"The responsibility on a goalkeeper on any team is always high."

For the second season in a row, Vladislav Podyapolskiy is one of the best goalies in the KHL. A year ago, thanks to him, Lada Togliatti sensationally made the playoffs immediately after returning to the league. In the current regular season, in many ways, the 29-year-old goalie helped it keep its chances of making the playoffs by the beginning of winter.

And in mid-December, Vladislav moved to Dynamo Moscow, which helped the White Blues solve the goaltending problems that plagued them in the first half of the season. Alexei Kudashov's team became one of the best in January, winning eight games and losing only two. This allows it to claim second place in the Western Conference.

In an interview with Izvestia, Podyapolskiy commented on the home victory over Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (4:2) in the last game, told why he quickly adapted to Dynamo, and also explained why he doesn't consider it important from which place to enter the playoffs.

- Why did you manage to win the last game so easily?

- I wouldn't say it was easy. It was still hard to play, even though we led 4-1 near the end of the game and only missed the second puck four seconds before the siren. It's just that we scored our goals on time - because of that it happened that our victory seems easy to you from the outside. All this is due to a good realization of our chances.

- Are you satisfied with the January period for yourself and the team?

- I don`t evaluate my game or the team`s game by months. Everything should be summarized at the end of the season. But it is obvious that all the guys in Dynamo are working, working hard. Good working atmosphere inside the team, it allows us to win steadily.

- A month and a half has already passed since your transfer to Dynamo. Can you say that you have fully adapted in the new team?

- I can say that everything happened very quickly. Moreover, there are a lot of guys in Dynamo, whom I know not for the first year. Therefore, adaptation in the team was easy. Everyone helped me with it - the coaching staff, the staff and hockey players. Everyone is handsome - thank you all for the way they received me.

- How much do the requirements to you in Dynamo differ from those in Lada?

- It's impossible to estimate here, as they are different teams - different position in the table, different tactics. Everything is different in Dynamo compared to Lada, so I don`t see the point in evaluating.

"When there's a wall in the back of the goal, it's calmer."

Dynamo Moscow hockey player Dmitry Rashevsky - about the new goalkeeper Vladislav Podyapolskiy, the victory over SKA and the team's results in the current KHL season

- Many believe that you can claim the title of the best goalkeeper of the season.

- I don't pay attention to that now and I don't want to evaluate myself personally. It doesn`t really matter what they say about it - I just want to help the team every game.

- How important is it for Dynamo to finish the regular season as high as possible?

- It's more important for us to prepare properly for the playoffs. Play our game and improve it. And we will be in the same place at the end of the regular season. I don't see much difference between the teams we can play in the first round. All teams are basically equal right now. Everyone in the top eight is good. And it's too early to look that far toward the playoffs - there are still a lot of regular season games ahead of us.

- About two weeks ago, after the win over SKA, Dmitry Rashevsky said about you that it becomes calmer when you have such a wall in the goal.

- The responsibility on a goalie is always high on any team. So I just try to help the team. Somewhere in time to make a save, knock the puck away, somewhere to give the guys a break. Everything depends on the game. Anyway, it's great that they say that about my game.