"Thanks to such series as with Avangard, we are growing"

The hockey players of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and Avangard Omsk had one of the best series in the history of the KHL playoffs. In the quarterfinals of the Gagarin Cup, they brought matters to the seventh match, in which only in the middle of the second overtime the victory was snatched by the "railwaymen" (3:2) after a difficult three and a half hours of the meeting. Now the Yaroslavl team is starting to prepare for the semifinal series starting on Sunday against Ufa's Salavat Yulaev.

In an interview with Izvestia, Lokomotiv striker Artur Kayumov shared his impressions of the series, told what gives the team such a difficult confrontation, explained why the 2-0 advantage was missed in the third period of the seventh match, and also commented on the role of star forward Alexander Radulov in Yaroslavl's success.

— How long will it take you and your team to recover after such a difficult series and such a long seventh match?

— Yes, I think a couple of days at most. We were given one day off after the seventh match, and maybe that one day will be enough. Let's gain strength, emotions, stay with our families, and start preparing for the Salavat episode.

— Many people think that winning a series in four matches, as you did a year ago in the semi—finals with Traktor and this spring in the first round with Torpedo, is not a good thing, because in a week and a half without games before the next series, the tone is lost. In this sense, is it more useful to play long episodes, as you have with Avangard?

— Of course, of course. The seventh game, overtime, if you go through this, then I think it's a great experience both for the team as a whole and for each player. It is clear that we are growing thanks to such series. We are growing very much. It's a great learning experience for everyone.

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— Can we say that the 1-4 defeat in the first match of the series with Avangard is a consequence of the rapid end of the series with Torpedo?

— No, I don't think there's a connection. We're still fighting in every match, doing everything we can to win. And we are preparing for every game, every episode very seriously. It's just that the opponents, in this case Avangard, are also strong and don't want to lose. Despite the fact that all teams are more or less equal in terms of level, it is impossible to win against everyone all the time. But in general, we played well in all the matches against Avangard.

— A year ago, Lokomotiv also qualified for the second round of the Avangard playoffs after seven matches. Was it more difficult this time?

— It's more difficult this year. Omsk's team has become more trained.

— In most of the matches of the series, Lokomotiv spent the first two periods at crazy speeds, had a big advantage in shots, but if he scored no more than one or two goals, then in the third period he sometimes lost the advantage. Doesn't it feel like Avangard was preparing for the fact that you won't be able to keep up such speeds for the entire match and you just have to endure two periods and then start taking advantage of your fatigue?

— I think that everything depended on us. If we take the same seventh match, when we were leading 2-0 by the middle of the third period, but Avangard scored two goals and sent the game into overtime, then it was more likely that we missed the game a little, gave the initiative. I think that this is unacceptable for us. But in terms of speed, we generally played all the games and periods normally.

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— So the problems in the third period are not because of physics, but because of excessive calmness?

— Probably, they wanted to play the score. I don't know, we need to watch another match and analyze it. Let's see what happened in the third period, what mistakes were made. But in any case, everything depended on us, on our desire.

— This series was delayed largely due to Avangard goalkeeper Nikita Serebryakov, who gave out crazy statistics on deflected shots and kept the opponent in the game for a long time in the seventh match. Did the team separately figure out how to throw at his goal, how to block his view?

— No, no, we didn't go through each player specifically. It's just that the coaches gave us sketches of how Omsk guys act, including the goalkeeper. But for a long time, one person was not disassembled.

— One of the key moments of the series was the fourth match, when Lokomotiv struggled in the third period and overtime, but in a difficult moment Alexander Radulov scored the winning goal (2-1). Is it possible to say that you missed such a person during last year's final loss to Metallurg?

— Perhaps, yes, it was not enough. He is a great master, who also gives us great emotion, which we lacked.

— Have you been following Salavat Yulaev in this playoff? Do you have any idea what he's going to play against you?

— No, I haven't really looked at it. Understanding? There is an understanding that the series with Avangard is over. Let's rest a bit and slowly get ready for Ufa.