Page 159 of Slew Foot
“He’s out of the lineup tonight.” Hoyt looked around the room. “But I don’t want you to let yourselves get cocky. Because he’s not the only talented player on that roster. If we allow odd man rushes, if we let them get breakaways, if we let them goad us into taking stupid penalties, theywilloutscore us, no matter how well Webby plays.”
He glanced over at their netminder, who nodded, his jaw flexed.
Jesse was so boisterous, so happy and easygoing it always amazed Mickey how focused he got when he was competing. How serious and intent.
Coach Hoyt looked at Rafe and Mickey. “The two of you are critical tonight. I need you to smother their offense, shut themdown. I need you to make them feel like they can’t gain an inch of ground around our net.”
Mickey nodded tightly.
“Got it, Coach,” Rafe said.
Hoyt looked around. “I know we’ve been dealing with illness and injury and had a streak of tough luck lately. But I also know we’ve come together in a way that makes me proud. Thisteammakes me proud. You’re fighters.” He grinned at Crawford. “And I’m not talking about with fists. I’m talking about your spirit. Yourtenacity. The energy you’ve been playing with lately. That’s what I want to see out there tonight, you hear me?”
The guys surged to their feet and Mickey was swept out of the room and onto the ice on a wave of excitement.
Win or lose, the Harriers were going to give it their all tonight.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Despite Coach Hoyt’s words, New York got a breakaway early in the first period.
Rafe watched from the bench, holding his breath, but when Jesse swallowed the puck up, trapping it in his glove, Rafe let out a sigh of relief.
Mickey did too and Rafe glanced over to smile at him.
It was so good to have Mickey back where he belonged. Rafe nudged his thigh and, for a moment, he felt Mickey lean in.
But there was too much at stake here so they turned their attention to the game again. The play went up and down the ice for a while, with both goalies fending off some good chances, the tension rising in the building with every missed opportunity.
Slowly, Boston started to apply more pressure, forcing New York into their defensive zone. With two minutes left in the first period, Connor got a beautiful shot off, but New York’s goalie quickly snapped it up.
The score was still 0-0 as they left the ice after the first period, but they’d played well and Rafe was sure if they kept it up, they’d get one in.
Fueled and hydrated after the first intermission, Rafe grinned as he swept around the Harrier’s net on his first shift out, slamming one of New York’s forwards into the boards and stealing the puck from him. He shot the disc blindly to Mickey, who got it over to Graham.
Graham tore up the ice and sniped in a shot that snuck by the Rockets goalie into the back of the net, lighting up the lamp.
A few moments later, Rafe and Mickey collided with Graham, hollering out their appreciation as they swept him up into a hug.
“It’s about time!” Rafe said. “That was a beauty too!”
Smiling widely, Graham hugged them back. “Couldn’t have done it without you guys!”
New York had a good chance a few minutes later but Jesse swallowed the puck up, tossing it to a ref with a wink.
Unfortunately, the Rockets did sneak one in a few minutes later, tying the game up.
“We’ve still got this, guys!” Coach Hoyt shouted over the noise of the crowd hollering their appreciation. “Keep it up, keep it up.”
And Boston did.
Tanner stripped the puck from a New York player, firing it to Connor, who got a shot in moments later from the slot that lit up the lamp again.
Anker Henricksen got another goal less than a minute later and Boston left the ice at the end of the second period up 3-1.
The mood in the locker room was energetic. Not cocky or celebratory—not yet, not when there was still a period of regulation left—but it was loose and relaxed. Guys milled around, chirping one another and laughing, and Mickey shot Rafe a grin when he caught Rafe eyeing him.
“Hey, none of that,” Mickey teased around his protein bar. “Not until later.”
