"There have been matches where we started the game from the second or third period on"

Spartak Moscow hockey players will play their first KHL regular season game of the new 2025 year on January 6. Alexei Zhamnov's charges will play away against Severstal Cherepovets. At the moment, the Red and White have played 39 of 68 games in the regular season and are in third place in the Western Conference table. In an interview with Izvestia, Spartak goalie Dmitry Nikolaev assessed the past season for himself and his team, commented on the departure of Slovakian goalie Patrik Rybar to Kunlun Red Star in China and the arrival of goalie Artem Zagidulin from Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, as well as explained what the club needs to be successful in the playoffs.

- How would you rate the team's performance in the last four months of the season on a five-point scale?

- I think it's a three. But a good three.

- You mean on the plus side?

- Yeah, a C-plus is a four for the team. I'm just gonna give myself a C. In principle, I'm kind of satisfied with the past stretch, but not 100%, so I'll give myself a three.

- Why do you evaluate yourself and the team so strictly?

- I don`t know... Probably because of the mistakes we have throughout the season. I think, everyone sees it, sees what mistakes, so there are questions.

- But you are still quite high in the table, right?

- We just win, that's all.

- Do you win a lot because of your character when you don't play well?

- I think so. We just have some character. Hence the victories.

- What do you need to improve in order to be successful in the playoffs?

- Playing from the first minute of the game. Because there were games this season when we started playing only from the second or third period. But you have to play from the very beginning of the game until the last minute. We need to wake up right away.

- How did you react to the recent changes in Spartak's goaltending line - the departure of Patrik Rybar and the arrival of Artem Zagidulin?

- I didn't react in any way. This is sports, this is hockey. It's normal that today or tomorrow someone will be changed and that new guys, new competitors, come to the team - I don't mind. I'm all for competition.

- Rybar seemed to be Spartak's ironclad number one a year or so ago. When you came to the team last season, did you expect that you would displace him so quickly and the club would have to part with him?

- I didn't really displace him. It just so happened that I was trusted more than him.

- How do you celebrate New Year's Eve, when in the KHL clubs have a four or five day pause at the junction of December and January? This time Spartak has an eight-day break between the last December and the first January game, but you have to restrain yourself from having a glass of champagne and eating olivier salad?

- Yeah nothing will come of one time. So, probably, no, I don't have to. Another thing is that I prefer to celebrate New Year's Eve quietly with my family. To go to my native Peter, to celebrate it with my relatives. It's the same this time. I celebrated and calmly returned to Moscow to prepare for Spartak's next away series in the KHL.

- What would you wish for yourself in 2025?

- Stability. The opportunity to help the team. And of course, a victory in the Gagarin Cup.