Page 161 of Rookie Rules

2-1.

The crowd rose around him. Luca turned toward Finn first. Correctly. Finn had created the goal. Rowan joined them last and saw joy open Luca's face before discipline closed it again.

The opponent tied the score on a power play after Mateo's stick rode up during a net-front battle.

2-2.

Mateo apologized before anyone demanded it. Gabriel drank water and reset his mask. Vale rolled the lines, looking for control before the period ended.

Rowan's first shift after the goal lasted thirty-two seconds. He stayed inside the dots, won one puck, and changed before the opponent could force him to turn. At the bench, Owen leaned over the boards.

"Change?"

"Four. Diffuse. No sharp pain."

"Strength?"

"Same."

Owen watched him lift and draw the right knee inward twice. "One shift. Then I reassess."

Rowan wanted to object to the limit. He looked at Vale instead.

"One," the coach confirmed.

It was a small surrender, accepting that his report created a decision other people were entitled to make. Rowan climbed over the boards when the line was called and did not bargain for more.

The puck entered Northstar's end before he could make the shift clean.

With six minutes left, Rowan's line took a defensive-zone draw. Rowan won it toward Nolan. The puck rimmed along the boards but slowed in damaged ice near the kickplate.

Rowan reached it with the opposing center on his back.

He planted his right skate, lowered his shoulder, and tried to turn the contact into the wall. The play was ordinary. Legal weight through his upper body. A puck trapped beneath two sticks.

Then his blade caught.

His trunk rotated left. His right foot stayed fixed while the leg was forced outward and behind him.

Something pulled apart high inside his thigh.

Pain erased the arena.

Rowan's knee hit the ice. His glove released the stick. For one impossible second he could not draw breath, though nothing had touched his chest.

The puck moved away. Play continued because players went down along the boards every shift.

Rowan tried to stand.

His right leg refused the push.

He dropped again.

The official's whistle cut through the noise.

Finn reached him first. "Where?"

"Groin. Right."