Chapter 7

Mark had taken several sips of water, his pulse elevated by the intensity of the play on the ice below him.

“The face-off is in the Chiefs’ end to the right of Tokarski. There are thirty seconds remaining in Subban’s penalty and a minute and fifteen remaining in the third period. The Falcons are that much time away from winning their first CHL championship. Can they hold off the constant onslaught from the Chiefs?”

“Mark, this must be the longest two minutes of P.K. Subban’s hockey career! I’ve been watching him in the penalty box, and he’s too worried and excited to sit down. Instead, he’s standing by the glass, cheering on his teammates to kill off the penalty. If they manage to kill off the remaining time in the penalty, Spokane will still have a six-on-five advantage for seventy-five seconds.”

“And Mark, you were right. We’re being treated to such a climatic finish to this game!”

“Both teams have gone back to their top power play and penalty kill lines. The linesman drops the puck, and the game resumes.”

“Cross wins the draw, sending it back to Mueller. Mueller backs out over the blueline as Bowman attempts to check him. He passes to Grobenov, who retreats further to the center red line. As Bruton tries to check him, he sends the puck back into the Chiefs end, killing off more vital seconds.”

“The Chiefs regroup behind their net. Cowman now leads the attack, passing it to Bowman. Bowman brushes aside a check by Lindquist and crosses their blueline to center ice. Cross bothers him just enough to make Bowman send the puck into the Falcons end. Wahl and Koper give chase after Mueller and Grobenov as Jason Bennett leaves his crease to stop the puck from going behind the net.”

“Bennett quickly wrists the puck high off the glass to clear the zone to the applause of the Falcons’ fans. The Chiefs have to retreat with Cowan chasing after the puck. The puck seems to have eyes sliding closer to the net. Cowan is able to reach it in the high slot before it can be a threat to enter the empty net.”

“Cowan circles and passes to Bruton at the blueline. He fights off a check from Lindquist to pass the puck to Bowman. Bowman has space as he crosses the Falcons line. He pulls up as the rest of the power play sets up position. He moves side to side, feathering the puck forehand and backhand, looking for an open player!”

“He fires a hard pass across the circles to Wahl. Wahl almost scores, letting go a one-timer that deflects off the base of the post! Bruton gathers the rebound and sends it back to Spurgeon. He fires, and it deflects off a body in front. Mueller gets to the loose puck, sending it off the boards. Spurgeon leaps up to snag the puck and drops it for a quick shot. Bennett sees this one and stops it. This time Mueller sends the puck up high and down the ice!”

“Last minute of play in the third period!” Was announced. Mark and Jim find themselves standing as the frantic pace counts down.

“Glass, Blackwater, and Roman are now on for Spokane!”