Bottle Rockets

NINETEEN - Third Time's A Charm

Tanger gave her time. He gave her all the time in the world. This happened to be a few weeks. He stayed far away from her, ate with Flower and only Flower, and avoided her whenever he could. Luckily, the pair learned to drown all the drama out during games. That was where Tanger was happiest.

In a game, Tyler treated him like she used to. She hugged him during their cellies and screamed triumph with him. But all of that disappeared when they left the ice.

Tonight was a big night. It was a nice that could mean a playoff clinch if they won and the pressure was boiling inside of Tyler. She sat on the bench, smashed between Geno and Hornqvist, and watched as Sid shoved Claude Giroux away from the puck, winning the faceoff.

Her first goal was a wrister. She waited beside the boards and scrutinized every move her teammates made until she saw the perfect opportunity. Tanger had the puck, stickhandling it patiently, and she screamed for him to pass to her.

She didn't bother winding up as the puck landed on her tape and she shot for the back of the net. The lamp behind the Flyers' goal screeched to life and took fans along with it. Sid, Tanger, Geno, and Pauly tackled her, scooping her up into their arms.

Her second goal was a deflection. Tanger handled the puck at the blue line and sent it soaring towards the goalie. She tensed up and angled her stick, allowing the puck to bounce right off of it and past the goalie's shoulders.

On the bench, Geno leaned over to her, one arm wrapped tight around her body. He stretched a fist across her chest and knocked it into Horny's arm.

"We get her third goal, yes?" He cried over the noise of the stadium.

Hornqvist glanced down at Tyler with a large grin and nodded, "Hell yeah!"

And then it became their line's mission. Every chance they could, Geno and Horny sauced the puck across the ice to Tyler, where she would then try to shoot. Tyler pictured the announcers in the box talking about it.

It looks like Malkin and Hornqvist are trying to get Devlin a hat trick.

But as Tyler tried to stop a breakaway from happening, she dove forward and tripped the guy, dragging a penalty onto herself.

So, she sat hunched in the sin bin, with her eyes watching the clock tick down of the third period. The Flyers and the Penguins were tied and here she was, stuck in this damn box, not doing anything to help.

She glanced over as she was signaled that her two minutes were almost up. She prepared to leap out of the box and almost screamed when she saw the opportunity she had. Three...A Flyer miscalculated a pass...Two...The pass slipped past the Flyer defense...One...Tanger scooped up the puck and screeched down the ice.

Tyler exploded out of the box and after Tanger, her speed picking up until it was two-on-one with her and Tanger.

"Tanger!" She yelled for him and tapped her stick against the ice, ordering him to pass her the puck.

He passed, she passed back, and then he passed again. She didn't hesitate as she whipped the puck through the goalie's five-hole and into the back of the net.

The goal horn blew and hats flew onto the ice around her. And then the horn to signal the period's end went off. Before she had a chance to realize what was happening, Tanger had tackled her to the ground, laughing.

A flock of Penguins hurtled over the boards and joined the pair onto the ice. But she only noticed Tanger. His face was mere inches from hers and he was laughing. The smile reached his eyes and she pressed her helmet against his.

"We did it, pipsqueak! We're going to the playoffs!" He caterwauled. "Third time's a charm, right!?"

Tyler screamed a celebratory "yeah!" and buried her face into Tanger's shoulder.