Reaction after beating Belarus at the 2021 World Championship

Following the 6:0 victory against Belarus in the concluding match of the 2021 IIHF World Championship group stage, senior national team head coach Valeri Bragin, defenseman Nikita Nesterov and forward Mikhail Grigorenko all shared their opinions:

Head coach Valeri Bragin:

- During the first break, I told the guys not to lose their concentration and to continue preparing for the playoffs. We gave Pavel Karnaukhov a rest, taking the opportunity to look at Maxim Shalunov and Emil Galimov on the ice. We have been keeping an eye on Canada, they have a quick, good team, so it won't be easy for us. It's good that fans are now being allowed to attend the matches here, I think that we will have a lot of supporters against the Canadians. Sergei Bobrovsky? He is training well, we will make a decision concerning our starting goalkeeper.

Defenseman Nikita Nesterov:

- Thank you to my teammates for helping me to score twice, we ended the game as a contest during the opening frame. On Wednesday, we will begin preparing for Canada.

Forward Mikhail Grigorenko:

- When the score became 5:0, everyone understood that we were going to win. Nevertheless, it was important for us to continue playing the right way until the match ended, we're happy that we helped Alexander Samonov to earn a shutout. Yes, Canada lost a few games during the group stage, but they are still strong opponents and we have to compete with the correct mindset. All teams in the knockout phase are excellent. If we want to win the World Championship, we have to beat the best teams.