The Spokane Chiefs earned the 1,000th win in franchise history in a memorable way on Wednesday, taking control from start to finish while shutting out the Western Hockey League's hottest team. Read story

Williams said it was difficult toward the end of the game to not think about polishing off the shutout.

"Definitely when the time is running down it kind of creeps into your head, but your job is to stop the puck," he said.

Williams said the Rockets had a couple of screened-out shots that he didn't see until the end.

Aviani said he'd been frustrated by the Chiefs' recent games, but Wednesday had a different feel.

"For the most part, tonight we really played as a team and we just battled every shift and everyone did their part to win," he said.

"I thought we had a good forecheck going," Nachbaur said. "We got on top of their 'D,' turned some pucks over, scored some early goals and built some confidence.

"We shot pucks quickly and caught them by surprise and we haven't done that in quite some time now. We've really been gripping the sticks tightly and tried to be too cute, and it's cost us."

Although pleased, Nachbaur said one game doesn't turn the season around if the Chiefs return to their bad habits.

This weekend's home games with Tri-City and Victoria may allow one of the three teams battling for fourth place in the conference to make a move.

"We have 19 games left and we have to keep pushing and doing these same things," Aviani said.

"We have to take care of business," Willams added. "If we win the games we need to win, especially playing Tri-City and Victoria this week, if we get those games, those points are going to be key coming down the stretch."

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