Interviews after playing Finland

Alexander Ovechkin, Russian national team captain:

- It was a tough game, we had to win and we did it. Tomorrow, we will start to think about Canada. The first period was a bit boring, we tried our best not to make any mistakes and not give Finland the opportunity to move forward. However, we scored two goals in the second and we began to play better. Sergei Bobrovsky was great.

Canada and Russia both have lots of history. It will be fun to play against them, but hard at the same time. Is this an important moment in my career? I think that the opportunity to beat Canada and qualify for a final is always huge.

- What needs to be done in order to see off the Canadians?

- Block shots. They have really technical players, but we have all played against them in the NHL. Maybe, this will help us.

- Talk about about Ivan Telegin's performance.

- He gives his all until the buzzer. He blocked shots on the penalty kill and scored an important goal.

Evgeny Kuznetsov, Russian national team forward:

- The first period wasn't that good, however later on, we managed to find our game. Yes, Finland had their chances, but Sergei Bobrovsky was excellent. How hard was it to replace Pavel Datsyuk? It's impossible to replace him. I simply played in his position. It will be a real fight in the semi-final.

- Is qualification from the group already a good result for Russia?

- We have come here to win the cup, not to get out of the preliminary round. If you simply want to qualify for the knockout rounds, there's no point in you putting on the Russia jersey. It's a dream of any hockey player to play against Canada at this level.

Ivan Telegin, Russian national team forward:

- You blocked lots of shots.

- Finland had their first powerplay and I blocked Patrik Laine's attempt. Despite these knocks, I feel good. I skate out on to the ice and do my job. Everyone in this team knows that they have to do. 

Before this match, I spoke with Evgeny Dadonov and Vadim Shipachyov about our tactics if we lose the puck in the attacking zone. Everything went well, we managed to score.

- How did you decide to beat Tuukka Rask in such style?

- I had no other option.

- Was it hard to recover after a testing match against North America?

- Our doctors work miracles.

- What can we expect in the match against Canada?

- It will be a physical match, we have to play at the best of our abilities. The match in Pittsburgh? We've already forgotten it.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation