The Road to the Cup ~ Wattys 2015

Let's Do This

Erin's Point of View

I don't know what happened. I honestly have no idea what changed. I tried everything that I thought of from being mean to overly nice and showering the guys with praise, and none of it worked. But somewhere up in Hockey Heaven, the Hockey Gods must have heard my prayers and worked a little magic in my favor because the team bounced back. We went from being down three to zero in the series to being tied and that was a beautiful thing.

"For a little while there y'all had me scared," I told Geno and Sid as we left the Capitals's arena after game six.

"Which part?" Geno asked.

"Was it when Ovechkin stole the puck in the first, or when it looked like we were going to fight right before the second intermission?" Sidney suggested.

"Those were scary, too, but I meant the time when we were down three to zero in the series. I was afraid that we were done, but I shouldn't have doubted you guys like that. I'm sorry," I said.

"You no doubt us, you had faith in us. Sid tell us you say so, right, Sid?" Geno nudged the captain.

"Yep, mhm," Sid nodded vigorously.

"Tell her what else you say, Sid," Geno was grinning proudly, like a kid who'd just scored his first goal.

"Oh, well, you know, I just told them that we weren't done yet, and that we had to keep going," he chuckled kind of nervously.

"N- oof!" Geno was cut off by what sounded like a sharp elbow to the ribs.

"Shut up, G," Sidney hissed.

I looked back at them suspiciously. Sidney grinned and Geno rubbed his ribcage and glared at the Canadian. My gaze flicked between them again, "You did something, didn't you?"

"He elbow me," Geno said.

"I meant before tonight, before the fourth game. You said something to them that motivated them. You're the reason that everything 'worked itself out'," I said to Sid as soon as the thought dawned on me. He raised his eyebrows, feigning curiosity, and smiled innocently. "You're the bit of magic the Hockey Gods sent to save the day," I continued.

"Ugh, now you just make his ego bigger," Geno rolled his eyes. I smiled then, pleased to have an explanation for the players' improvements.

"Thanks a lot, G," Sidney didn't bother trying to hide his sarcasm, "I was trying to keep it a secret."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, I didn't know if it would work."

"It did."

"So far," Sidney frowned and seemed to be thinking about what would happen at the next game.

"Hey, Captain, you did a great job. Don't worry about what's to come, let's focus on right now. We've got a few shots with our names on 'em," I took his hand and he and Geno followed me to the bar.

The morning skate the on day of our next game was back on home ice. The boys were fired up and ready to go, but I was anxious. We were positioned on the razor sharp tip of a knife blade; if we kept our balance, we'd live to fight another day and move on the next series, of we fell, the season was over. I much preferred the safe cushion we had last time when we swept the Islanders, but this series with the Capitals had proven to me that leads could easily be rendered meaningless.

Crosby and Malkin and the rest of the boys warmed up with a little soccer before hitting the ice. It wasn't six o'clock yet, so we had more than an hour until puck drop and I was incredibly nervous. I was pacing in my office when Johnston came in.