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I watch Rez circle back toward the bench, his expression already focused on the next shift. The celebration is brief. The game continues.

New Jersey answers three minutes later.

Their forward intercepts a pass intended for Cruz and accelerates through the neutral zone before Chicago's defense can reset. The Riptides capitalize quickly, exploiting the confusion and putting pressure on Chicago's goalie. The puck goes in.

The crowd roars, and I feel the momentum tilt. Chicago regroups at the bench, their energy shifting from confident to focused. They have to earn this now.

Lucy tugs my sleeve when Rez skates near our section. "UNCLE FANCY!"

He glances up during a stoppage, his eyes finding her immediately. He taps his stick against the glass, and Lucy practically vibrates with excitement.

"He heard me!"

"He did," I tell her, even though it’s impossible.

Aleks shakes his head. "You realize she's going to expect this every game now."

"Good," Lucy says. "He likes it when I'm here."

"You're abandoning the Bears."

"I can like more than one team."

"That's called being disloyal."

"That's called being smart." Lucy looks at him seriously. "Uncle Fancy is my favorite person on the Phoenixes.”

Hildy laughs, and I pull Lucy closer and kiss her head.

During the next stoppage, Rez's eyes move through the crowd. When he finds me, I smile.

The moment lasts only a breath, but it settles something inside me. He knows I'm here. I'm not waiting in another time zone or watching from a screen.

Tonight, the distance is gone, but the conversation waiting after the final buzzer? That distance remains.

The third period turns into a battle.

Chicago refuses to let the game slip away quietly. Rez drives the attack with relentless intensity, pushing harder with every shift. Gabe anchors the defense, intercepting passes and breaking up New Jersey's attempts to extend their lead. Hayes organizes the forwards, calling adjustments and directing traffic while the clock winds down.

I'm on my feet with the Brooklyn crew, caught up in the urgency of it. Lucy grips my hand so tightly I wonder if she realizes she's doing it.

"Come on, Uncle Fancy," she whispers.

Chicago creates chances. Lincoln fires a shot that rings off the post. Jax battles for position in front of the net, screens the goalie, and nearly redirects a pass from Cruz. Rez cuts across the slot with the puck, draws two defenders, and dishes it back to Gabe, whose shot gets swallowed by the goalie's glove.

New Jersey holds.

Their defense collapses around the net, blocking lanes and absorbing punishment. Their goalie tracks every shot, calm and focused, refusing to give Chicago anything easy.

Rez takes a shot from the circle. The goalie kicks it away. Rez retrieves the rebound, fires again, and the defenseman blocks it with his shin pads.

I see the frustration flash across his face before he turns back toward the play. His shoulders tighten, and his next stride carries more force than the one before.

I want to reach through the glass and remind him that one game doesn't erase everything he's done this season, but I know he'd hate the consolation before he's had time to process the loss himself.

Chicago makes one final push. Rez, Hayes, and Jax converge on the net, creating chaos in front of the crease. The puck bounces loose, and Rez lunges for it.

A New Jersey defenseman gets there first.