Pacheco’s knockout punch

“I thought our d-zone was good. We were moving pucks. We gapped up pretty well”, MacNevin added. “Structurally, we were pretty good and we stayed up on them as we should.”

In a five-round shootout, the option of deking was abandoned, outside of Andrew Cristall’s attempt, which didn’t even translate into a shot on goal.

“With the ice the way it was, you wanted shooters”, MacNevin said about Pacheco scoring the game-winner with a quick stick handle followed by a delicious release that beat Americans goaltender Tomas Suchanek to the glove hand side. “I am not sure if they froze the pucks, but it [puck] was bouncing like crazy.”

The Rockets are now 3-0 in shootouts, with wins in Calgary, Spokane and Tri-City.

“The players really enjoy it, but the coaches not so much”, MacNevin added with the team playing past 60 minutes in three consecutive games. “It is good for the group. We have been trending in the right direction for a while. We have had a couple of hiccups along the way, but that is the key is coming into this time of the year to understand what you have to do as a team, as a individual and how we can have success. It is good to be where we are for sure.”

Max Graham had two goals in the teams third straight win, both coming in a span of 28 seconds before Adam Kydd scored his career high 19^th of the season to build up a 3-1 lead.

Much like Saturday’s 5-4 overtime win in Spokane, the Chiefs erased a four-goal deficit before the Rockets earned the victory in the extra session.

“We need to buckle down and stick to what got us there,” MacNevin said. “We have a young team and when we get up like that we are probably reaching for more. We are getting away from things when we are up a couple [goals].”

The game also marked the return of goaltender Talyn Boyko, who played with the Americans before being traded to the Rockets last season.

The 20-year-old saved his best for the shootout, not allowing a goal on five attempts.

“Coming back to the building where you spent three years, that is a big [win] for him”, MacNevin agreed. “They are an up and coming team and they are showing it this year. They have some dangerous players, and they are big and physical, so it is good when you can come in and win for Talyn. I wish we would have buckled down a little bit more for him, as it didn’t need to be as close as it was.”

Two of the three games on the weekend were won without 29 goal man Carson Golder, who is serving a suspension for a hit on Giants forward Samuel Honzek on Friday night.

“Good on the fellas for stepping up with the absence of Golder. All the good teams have a lot of 19 and 20 year-old players, so we would like to get him back in the lineup for sure.”

The Rockets are now 6-0-0-0 on the road when scoring five goals this season.

The victory, coupled with the Vancouver Giants overtime win against Prince George, keeps the two teams separated by three points for seventh spot in the Western Conference.

With five games left to play in the regular season, the race for the final two playoff spots has never been more exciting.

by Regan Bartel

Pacheco’s knockout punch

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