Ice Time by David Skuy Page B

to the corner. His defenceman retrieved it and headed around the net. Rocket drifted to the slot. That felt good. A clean win, late in the third, on a critical draw in their own end.
    The defenceman fired it up the wall.
    Rocket groaned. The puck clipped the linesman’s skate and stayed in. Goldsy and the Ravens’ right defenceman arrived at the puck at the same time. The defenceman tied Goldsy up, while his right winger dug the puck out. He turned and drifted backwards toward the blue line.
    “I got him,” Goldsy called out.
    Rocket stayed in the high slot, keeping a wary eye on the left defenceman in case he tried to sneak down low. The Ravens’ right winger held the puck until Goldsy got close, and then he flipped it to the right defenceman, who had stayed at the hash marks against the boards. The left defenceman took off, and Rocket turned and got a stick on him to slow him down. The defenceman stopped and went back to the point.
    Rocket felt good about that defensive play. The right defenceman gave the puck to the winger at the point, and Rocket drifted back to the high slot. He had a feeling the Ravens’ winger and defenceman were uncomfortable having switched positions. He bet they’d move the puck to the other side of the ice so they could switch back. Rocket snuck a quick look behind him. The Racers defence were doing a good job keeping the Ravens from setting up in front of the net. Rocket cheated a few steps toward the point and hoped the Ravens would make a mistake.
    The winger held the puck, his head up looking for an open man. He faked a pass to the right defenceman. Goldsy extended his stick to cut that off. The right defenceman backed up into the corner. The Racers’ left defenceman took a few steps in that direction also. Rocket waited. It was going to happen. He knew it. The winger was getting nervous about holding the puck so long. The winger took another quick look down the wall — and then he passed it across the blue line to the left defenceman.
    Rocket was on the left defenceman like a shot. The left defenceman didn’t even try to control it. Instead, he chipped it to the boards to Rocket’s right and retreated from the line. Rocket cut over to the right to snare the puck off the boards and headed up-ice, Goldsy with him on the left.
    A two-on-one on the penalty kill. Rocket tried to keep his emotions in check. They needed to make this count.
    “Rockwood, change!” Barker screamed.
    Rocket hesitated.
    “Change!”
    Rocket passed to Goldsy and headed to the bench. He heard a groan and turned in time to see the Ravens with the puck storming into the Racers’ zone. C.C. flew over the boards. Goldsy came back over next, and Rory took his spot.
    “Where’d you go?” Goldsy said to Rocket angrily. “I passed back to you.”
    “Barker called me off,” Rocket said.
    Goldsy’s expression changed. “Okay … But next time, tell me,” he said.
    Rocket made his way to the middle of the bench and sat next to Rogers. The Ravens had control of the puck to the goalie’s left at the half-boards.
    Barker grabbed Rocket by the inside edge of his shoulder pads. “You don’t abandon a guy on a two-on-one. Have you ever played before? You cost us a chance at a short-handed goal, and now look — the puck’s back in our end.”
    The Ravens got a shot on net from the point. The goalie kicked it to the corner with a pad save. Rory retrieved the puck, whirled, and lofted the puck over the defence and down the ice. Rocket closed his eyes and leaned his head back. At least they hadn’t scored.
    He felt a glove tap his leg.
    “He called you off,” Rogers said gruffly.
    “Umm, yeah. Maybe I should’ve stayed on …” Rocket managed.
    Rogers shrugged. “Maybe he shouldn’t have called you off.”
    “He’s a doorknob,” Downey said. “Who calls for a change on a two-on-one? So dumb.”
    Both of them looked away. Rocket didn’t follow up. He felt better. At least two of the guys had heard