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leafs-lover · 2 years

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#35 and #99 (I'm not sure if these are smut or fluff or what so have fun) for Freddie Andersen in Carolina

Thanks love!

Boyfriend!Freddie x reader, taken from this prompt list. I decided to go smutty with these, hope you don't mind 😉

By clicking ‘keep reading’ you are agreeing that you are eighteen and are game to read smutty themes. If you don’t agree to BOTH of these things, then keep on scrolling ;)

Watching the seconds tick down on the clock a smile tugged on your lips. Fred just got his six straight win, the longest streak in the Hurricanes franchise to start a season. Not only that, it was his first shutout with the team.

Two major accomplishments, and you are extremely proud of him. Proud that he is playing well, proud that he is starting off his time with a new team phenomenally, proud that every night he comes home wide-eyed and beaming.

It’s something you hadn’t seen since March, prior to his injury in Toronto. He had been playing really well, the entire team for that matter. The Leafs were the top of the north, a force to be reckoned with, and Fred was a large contributor to that.

Then he tweaked his knee.

And to make matters worse he played through the injury, like he had done so many times before. Except it never got better, and ultimately lead to him being sidelined for weeks and giving up the net to the new starter, Jack Campbell. He watched the team give up a 3-1 series lead to Montreal. Watched them fall apart, and once again be eliminated round one. Watched and did nothing.

Carolina was supposed to be a fresh start for him, a chance to redefine himself and get away from the intense scrutiny that comes with Toronto. And that’s exactly what it has been. You wish you could have been there to witness his shutout in person, but a presentation tomorrow meant you had to stay home and finish editing. But it also meant you get to wait for him and shower him with love, and that’s exactly what you did.

He was barely through the door before you were tugging him down the hall. Your clothes litter the floor, having barely made it to the bed. But here you are, wearing nothing but red underwear that are absolutely drenched in anticipation. Watching as your boyfriend kicks his dress pants off, leaving him in a pair of navy boxers growing tighter by the second.

He looms over you, kissing every inch of exposed skin. His hands roam over your body, following no particular path when you hear the sound of fabric slowly tearing. The fire in his eyes almost matches that of your discarded garment as he pulls the shredded cloth off you.

“Frederik,” you huff, trying to be stern in your words. “Those were a birthday present,” you add, even though they were a gift from him.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Hooking your knees over his shoulders he dives in, face first. “They were in my way,” he adds seconds before his tongue flattens against your folds.

Your moan matches his groan while your legs tighten around his head. Fisting the sheet your mouth falls into a silent ‘O’ as Fred gets to work. Flicking and sucking on your clit, tongue licking up the insides of your walls. Thick fingers sometimes thrusting in and out of your heat grazing your sweet spot, other times they allow his mouth to do the work while his thumb circles your swollen bud. He knows exactly what you like and tonight he is not holding back.

The first time you came, euphoria flooded your veins. The second time your moans were loud and breathing was sporadic, your knuckles were white from grasping the sheet too tight while your entire body trembled. The third one came after you’d barely recovered from the second and it had you seeing stars. An eruption of pleasure cascades off your body, Fred humming in pleasure from below.

“Babe,” Fred called out, popping his head up. Beads of sweat have collected on his forehead, your sticky juices glistened off his beard. The grip he had on your waist almost hurts, nails anchored in to keep you still above him.

“Maybe we can take a break so I can take care of you,” you offer the oversensitivity becoming too much. Glancing down his lower lip is white as he starts to smirk back in response.

“Oh I’m nowhere near done,” he explains, causing you to whimper, unsure of how much more you can handle. “I just wanted to let you know that I think you’re beautiful.”

The smile on your lips fades the second he ducks back down, tongue reconnecting to your swollen bundle of nerves, bringing you towards orgasm number four of what you can only assume will be many.

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twotonedblues · 4 years

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JUICE GOT A SHUTOUT yeah boyyyyy!!

