Defenseman scored his first career goal against San Jose, continues to give Golden Knights valuable minutes.
Braydne Pachal considers himself to be a pretty good texter when it comes to replying back to people.
After his first goal against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, it was a little difficult for him given the volume.
"I probably had 100, 150 messages. So it takes a little bit to get back to everybody, but I wanted to make sure I did that," Pachal said. "Everybody's played an important role to get me to this position. So whenever somebody reaches out, you want to make sure you get back to them and it kind of took me 'till [Friday] evening to get back to everybody, but I want to make sure I do that."
Pachal is proving to be a valuable asset while the Golden Knights are missing a pair of regular defensemen in Alec Martinez and Zach Whitecloud, who are both week-to-week with upper-body injuries.
Pachal is plus-3 on the season and is averaging 17:35 in ice time. He credits his growth to being more comfortable playing at the NHL level.
"Your first few games, you're obviously super nervous and you're just trying not to make mistakes," Pachal said. "So the more comfortable you get, you can kind of start playing hockey again."
What happens Pachal when Martinez and Whitecloud are healthy will be interesting. The team would have to have him clear waivers if they wanted to send him down to Henderson, which is a tough ask given how well he's played.
The Golden Knights probably won't have to make that decision for a little while, so until then Pachal will enjoy his time.
As for where the puck of the first goal will go? His mom will figure that out.
"I'll leave the creative mind to do something out for that, and I'm sure it'll turn out great," Pachal said.
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