Chaunette and I headed to our seats which were a few rows up from the glass. They were right behind Crawford's net so we were on their side for warmups.
The boys rushed out onto the ice for warmups, the horn blaring loudly. I watched them skate around in amazement; I had been to a few games with Chaunette before but I still always get mesmerized.
I was broken out of my trance by a puck hitting the glass right in front of us. I jumped and looked at Chaun, who was playfully glaring at Andrew. He blew her a kiss and skated off. I laughed at them; they were too cute.
I turned my attention back to the ice where I saw Artemi stick handling in a corner. He must have felt my eyes on him because he glanced up and made eye contact with me. I grinned and waved to him. He smiled and winked back at me.
Warmups passed quickly. I watched Artemi sprint off the ice, leaving Patrick Kane alone on the ice for a few moments before disappearing into the locker room as well.
The game began, and already I could tell these two teams hated each other. "The Wild is from Minnesota, right?" I asked Chaunette halfway through the first.
"Yup. One of our biggest rivals, if not the biggest. Only St. Louis might top this one," she responded, not taking her eyes off the game. By the end of the first, it was 1-0 Chicago. Brent Seabrook had the lone goal.
The game went on, and things only heated up even more. There hadn't been a fight yet but I could tell one was coming. Finally in the beginning of the third period, Charlie Coyle had a nasty hit on Artem Anisimov.
Artemi immediately rushed over to Coyle and put him in a headlock. They slammed each other against the boards and other players got involved in the scrum as well. The refs finally separated them and several went off to the penalty box, Panarin being one of them.
I couldn't see that well from my seat near the goal, but on the jumbotron they showed Artemi and Duncan Keith, who had both gotten minors for roughing. His nose was bleeding and he had a scratch on his cheek. I knew he was fine but it still worried me a bit.
Towards the end of the third, the Blackhawks were winning 2-1. Minnesota pulled their goalie in the last minute and a half. Somehow, Artemi got the puck on the wing and shot it down the ice into the empty net. We ended up winning 3-1.
"That was intense," I said as Chaunette and I walked down to the locker rooms.
She nodded along. "There are certain teams that just get the boys really riled up."
We waited in the lounge for the players to come out. Andrew walked out, talking to Jonathan Toews. Chaunette walked over to join in their conversation, leaving me alone. I looked at my phone and responded to a few messages while waiting for Artemi to show up.
Two hands covered my eyes from behind. "Guess who?" They said in an accent that was clearly Russian.
"Sidney Crosby?" I joked. I turned around and my eyes met Artemi's. "Just kidding. Great game, you scored a goal for me!"
"Of course, I very good at score." His English was a little worse than usual, probably because he was tired.
It was then that I actually looked away from his eyes and at his whole face. "Oh my God, are you okay? I can't believe you got in a fight!"
He chuckled. "Fine. Just my nose." The scratch on his cheek didn't look as bad. His nose, however, was swollen and red.
"Well I'm glad you're okay."
The words were barely out of my mouth when Artemi leaned in and pushed his lips against mine. I was shocked at first but began kissing him back. He pulled away and gave me a small smile. He ran a hand through his messy curls and said, "Sorry."
I responded by leaning up and pecking his lips again. "It's okay," I responded with a grin plastered on my face.
"Claire! We're leaving because Andrew's being a bully," Chaunette walked over, causing Artemi and I to look away from each other and over to her.
Andrew followed her over. "No I'm not! All I'm saying is that you should say hi to me first since you like me better."
Chaunette rolled her eyes. "Okay Andrew." She looked over to me. "Ready?"
I nodded and said goodbye to the two hockey players standing in front of us before Chaun and I left the United Center.
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i meant to post this like three days ago but i kept falling asleep while writing it oops
