Page 121 of Crease Collision

“Bed.”

One Day Later

The sound of skates slicing through the ice makes me uneasy. Kendrick, the Fury’s captain, is on a breakaway, but Nico’s right on his tail. As Kendrick blows across the blue line and cuts left, the turn costs him. Nico almost pulls even and tries to hook Kendrick’s stick, but can’t quite get it.

A Fury D-man barrels in and parks himself in front of me, but our man Thompson hits him hard, knocking him out of the way. I skate out to cut Kendrick’s angle as he fires a shot. It’s harder than I expected, but I get my glove on it. We’re still up by one.

While the lines change for a faceoff, I look at Ozzy at the far end of the ice. He’s frozen in defense stance, as if we had a man breaking toward the net. It happens when you’re tense.

He straightens, looks at me, and nods. We both raise our sticks in a mutual salute.

The Fury take the faceoff, and play explodes into chaos as one of their wingers races toward me with the puck. I’m relieved when Packy flies up beside him and forces a turnover. Packy dishes the puck to Jace, who sends it cross-ice toward Theo. But before it arrives, the Fury’s center swoops in and takes possession only twenty feet from me.

Shit.

He fires, and even though I try to get my blocker in the way, I’m too late. I barely resist banging my stick on the ice.

The first intermission seems short. Holmer comes in and talks too long, and then Nico takes his turn at revving us up. I barely have time to run to the bathroom before we’re heading back out.

As the second period explodes into action, both teams abandon strategy for speed. The Fury storm around the ice. Their man Carson brings the puck across our blue line, then passes to Kendrick. I’m already moving as he hurtles toward me.

“Cut him off!” I scream at Thompson.

But Thompson isn’t fast enough. Kendrick fakes, then shoots a laser between my glove and body. Heat floods my face as the puck slams into the net. Fuck me. We’re trailing by one.

Down the ice, Ozzy doesn’t move.

The next ten minutes are sheer madness. Players go back and forth between the offensive zones at a dizzying pace. The Fury set up in our zone and hammer me with one fucking shot after another. Each one is a little closer to going in as I struggle to keep up.

Don’t lose it. We’re so close to winning this.

Nico gets his stick on the puck and races into the Fury’s zone. Now, our line is peppering Ozzy with shots.

All at once, a brutal hit by one of their D-men sends Jace spinning, making him lose the puck. Nico grabs it and heads for their goal, drawing Ozzy and a defenseman with him. Nico dishes to Theo, who sends it to Noah. Ozzy’s out of position and scrambling to recover.

That’s when Jace strikes, flying in from the weak side. Nico passes to him, and Jace one-times it. The arena erupts as our line mobs Jace for the celly. Ozzy slams his stick against a post and turns away. Game tied again.

“Come on, come on!” I yell to nobody in particular. We need to score again.

The final minutes of the period are even crazier. Ozzy stands on his head down the ice, and I make a lunging glove save with thirty seconds left. When the horn blows, the score is still tied. I’m shaking as I head for the tunnel.

Ozzy is leaving the ice too. Our eyes meet, and when he shoots me a tight smile, I return it.

Five minutes into the third, the puck’s pinned along the boards in our zone. Kendrick and Theo are digging for it, and Kendrick wrenches it free. My heart jumps as he sends it cross-ice to Lewis, who rips a shot. I see it coming, but it’s too fast. The puck is in the net before I can get across the crease.

They’re up by one again.

Fuck!

For the next sixteen minutes, we give everything we have but get nowhere. The weight of what’s at stake presses in, and every movement feels harder in this war of desperation and near misses. As the clock winds down, I feel like screaming.

We can’t lose this game.

With three minutes left on the clock, Packy strips the puck at the blue line and snaps it home before Ozzy can react. Tie game again. The crowd erupts, and I’m screaming into my mask, fist pounding the air. We can win the game that will send us to the Cup Finals.

Nico takes the next draw clean. Theo passes to McKay, and McKay’s slapshot finds a lane through traffic. The crowd goes insane when the puck hits the net.

Yes!