Ak Bars forward Alexander Barabanov shared his thoughts after his team’s 1-3 loss to Lokomotiv in Game 1 of the Gagarin Cup Final.
“We let in two quick goals, which was unpleasant and left a mark on the game. Then we took an unnecessary penalty in the offensive zone, and the opponent capitalized on the power play. We also had trouble with our own man advantage tonight,” Barabanov said.
“But the important thing is we didn’t give up. We can take the third period as a positive and keep fighting. It’s just one game.”
When asked about the team’s resilience after killing a 3-on-5 in the closing minutes, he noted: “We had chances, we just need to finish them. If we had scored first, maybe the game would have turned out differently.”
Regarding the physical battle with Grigory Denisenko and the overall intensity, Barabanov added: “It’s a final, nobody wants to lose. It’s a battle of character. We just have to go out and do our job, no matter what. The opposition is bigger and more physical than what we faced in previous series, especially against Metallurg. We’re ready for it, we just need to adjust slightly.”
On facing Alexander Radulov, who has been praised after the series against Avantgard: “He’s a great player, still at a high level. We have to pay special attention to him.”
Barabanov also commented on the team’s unusual train travel: “It was a different experience, we rode the train. Our legs didn’t get stiff, we traveled in a compartment lying down.”
