Page 57 of Sweet as Puck

The puck drop for the second period was almost the exact opposite to the first. Gauthier lost the scramble, and the Kings’ centre passed back to their defender. Their passes were lightning fast, and we raced to keep up. Cohen and Agosta were pushing hard, but they were struggling against the Kings’ starting line.

Rune took a puck to the pads within the first few seconds of the period. Coach had been right—the Kings were stepping up their attacks.

They were relentless.

But we wanted the W.

They scored twice, evening the score before we even had a look in.

Fuck that. They weren’t winning this.

Gauthier slipped past the Kings’ centre, stealing the puck from his tape.

He powered forward on a breakaway.

Flying past the blue line, he slapped a shot on goal.

His fingers stretched to their limit, the Kings’ goalie deflected it.

The puck ricochetted off the net and smashed against the boards.

Hewitt did a wraparound, shooting through the narrow gap behind the net like a bullet. He intercepted the puck.

Hewitt passed, aiming his shot straight at me.

I spun, avoiding the Kings’ defencemen.

I intercepted the puck, but my angle was off. But I wasn’t going to waste the first touch. I lifted my leg.

I fired hard.

The puck shot between my skates.

Straight at the net.

It wasn’t an elegant shot, more an attempt to keep it away from the Kings’ defence than anything else.

Their goalie dropped to his knees, using his leg to block it.

The puck bounced off his pad and teetered up and over it.

He reached for it.

Fumbled it.

He missed.

The lamp lit up.

The siren blasted through the arena, shaking the stands.

My breath hitched, and I choked out a disbelieving laugh. How the hell had I pulled that off?

Elation filled me. We’d done it. We were in the lead again. Gauthier and Hewitt wrapped me in a bear hug, their crooked mouthguard-filled grins matching my own.

We were subbed off and on, the game clock ticking down. Both teams scored tit for tat—every time the Kings evened the points, we put another one in the net, holding the narrow lead throughout the second.

With less than a minute left in the second period, the Kings had the puck. Agosta was closest, making a move on their centre. Our man shouldered him, pushing him off his line and straight into the boards.