Mikhail Kravets, head coach of Astana's Barys, summed up his team's thrilling victory over Ufa's Salavat Yulaev in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) regular season. The game at Barys Arena ended 8-6 in favor of the hosts, who secured their second consecutive win at the start of the season, reports infohub.kz.
Before the match, a ceremony was held to honor Roman Starchenko, who recently retired from professional hockey. A banner with the name of Barys and Kazakhstan national team's longtime captain and his number 48 was raised to the rafters.
After the game, Kravets congratulated the team on the victory, singling out the first period, which Astana won 4-1. "I want to congratulate everyone on the win; we beat a good team. There were a lot of spectators, and it was a good game for them. And for us, two points... Otherwise, we'll watch the video and analyze the game further," the coach was quoted as saying by the club's press service.
The specialist emphasized that he would like to see his team play like they did in the first 20 minutes for the entire game. "I would like us to play like we did in the first period, when we had everything. We had control, we had chances, and we did our job correctly."
After the score reached 4-1, Salavat Yulaev twice cut the deficit to one goal: first to 4-3, and in the third period they closed to 7-5. In the end, the teams combined for 14 goals, and the final siren confirmed Barys' 8-6 victory.
Kravets was pleased not only with the team's offensive play. According to him, the mistakes made by Astana were largely due to the youth of the roster. "In attack, it was superb. I say again, not only in attack, but also in defense it was superb, especially in the first period. I like that the guys are giving 200 percent. Mistakes are a consequence of youth. We analyze, review, and eliminate them. In terms of effort, movement, and desire to win, everything is very good."
When asked if the game resembled an All-Star Game due to the abundance of goals, the coach responded in the context of the ceremony for Starchenko. "We were seeing off a star today, so we played like stars. There's nothing to worry about; we need to analyze and prepare for the next game."
Barys has started the season with two home wins. In the first round, Kravets' team routed Novosibirsk's Sibir 7-1, and now they scored eight goals against Salavat Yulaev. Thus, in two opening matches, Astana has already scored 15 goals.
The head coach stressed that after a successful start, the team must not lose focus. "We have a short break. The most important thing is rest, recovery, fresh minds, and energy for the next game. The championship doesn't end today; we need to keep playing. So we rest, train, and prepare."
Barys will play its next match at home on September 12 against Khabarovsk's Amur. After that, Astana will embark on a road trip.