#nashville predators #i was like half watching this game and nfl playoffs lol

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naivepets · 2 years

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How to remove skunk spray from your dog

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What is Skunk Spray ? Skunk spray is an anoint produced by the anal glands of the lurch to defend against predators and contains sulfurous chemicals called thiols or thioacetates. Most thiols adhere to proteins in your dog ’ second skin, causing a haunting olfactory property. Thioacetates aren ’ triiodothyronine deoxyadenosine monophosphate potent as thiols, but they become thiols when blend with water system, so don ’ thymine throw your pawl in the bath mighty away ! They are readily converted into thiols when they are mix with urine . If your chase gets a little besides up close and personal with a pot, don ’ triiodothyronine panic. Follow these tips to get rid of the smell cursorily and efficaciously . Do NOT Take Your Dog Inside First things first : if your pawl got lurch, your first gear instinct is credibly to get them at heart and in the bathtub. DON ’ T DO THIS . The skunky smell can quickly permeate your home and family fabrics, lingering in your family even after your pup is clean. Your best stake is to treat your andiron outside. Make sure you wear old clothes and gloves to prevent the smell from transferring to your clamber.

Reading: How to remove skunk spray from your dog

Gather your scavenge supplies and get to work … outside of your base . Assess the Situation Before you get to washing, check your frank ’ s grimace for irritation. The oils in skunk spray can be very irritating to your frank ’ randomness eyes. If your dog gets skunked, check their eyes for any inflammation or annoyance and immediately flush their eyes with cool, clean water . While it ’ s improbable due to the rate a shutout can spray from, it ’ second besides crucial to check for any scratches or bites they may have if they managed to get close to the shutout. If you notice any injuries, take your frank to the vet immediately . De-Skunking Your Dog now comes the time to actually remove the pot stink from your pup. Keep in beware that the goal is to get the skunk ’ s anoint off your andiron promptly . While you may be thinking that tomato juice is the answer that common family remedy has had limited success . The best choice is to use a commercial lurch removing treatment. You can normally purchase these from your vet or local darling add memory. Be surely to ask your veteran to see which product they recommend . If you ’ re dealing with a skunk situation outside of your vet or darling shop ’ s working hours ( which is what constantly seems to happen ), don ’ thyroxine choke — there is inactive hope . Homemade Solution to Get Rid of Skunk Smell In order to get the rotter smell off of your dog, use this DIY remedy . Mix the following ingredients in a bowling ball : 1 quart of 3 % hydrogen hydrogen peroxide solution 1/4 cup of baking sodium carbonate

Read more: Potty training a puppy: The best ways to house train a dog

1 teaspoon of fluent dishwashing soap Wearing arctic gloves, massage the solution into your chase ’ s fur . If your dog got sprayed in the face, use a washcloth to wipe their front, avoiding their eyes and talk . Let sit for 3-5 minutes . Rinse wholly . repeat as necessary until the smell is gone . When finished, wash your dog with their convention pet shampoo . When using this method acting, keep these base hit tips in mind : Don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate use a hydrogen peroxide solution stronger than 3 %, as it can irritate your pawl ’ sulfur skin . Be very careful not to get the solution in your dog ’ mho eyes . Don ’ thymine leave the concoction on your dog ’ sulfur coat for besides long, as the peroxide may bleach your dog ’ randomness fur. This will be specially noticeable in dogs with dark fur.

Read more: How Long Does a Dog Stay in Heat?

Do not store the mix. Use it immediately and dispose of any excess . once your whelp is clean, let them air dry in an open area. If you have any rotter smell on your clothes, wash them in regular detergent plus a half cup of baking pop to remove the olfactory property . Watch your chase close over the following few days and keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Skunk spray can sometimes cause hide or early medical issues. You should besides make sure that your positron emission tomography is up to go steady on its vaccines, as skunks are known carriers of rabies .

source : https://blog.naivepets.com Category : Dog

source https://blog.naivepets.com/how-to-remove-skunk-smell-from-dog-1645272230

#Pets

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thehuskerrumble · 3 years

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Huskers win third straight by pummeling Lexington

(Written by W.K.)

