Goal.
The crowd explodes.
Russo smacks my helmet as we skate past.
“Nice finish.”
But I glance back toward Shaw - that play belonged to him.
Later in the period Russo feeds Shaw along the boards again.
This time Shaw sees the opening himself.
He cuts inside and snaps a quick low shot.
It slides under the goalie’s pad.
The whole rink seems to freeze.
Then the buzzer sounds.
Another goal.
Now the noise is even louder.
Two goals from our line.
The Eagles start to adjust after that.
It happens gradually.
They stop chasing the puck and start chasing Shaw.
They’ve seen it too now.
His timing and the playmaking.
So, they start checking him.
First, it’s just pressure along the boards.
Then full body checks.
Every shift someone leans into him, trying to knock him off balance before he can make the pass.
We can all see the difference - he’s smaller and lighter than an average player.
And eventually someone figures out exactly how to exploit that. It’s not exactly rocket science.
Late in the second period the puck swings toward the boards near our bench.
Shaw reaches it first.
But one of the Eagles defencemen is already coming.
Fast.
Too fast.
