we»re already trying to adopt that playoff mentality. We have several rules for the defensive zone. If you«re under pressure with no good option to keep the puck, it»s better to move it to the neutral zone and continue from there,« the Yaroslavl team»s head coach stated.

Spartak head coach Alexei Zhamnov, meanwhile, discussed the reasons for his team«s loss, attributing it to a lack of luck.

«The penalties somewhat disrupted us; they didn»t allow us to maintain our pace and play in the third period as we intended,« Zhamnov said.

Journalists at the press conference asked Zhamnov if the third loss to Lokomotiv was putting pressure on the team, to which he replied that there is some pressure.

«Many say they are a »tough team in sports.« But I don»t think that«s accurate. The opponent plays a sticky game all over the ice; you have to battle for every puck, for everything,» Zhamnov shared.

Nevertheless, the Spartak coach was pleased that his team tried, even though «the plan was a bit different.»