Prompt 2

In our (nearly) season ending game against NOLA, it doesn't matter if anything is on the line. Sure, this season it can have an impact on playoff seeding, but both teams are in regardless and pride matters more than home ice.

Marton is known as a leader in hits and assists, with a lot of his offensive play happening below the goal line. This game is no different as he gets scrappy in the corners, but one specific play stands out. After a pretty typical dump into the zone, one NOLA player drifts back to collect the puck.

But he's facing sort of towards his own net and doesn't see Diehm gaining speed down the board. The NOLA defender coming around behind the net sees the train coming though. At first he shouts, getting the man on the puck to at least look over his shoulder. Knowing he won't get out of the way in time, he braces for the hit. The Dman tries to build up his own steam, to give Diehm a taste of his own medicine.

But Marton gets his legs pumping and his shoulders turned so he hits the puckholder so hard that he gets knocked into his own teammate coming the other direction. And the hut has so much force that both NOLA players go down in a heap in the trapezoid. Diehm stabilizes himself against the glass, not taking too long to admire his handiwork as he realizes the puck is just loose at his feet. His own stick is off the ice, from turning to deliver the hit, so he turns his foot sideways and soccer passss the puck to the inside of the circle, beyond the goalie's reach and right into the wheelhouse of Chris Valentine making the zone entry in Diehm's wake.