Love For A Game

Chapter 24

I step out onto the ice, and a feeling of relief washes over me. I feel as if this particular game is going to go well. Then again, if it doesn't, then our season is over.

The referee raises his arm, and signals that he is ready for the game to start. The starting five for us is myself, Luke, Charlie, Nathan, and Josh. Noel is in net.

The ten players line up in their positions, and the puck drops. I win the draw and slip it back to Josh. Josh passes to Luke, who speeds up the left wing. He moves past the blue line, and let's a long shot go. Nick Jenkins makes the stop, and Colbert takes possession.

The defenceman passes to Darren, who powers his way up the ice. He passes our blue line, and he drops it back to his winger. The kid shoots it, but it goes wide. Darren grabs the rebound, and attempts to stuff the puck past Noel. Noel keeps close to the post, and the puck is frozen. I skate to the bench, and Nicole jumps on.

Play resumes in our end. Darren shoots, and Noel makes a blocker save. Nicole grabs it in the corner, and is immediately hit by Darren against the boards. She goes down, and the referee blows his whistle. The first penalty of the game, and it goes to Darren. I jump onto the ice.

The puck drops to start our power play. I am on the ice with Sam, Luke, Charlie, and Nicole. Sam wins the draw, and the puck goes back to me. I pass to Nicole. Nicole passes to Luke. Luke waits, and passes again, to Charlie. Charlie shoots, and misses the net.

A Colbert defender attempts to clear it, but Nicole keeps it in. She stops the puck, and waits. I establish eye contact with her, and nod. She passes to me, and I smash the puck towards the net. It goes at breakneck speed, but I hear a massive ding!, and I know the puck has hit the post. The Colbert defender takes the puck and slaps it down the ice.

***

The rest of the game is a deadlock game. Both teams match each other move for move, with constant end to end action, and very few stoppages. However, no one can score.

Now there is 2:11 left in the third period. The shots are 32-30 for us. The score still remains at 0-0. I jump out on the ice, joining Luke, Charlie, Ryan, and Nicole.

It doesn't take me long to get into the flow of the game. I receive a pass from Ryan, and skate into Colbert's zone. I drop it back to Ryan, who passes to Nicole. She shoots, but misses the net. A defender takes the puck and passes to Darren.

Darren moves the puck up the ice, dumping it into our zone once over the red line. Nicole grabs it in the corner, and is met by Darren. Darren gets into a physical battle with her. He has been doing this all night. Trying to get under her skin.

Nic is no natch for Darren, who easily pushes her away. He grabs the puck, and passes in front. The recipient is Ryan, who intercepts the pass beautifully. Ryan passes up to Luke, who speeds up the ice. There are fifty-nine seconds left on the clock.

We do not want overtime. We are dog-tired already, and an extra period will physically drain us, to the point where we may not function for game five. This is crunch time for us, and we need to be energized.

Luke shoots it wide of the net. I get the rebound in the corner. Darren pins me against the boards, but I kick the puck to Luke. He grabs it and passes back to Nicole. She passes to Ryan, who waits. Ryan passes back to Nicole. She looks at me. I look to the net, then nod in her direction. She winds up a slap shot, and smashes it.

The puck sails low to the ice towards the net. It goes past both defenceman, and towards Nick. Nick goes down to stop it, but it goes between his legs. He reaches back to grab it, but it isn't there. The puck is in the net. With eight seconds left, Nicole has done it. She has scored.

We mob her, all of us patting her back. We carry on until the referee comes over to remind us that there are still eight seconds left to play.

We line up for the final draw. The puck drops and I win it back to Ryan. He holds the puck in our zone as time dwindles down. The buzzer sounds and the rest of the Raiders pile onto the ice. We celebrate for a few minutes, before we go back to the dressing room.

We have won game four. However, we still have to win three more without losing one. This is going to be a long series.

_____

The song on the side is "Twilight Zone", by Golden Earring.