Game Two

Heading into game two of the series, Aaron knew that he'd be facing a barrage of shots once again. He knew that he was lucky to have gotten a shutout, as there were several frantic moments in front of him where he was sure that the puck would have gone past him; though he knew that as a goalie, luck was your biggest friend, and he should be very thankful for that. The better question was, would luck stay with him for game two?

Right away, Aaron was tested. Each shot he faced was from different angles and different skaters-they never stopped testing him. Finally, they cracked him. One of his defencemen was caught pinching too far up, which resulted in a two on one situtation. While the other defenceman tried to slide in front of the pass, it was to no avail and the opposing forward rifled the shot over Aaron's glove for a goal. He was disappointed, but he quietly turned around, pulled up his mask, and took a sip of water from his water bottle; from experience, he'd learned to not let a goal get to his head, much less a hard play to stop.

Fortunately for him, his teammates were doing their part in the other end of the rink. Eventually they scored the equalizer, and Aaron breathed a sigh of relief in his mask.

As the time ticked down, the score remained tied and Aaron was making save after save. When the buzzer sounded, it was time to go into overtime, where there was no limit on how long it'd take for a winner, and it was open for somebody to be a hero. Who wanted it more?

As sweat poured down his face, Aaron was ready for it. Overtime was his favorite part of being a goalie, as you were the person who had the fate of your team in your hands. The first shot he faced, though, gave him a little alarm, as it would have went in had it not have gone wide; in his head, he was thinking "oh shit, that was too close". Later on though, he would have another test, one that would be potentially decisive. Somehow, there was a 3 on 2 barreling down on him. He faced another odd man situation, and he was feeling it. One of the forwards skated towards him to try and get a screen, while the other two were setting up. His defencemen were covering the two skaters, when all of a sudden, the forward with the puck let a shot go. Aaron put himself in position, when the puck hit the stick of the forward standing in front of him. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as the puck flew through the air. "Oh god, where's the puck. Where is it?" he was thinking. The crowd became deathly quiet as they awaited the results of the shot.

"And the puck.....IS SAVED BY CARTHAGE!!! OH WHAT A GLOVE SAVE BY THE GOALIE, AARON CARTHAGE! HOW DID HE SEE THAT?!?!"

Through the mask, Aaron smiled.

About two minutes later, his teammate, one the leading playoff scorers, scooped up a loose puck, dangled two defenders, to get a breakaway on the other goalie. Like Aaron, the goalie had been having a monster game. However, the similarities of making the saves ended when his teammate shot the puck five hole to end the game. Two-nothing in the series, two more games to go.