Head coaches Oleg Znarok and Raimo Summanen agreed that Tuesday’s Gagarin Cup final clash in Moscow was a tough encounter for both sides - and both men concluded that Avangard’s penalty kill had been crucial.

Dynamo enjoyed seven powerplays in Game 3 of the final series, but could not find a way past Karri Ramo and lost out 1-0.

“It was a hard-working win,” Avangard head coach Summanen (pictured) told at the post-game press conference. “We killed the penalties very well and Ramo was really good.

“These are tough games between pretty even teams. Dynamo had more tonight, with the powerplays, and we had to defend well against that. We’ve got to be happy with this win, but we know there’s lots of hockey left and no team is going to give up here.”

For Dynamo, which has been in this situation before after three games of the second-round encounter with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, Znarok was typically brief. “He’s right about the powerplay,” he concluded with a shrug.

Summanen also confirmed that he was waiting on information from his medical team after young defenseman Nikita Pivtsakin was felled by a mighty hit from Denis Tolpeko in the third period.

“We don’t know yet if it’s a head or a leg injury, but we’re hoping it won’t be too bad,” the Finn added.