Page 148 of Rookie Rules

Luca nodded once. "Low support, middle release."

He addressed Vale. Not Rowan.

"Exactly," Rowan said because the captain still had to answer.

Luca turned to him. His face offered attention without invitation. "If the center stays below the puck, I carry the wall?"

"Unless Finn has already forced the switch."

"Got it, Captain."

Every word was correct.

The line had spent the morning answering for its recent success. A regional reporter had asked Rowan whether Luca's Boreal campaign might distract a rookie already carrying top-line minutes. Another wanted to know if opponents had finally solved the chemistry that had made Northstar dangerous in October.

Rowan had kept both answers brief. The campaign belonged to Luca and his representatives. The line's results belonged to the line.

Before the breakup, Luca would have found him afterward and complained that Rowan made support sound like a tax regulation. Today he thanked the reporters, handed the microphone back to communications, and left with Claire. Rowan had protected him exactly as a captain should. The action had cost Rowan nothing and reached Luca nowhere.

Now, while Vale moved on to the defensive pairings, Rowan watched Luca trace the entry on the board with the end of his tape roll. He was not withdrawn. He asked Nolan a useful question about the rim. He reminded Jace which unit was next. His professionalism gave the room no disruption to rally around and Rowan no failure he could repair.

Finn tied and retied the knot of his skate lace.

The first period began at a pace that punished thought. The Wolves' opponent sent both defensemen deep, willing to trade odd-man chances for sustained pressure. Rowan won his first draw and guided the puck toward Finn. Finn touched it through the middle. Luca carried wide.

The weak-side defenseman pinched exactly as video predicted.

Luca delayed at the wall. Rowan arrived underneath. For a fraction, the pass was open.

Luca chose the safer rim behind the net.

It was not a mistake. The Wolves retained possession. Finn recovered and sent a shot through traffic that struck a leg.

But the better opening had closed unused.

On the bench, Rowan said, "You had me low."

Luca drank from the bottle. "I saw."

"Then use it."

"You asked for structure."

The words were quiet enough that Finn, seated on Luca's other side, might not hear.

"That was the structure," Rowan said.

Luca replaced the bottle. "Understood."

No argument. No spark. Rowan would have preferred either.

The opponent scored first on a point shot Gabriel never saw. Northstar answered late in the period when Mateo held the blue line and sent the puck toward the crease. Jace redirected it between the goalie's pads.

1-1.

The second period exposed the line's missing language. They did not play badly. Badly would have been easier to correct.

Finn won a puck on the forecheck and sent it to the slot half a beat before Luca arrived. Luca circled high when Rowan expected him low. Rowan delayed an entry because he did not trust Luca to fill behind him, then found Luca already there.