Neftekhimik blow 3-0 lead, fall to Shanghai in OT

Neftekhimik led 3-0 before Shanghai clawed the whole match back. Head coach Igor Grishin put the collapse down to complacency after his side's fast start.

"It was an even, engaging game for the fans, plenty of emotion. Perhaps our first two goals came a little too easily, and the lads started to believe everything would go their way. We flagged that at the interval, but then we scored shorthanded and conceded straight back — that was unpleasant. And when the opposition scores three seconds before the end of a period, that is unpleasant too. We were on the attack ourselves, could have scored, and instead conceded, which gave them momentum. The third period was end to end, but unfortunately the opposition were stronger in overtime. Losing [Yegor] Belozerov mattered — he is a leader on the bench and on the ice. He usually plays in the first line during overtime when everyone is fit, and that line was broken up. Emotions again — I tried to calm the players down, and after the game we told them they need to keep their emotions in check," Grishin said.

"For the fans this was an interesting match — plenty of different situations, goals on the power play, shorthanded and at even strength too. As for us, credit to the lads, they did really well. Despite going 0-3 down, we found a way to regroup, get back into the game and score the goals that mattered. This was our first road match of the season — it is good that we managed to get into it and turn the game around. A month of pre-season away from home helped us with the chemistry and the bonding. I am pleased with how the players are working with each other. We will keep working on that, the season has only just started. I am glad to see the team coming together, because we have a lot of new players. Today we enjoy the win, tomorrow we prepare for the next game. As for Neftekhimik, they are a good, quick, young side with plenty of skill. It is not easy to play against a team like that, you have to position yourself correctly in defence. We made a small mistake, they found two or three passes and the puck was in the net. You cannot afford errors there, you need to know exactly which positions the players should be in. On top of that we tried to hold the puck more than the opposition did, and I think we managed that," Love said.

The result comes in the same opening week that saw reigning champions Lokomotiv put five past Traktor without reply, so this early KHL season is already producing swings that suggest few sides have settled into their rhythm yet.