Lexington 1 Higginsville 11

You can call it a rivalry, a Highway 13 showdown, or the Battle for which town is truly the County Seat; but whatever you call it, Higginsville versus Lexington is sure to get the competitive juices flowing no matter which sport it is. This matchup left no doubt where the hub of Lafayette County is as the Huskers needed only five innings (plus three innings of JV) to dispatch the Minuteman bus northbound with an 11-1 drubbing.

Rumsey’s got his groove back

Lexington’s leadoff batter was gifted first base with an error, stole 2nd , and the Minutemen were immediately threatening. A ground ball out moved him to 3rd , and what turned out to be the only hit for Lexington (and it could be up for debate on hit/error) scored him to give them a 1-0 lead. Husker starting pitcher Mason Rumsey did his part in the bottom half of the inning by landing a yard dart behind 2nd base for a hit. Rumsey scored on a throwing error to tie it 1-1. Camden Russell followed with a single and scored when Nick Herrera came through with an RBI single to make it 2-1. Cade Limback reached on a fielder’s choice, stole 2nd , and eventually scored on a bad pickoff attempt to give the Blue and Gold a 3-1 lead after one inning.

Get em on, get em over, get em in, baseball 101

Lexington drew a walk to start the 2nd , but Rumsey buckled down after that and would record outs with the next 9 batters in a row. Higginsville continued the pressure in the home half of the 2 nd with a hit by Garrett Pemberton and a hit by pitch to Micah Graham (he was smiling after this one; not so much two nights later in Wellington). Rumsey drove them both in with a double over the left fielder’s head for a 5-1 lead and would later score on a sacrifice fly by Herrera for a 6-1 lead. Coach Figg’s squad would tack on one more in the 3rd with a little small ball; Kelan Ernst worked a walk, Jackson Kouril sacrifice bunted him over, and Pemberton delivered another hit to score Ernst to take a 7-1 lead into the 4th.

Wait for it...wait for it...and go!

Rumsey was pitching on cruise control at this point, but didn’t want the outfielders to get too bored in the 4th inning as Russell made a great diving catch for the first out and Jackson Kouril decided not to dive but made a nice running catch to end the top half of the inning. There was no mercy shown by the Huskers as six in a row would reach with an error (Herrera) and 4 singles in a row (Cade Limback, Ernst, Kouril-RBI, and Pemberton-2RBI) and a walk to Graham. Jace Kerley had a sac fly RBI to make it 11-1 heading to the 5th.

Guess who’s back, back again, Golden’s back, tell a friend

Rumsey was done pitching due to conserving pitch count and Josiah Golden made his return to action in the bottom of the 5th (at the mound) and proceeded to get a 1-2-3 clean inning with 2 of them strikeouts. Technically this game only went 4 ½ innings due to the 10-run rule, which is less innings than most (age) 10u baseball games go (see Stranger Things below). The Huskers have won 3 straight conference games and seem to be building confidence. Next up is a non-conference matchup with Wellington.

Kelan’s weird slide was also a key to victory

Keys to victory: Bat on ball! The Huskers kept strikeouts to a minimum (3) and put the ball in play with a combination of hard hits, sacrifices, and putting pressure on the defense to make a play. Oh, and pitching! Mason Rumsey was dealing nasty and allowed only 1 hit while fanning five batters during his 4 innings of work, including sitting down the last seven in a row that he faced. Josiah Golden looked like the 2015 version of Greg Holland closing out the game in the 5th.

You know I didn’t get a pic of the diving catch, so this will have to do

Web Gem:

In the top of the 4th , Camden Russell added his name to the list of historically studly Husker outfielders by tracking down a liner with a diving catch to deflate any chance of momentum for the Visitors.

Pemberton pounds out 3 hits

Sheriff’s Report:

An APB (All Pitchers Beware) has been issued for Garrett Pemberton after he ruthlessly unleashed 3 line-drive hits at innocent kids wearing blue shirts in the park. He showed no remorse and should be considered armed and dangerous. He was last seen wearing a yellow shirt with a #12 on the back.

