Page 106 of Pucked and Pregnant

The ref blows the whistle, indicating that the game is about to start. I take my position and breathe in deep.

It’s go time.

Connor immediately gets control of the puck and we’re off. I’ve never experienced our team moving in such harmony before. We get an early lead with a surprise shot, shock on the faces of the other team.

“Early dominance shows a promising tempo being set by the Blades,” Liv’s new cohost says eagerly.

“Indeed,” she agrees. “The Iceman is known for his moves during the initial face-off and he’s definitely brought his A-game today.”

We manage to hold off our opponent for a bit, but soon they get a sloppy shot around our goalie. We should have been better about blocking such a basic play. During our first intermission, I chastise the team for allowing that to happen.

“We can’t afford to be sloppy tonight,” I tell them. “We can’t miss obvious plays like that last one. Our defense is better than that.”

“You’re right,” Aiden agrees. “Let’s go give ‘em hell. We can do better than that.”

Coach then goes over which plays to focus on, gives us a stern pep talk, and then we hit the ice again.

I barely hear the cheering of the crowd or my sister’s coverage of the game. My focus is honed entirely on the space where the puck is, and the people who are in control of it.

We war back and forth throughout the next period, neither team scoring. I can hear the fans starting chants in the stands. It’s louder than ever as both sets of fans shout at their team to do them proud.

I swipe at a trickle of sweat running down my cheek as we all hop off the ice for the next intermission.

“This stalemate is working to hold them at bay,” Coach says, “but it won’t win us the game. We need to start putting in some work. Let’s talk about some plays we need to run during this period.” I watch as Coach lays out a plan on the whiteboard. I think he’s on the right track.

As we hop back onto the ice, I move over to the two men I’m supposed to cover. I draw in a deep breath. Their night is about to become a lot less fun.

I take a nasty shoulder check right away and get slammed into the boards. The crowd gasps. I shake off the ringing in my ears then skate furiously after the man I was supposed to be covering.

“Connor!” I shout to my friend as I cut off the guy who slammed me into the boards. I sling the puck his way, and Connor neatly gets control over it, sending it flying to Dimitri. We pass it back and forth a few times before getting a shot lined up. Dimitri hesitates for just a moment, then sends the puck flying into the net.

The crowd goes wild. I have one second to feel elated before a hard check to my back sends me sprawling onto the ice. I flip over and glare at the guy, the same one who checked me earlier.

“Hey, fuck you, buddy!” I shout at him, scrambling up and heading his way.

“No, man, not this deep into the game,” Dimitri says, grabbing me by the shoulders and dragging me away. “We don’t need you wasting energy on that shit right now. We need you to be able to keep up with the action. Help us win the game.”

I grumble but allow him to drag me away. He’s right, this is the last period, and we need to keep the other team from scoring.

Connor has control of the puck again and he’s practically teleporting around the ice, dodging players left and right. He shoots the puck at the net, but the other team’s goalie bats it away easily.

Another of our players recovers the puck and tries again but is denied. As Connor gets back to the puck, I see the player who slammed me to the ground skating rapidly toward him.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” I growl out, skating as fast as I can toward my friend and the guy who is out to take him down. I manage to get in the way of his assault on Connor at the last moment, but he crashes me into the boards. I tumble along the hard surface, bashing my face against the ice as I fall.

Blood instantly starts pouring from my nose and I see stars. I slither along the boards clumsily, trying to get my footing, blinking hard as I try to see what’s going on around me. I hear the whistle blow as I try and clamber to my feet again, noticing that we’re down to the last minute of the game.

After the medic stuffs some cotton in my nose to force the blood to clot, play begins again.

“Connor, bring it back down to score!” I shout as I skate past him.

I watch Connor pivot and guide the puck back toward the goalie.

No one notices as I come up behind the players. “Connor!” I call out as I get close to the net.

Connor glances toward me, and I wink at him. We’ve done this little trick many a time to goalies and it always works. I drop my stick like I’m ready to take the puck from him, and the goalie’s attention swings over to me.

The grin on Connor’s face is huge as he winds up, then slaps the puck into the net.

---