Power Play - Brittney Mulliner Page 0,15

no longer on me and my faceful of cheap wine. Nikolai already flew back in Salt Lake the day before us to get treated by our team physicians and trainers. Amelia went with him, and knowing she was there and that Madi Schultz would likely be involved in his treatment was all that kept most of us calm. They would make sure he healed properly and could return to the ice. Next season.

He was a huge loss. As one of the biggest guys on the team, we relied on him to keep fights from happening. The Russian was intimidating when he was calm. He was a beast when someone messed with his teammate on the ice.

That left the guys he covered more vulnerable, and with the dirty way the Storm played their game, that wasn’t good for our team. We couldn’t risk more injuries, but we only had a day to reconfigure our lines and come up with a plan. Coach Rust and Romney huddled together on the flight home. They ignored everyone else and focused on the tablet between them. They would have things figured out in time. They always did.

“How are you feeling?” Reese fell into the seat next to me in the row of black and red chairs. We were waiting for the coaches to come in and let us know what they decided.

“I’m fine.” I’d watched Reese go to each one of our teammates, checking in with the left side of the room while Hartman covered the right. I was one of the few without any injuries. I was a little stiff and getting out of bed this morning hadn’t been all that fun, but compared to the others I was great.

“Good. Keep a clear head and we’ll be fine tomorrow night.” He slapped my shoulder and stood to talk to Noah.

Most of us were beat up and sore, but that was to be expected. We were all tired from the long season, but we were within reach of the cup. None of us were going to give up easily.

Rust walked in, followed by Romney and Madi.

“Thanks for coming in early. I know you’re all anxious for an update on Nikolai, so we’ll go through that before heading out to the ice.” Rust nodded to Madi, and she stepped forward.

“Hey, guys.” She gave them a sad smile. “Nikolai wanted to express his gratitude for your support and well wishes. You all know he’s a private person, so he asked for no visitors right now. He wants to focus on his recovery.”

There were a few chuckles and nods of agreement. The announcement didn’t surprise me at all. I couldn’t picture Nikolai lying on his couch while we crowded around to check on him. He’d pick us up and throw us out on his own.

“The tibia in his right leg broke, and he underwent surgery to have a rod implanted. He’s looking at about three to six months before he can skate again. Amelia and I have already started his physical therapy, and he’s determined to get back to playing as soon as possible.”

“So, two months,” Grant called.

She smiled. “Knowing Nikolai, that's his goal.”

“Thanks for coming in, Madi. We’ll give regular updates on his progress,” Rust said, and Madi gave a small wave before walking out.

“We’ve changed some lines and plays, so we’ll be running those today,” Romney began. “Game one didn’t go as we expected, but we were all planning on a clean game. Now that we know how the Storm is going to play, we can make adjustments.”

He went through the new plans and then we headed through the tunnels to the ice. We were all quieter than usual. It wasn’t necessarily a somber feeling among the team, but determined. No one felt like joking when we had so much riding on game two. We couldn’t get too comfortable this early in the series, it was too easy for things to change.

I was dripping sweat and had just enough energy left to get to the showers when practice ended. As a team, we pushed ourselves to our breaking point. There was nothing left to give, and right then that was exactly what we needed to do. It proved how much we could do, even in our exhausted, weakened state. Coach had us run drills and practice the new plays until they flowed naturally.

The locker room was within view when Chloe, Lucy, and Madi blocked my path.

“Dumoulin,” Chloe said calmly.

“Yes?” I eyed Lucy, but her expression gave