“We’ll get it back,” Evan says, coming to me, and I just nod. I watch the face-off again, and this time, when they lose it and come back, they shoot, and I make a glove save. When the first period ends, the shots on net are eighteen to four. I put my stick next to everyone else’s and have my skates sharpened.

“We need more shots in the fucking net!” the coach screams when he comes in. “We need to go out there and play our fucking game. We need to stop doing turnovers in the neutral zone, and for the love of fuck, can we stop giving them opportunities to shoot on Mark,” he says and then storms out. I look down at the floor, not saying anything, and then I look up at Evan.

“I can’t do it all on my own,” I start, talking low. “I need you guys to put a couple of pucks in the net.”

“Let’s go out there, boys, and show them that they can’t come into our house and sit at our table,” Evan says, standing up. “Time to show them who we are,” he says, and everyone gets up and gets ready. We start the second period on fire, and with one minute to go in the second period, Evan ties up the game in a tap in redirect. Just like that, the game is tied, and then right off the face-off, we hustle into the zone, and they pass it from one to the other. Viktor takes a shot, and Evan picks up the rebound, making it two to one.