Page 68 of Rookie Rules

At the start of the second, he simplified because he was angry enough to stop performing. He chipped the puck behind the defense instead of trying to beat the line clean. He finished the route to the net. On the next shift he stayed above the puck when Rowan got trapped low.

The reward did not come immediately.

That was another thing the game refused to promise.

Northstar tied it halfway through the period. Jace won a puck along the wall and sent it high to Eli. The defenseman's shot came through three bodies. Jace reached the front in time to change its direction, and the puck dropped under the goalie's glove.

2-2.

The bench rose as one. Jace skated past, pointing at Eli. "Exactly how we planned it."

"You closed your eyes," Eli said.

"Instinct."

Luca laughed. Rowan did too, a brief sound nearly lost under the crowd.

Their next shift was the best of the period. Finn retrieved twice. Rowan controlled the middle. Luca delayed below the circle and found Nolan arriving from the point. The shot missed wide, but the line kept the opponent pinned for forty seconds.

When Luca returned to the bench, Rowan tapped the top of his stick against Luca's shin pad.

"That delay," he said. "Keep it."

The approval was professional. Safe.

Luca felt it beneath his ribs anyway.

Late in the period, the Wolves changed badly. One defenseman went when the puck had not cleared the red line. The replacement hesitated. A forward slipped behind both and scored before Gabriel could close the angle.

3-2.

Nolan struck the boards once with his stick, then leaned over the seated defensemen and spoke quietly. No public blame. No wasted fury. On the far end of the bench, Rowan was already asking Vale which line would take the next defensive-zone draw.

Luca watched the team absorb the mistake without splitting around it.

Rebuild did not mean clean. It meant learning which errors became habits and which became information.

The second intermission smelled of wet gear, sharpened steel, and the citrus drink someone had spilled near the training table. No one needed a speech now. The score had simplified the job.

Rowan sat beside Luca while Finn retaped his stick.

"Their right defenseman turns his feet early when you carry wide," Rowan said. "He is giving you the outside because he expects the shot from the bad angle."

"I can beat it."

"Maybe."

Luca looked at him.

Rowan held the look. "If you pull inside, he will reach. I will be underneath."

"And if you're covered?"

"Then Finn has the far lane."

There was no order in it. Rowan offered the structure and trusted Luca to read the final choice.

Luca nodded once.