Barys head coach Mikhail Kravets commented on the high-scoring victory over Salavat Yulaev in the KHL regular season. The Astana team won 8-6 and claimed their second consecutive win at the start of the season. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Before the match, a ceremony honoring Roman Starchenko, who has retired, was held at Barys Arena. A banner with the name of the long-time captain of Barys and the Kazakhstan national team, bearing number 48, was raised to the arena's rafters.

After the game, Kravets congratulated the team on the win and specifically noted the first period, which Barys won 4-1.

"I want to congratulate everyone on the victory, we beat a good team. There were many spectators, a good game for the fans. And for us, two points... Otherwise, we will watch the video and analyze the game further," Kravets was quoted as saying by the Barys press service.

According to the specialist, it is precisely the play in the first twenty minutes that he would like to see from the team throughout the entire match.

"I would like us to play the way we played the first period, when everything was there. There was control, there were chances, and we did our job correctly."

After 4-1, Salavat Yulaev twice cut the deficit to one goal – first to 4-3, and in the third period came close to the hosts at 7-5. In the end, the teams scored 14 goals, and the final siren confirmed Barys's victory – 8-6.

Kravets was pleased not only with the team's attack. According to him, the mistakes of the Astana side are largely due to the youth of the roster.

"In attack – superb. I say again, not only in attack, but in defense it was superb too. Especially the first period. I like that the guys give two hundred percent. Mistakes are a consequence of youth. Again, we analyze, review and eliminate them. In terms of dedication, movement and desire to win, everything is very good."

To a remark that the match resembled an All-Star Game due to the large number of goals, the coach responded in the context of the ceremony honoring Starchenko.

"Today we saw off a star, so we played like stars. There is nothing to worry about here, we need to analyze and prepare for the next game."

Barys started the season with two home victories. In the first round, Kravets's team crushed Sibir 7-1, and now scored eight goals against Salavat Yulaev. Thus, in the two opening matches, the Astana side has already scored 15 goals.

The head coach emphasized that after a successful start, the team must not lose concentration.

"We have a small pause. The most important thing is rest, recovery, fresh heads and energy for the next game. The championship doesn't end today, we need to keep playing. So we rest, train and prepare."

Barys's next match will also be at home – on September 12 against Khabarovsk's Amur. After that, the Astana side will go on a road series.