Reaction after playing the Czechs at the 2021 World Championship

Following the 4:3 victory against the Czech Republic in the opening match of the 2021 IIHF World Championship, senior national team head coach Valeri Bragin and forwards Mikhail Grigorenko and Alexander Barabanov both spoke to the press:

Head coach Valeri Bragin:

- It's impossible to play perfectly in the first match of the World Championship, everyone needs time in which to settle. Yes, both teams made mistakes, but overall we played well and achieved the desired result. It's great that our first game was against such a strong opponent. Alexander Samonov? He did indeed concede three goals, but he made the big saves at the decisive moments. He has the most amount of experience of competing at international level among the goaltenders in our squad. We're satisfied with our powerplay showing today, we scored one goal on the man advantage and created several opportunities. Sergei Tolchinsky will replace the injured Konstantin Okulov against Great Britain.

Forward Mikhail Grigorenko:

- Our goalkeeper saved us when required, he made important stops and we tried to help him. My goal? The Czechs went to make a shift change, Vladislav Gavrikov found me with an excellent pass, and I scored with the help of the right post. Initially, I thought that the puck had flown out to the stands instead of the net! All of the guys in our team are full of confidence, our task is to win every match.

Forward Alexander Barabanov:

- Alexander Samonov deserved to be named the player of the game, he made the key saves to keep us in the game. The quality of the ice is good here, I don't have any problems with it at all. I feel great within the group, I had missed the guys a lot! However, physically I'm not in perfect shape yet, the long flight took its toll and the ice size is different here than in the NHL. Hopefully, I will improve with every passing match. We are working on our powerplay all of the time, special teams decide the outcome of games.