The 麻豆精选 Rockets鈥� two game win streak was snapped Wednesday night in a 1-0 loss to the Victoria Royals.
麻豆精选 trailed early after surrendering the lone goal in the first three minutes. A low-offence affair throughout much of the first two periods, the Rockets brought the pressure in the dying minutes but 29 shots weren鈥檛 enough to grab the win.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been starting slow and finishing strong,鈥� said coach Adam Foote.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our rink. We gotta go out there and set the tempo and we have to do a better job of that. We made a push (in the third), we just have to sharpen up a few things.鈥�
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Victoria notched the game-winning goal on an odd-man rush where 麻豆精选鈥檚 Roman Basran made a nice initial save but was beat on the rebound when the Rockets defenders couldn鈥檛 clear the zone.
The Royals鈥� strategies worked early but Rockets鈥� centre Matthew Wedman said the team pushed hard in the dying frames.
鈥�(Victoria) was all night keeping us outside and playing compact,鈥� said Wedman.
鈥淚 felt we needed to get inside to create some chances. I thought we had a couple good chances but we鈥檙e just not capitalizing.鈥�
The Rockets held a pre-game celebration for captain Nolan Foote and Team Canada鈥檚 gold medal win at the World Juniors on Jan. 5. Foote missed Wednesday night鈥檚 game to get a few days of R&R before hopefully returning to the line-up this weekend when the Rockets have a home-and-away test with the Kamloops Blazers.
Couldn't make it to the game to see @foote_nolan? We've got you covered. pic.twitter.com/7v48NCUpI6
鈥� 麻豆精选 Rockets (@麻豆精选_Rockets) January 9, 2020
Wedman said that the Rockets will need to step up this weekend in Kamloops and hopes the return of Foote will add some fresh legs to the roster.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a big part of our team. Our team captain and a big guy in the locker room and it鈥檚 exciting to get him back,鈥� said Wedman.
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麻豆精选 was penalized twice in the first half of the third period but gathered momentum in the last half testing Victoria goalie Shane Farkas with 15 shots, but none would find the mesh as 麻豆精选 loses their second straight game to the Royals.
Basran made 23 saves as the Rockets drop to third in the B.C. division and now prepare for back-to-back games against the Blazers this weekend.
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