Buchelnikov and Zamula on CSKA's third loss in four games

For the second straight game, the club had a goal chalked off — Denis Guryanov's effort this time, after Maxim Sorkin's was ruled out in the previous fixture.

Defenceman Yegor Zamula called it a tight contest. "Overall it was an even game. Lokomotiv simply scored their chances at the right moments. Both sides played well," he said. Asked about the disallowed goal, he did not dispute the officials' call: "If the ref called it, it was a penalty. We had enough chances to score even without a power play."

Forward Dmitri Buchelnikov addressed the disallowed goal. He added that such decisions, unwelcome as they are, push the players to dig deeper to turn a game around.

CSKA look stronger on paper than a year ago, yet the start has repeated the same pattern — three defeats in four games. "During the game you don't really think about that. You think about what you're doing on the ice yourself and what the team needs to do," he said.

Both players pointed to effort rather than tactics as the fix. "We try to find the emotion and the strength within ourselves in every game. There's no situation where someone isn't doing his job. We are working on our mistakes, and the wins will come," Buchelnikov said. Zamula was more blunt: "We have to fight. There is no other option."