Stranger Things:

During the middle of the 3rd … a white, round leather cannon ball was fired by a Minuteman soldier (infielder) and connected with the back of the head of the field umpire in the vicinity of first base. He could be heard muttering something like “Sweet Jesus, this is High School Baseball. Throw the ball and catch it. It’s not 10u”. I was personally taught to never turn your back on those little white cannon balls, but I digress…

Rumblin’, Stumblin’ Crash Report:

Nothing to really report here; unless you count the warm-up throw from Lexington crashing into the ump’s head. He saw some stars but was fine (and didn’t blow any calls). Trainer Brian Henry and Coroner David Pulliam were on hand… just in case.

JV Game

Lexington 0 Higginsville 1

Blake “the Rake” Mauzey sends the Huskers home happy

The JV team shutout the Minutemen 1-0 behind stellar pitching from Garrett Pemberton and Quinn Frank. The details were fuzzy, Blake Mauzey said he hit a walk-off which scored Jackson Kouril. That’s a first person account so we’re going to print it. (Certified: Mauzey brings home the bacon with a walk-off single into centerfield).

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pasta-rask · 4 years

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1. what is the color of your hairbrush? // Purple and black

2. a food you never eat // Sushi

3. are you typically too warm or too cold? // Warm. Especially my feet!

4. what were you doing 45 minutes ago? // Watching Knives Out with my Mum and Sister

5. what is your favorite candy bar? // Rocky Road bar. It’s marshmallow and cashews covered in chocolate!

6. have you ever been to a professional sports event? // Yes! NHL, NFL and CFL

7. what is the last thing you said out loud? // Something about being lactose intolerant

8. what is your favorite ice cream? // Grape!

9. what is the last thing you had to drink? // Strawberry milk

10. do you like your wallet? // Yes I think it’s cute! I got it on sale at the coach outlet when I was in Florida

11. what is the last thing you ate? // Cherry twizzler pull n peel

12. did you buy any new clothes last weekend? // Last weekend no. But last Thursday I bought a new sweatshirt and t shirt

13. the last sporting event you watched? // The Boston vs. Philadelphia game on Tuukkas Birthday when he got a shutout!

14. what is your favorite flavor of popcorn? // Usually just salt and butter. But sometimes I like to ass ketchup or dill seasoning

15. who is the last person you sent a text message to? // My Mom

16. ever go camping? // Yes but a very long time ago

17. do you take vitamins? // Nope

18. do you go to church every sunday? // Nope

19. do you have a tan? // Nope

20. do you prefer chinese food or pizza? // Pizza

21. do you drink your soda with a straw? // If it’s a fountain pop yes. But if it’s out of a can no.

22. what color socks do you usually wear? // I don’t wear socks

23. do you ever drive above the speed limit? // When I do drive some times

24. what terrifies you? // The unknown

25. look to your left, what do you see? // A couch with my headphones and some papers

26. what chore do you hate? // Dishes or cleaning the bathroom

27. what do you think of when you hear an australian accent? // I have no idea tbh

28. what’s your favorite soda? Coke zero, diet dr pepper and orange fanta

29. do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? // I usually go in, but lately it’s been the drive thru

30. who’s the last person you talked to? // My Sister

31. favorite cut of beef? // Medium rare steak?

32. last song you listened to? // Gold Dust Woman by Fleetwood Mac

33. last book you read? // The Saturday Night Ghost Club

34. favorite day of the week? // Usually Friday, but right now the days of the week don’t really exist

35. can you say the alphabet backwards? // haha NO!

36. how do you like your coffee? // I’m a holiday Starbucks coffee drinker

37. favorite pair of shoes? // My Boston Birkenstock’s or my Arizona Birkenstock’s

38. at what time do you normally go to bed? // 2:30-3am

39. at what time do you normally get up? // Noonish

40. what do you prefer, sunrise or sunsets? // Sunsets

41. how many blankets are on your bed? // One

42. describe your kitchen plates. // White with some goldish floral pattern around the outside

43. do you have a favorite alcoholic beverage? // Malibu rum with pineapple juice or cherry whisky with orange juice

44. do you play cards? // Only Dutch Blitz and occasionally solitaire

45. what color is your car? // I don’t have a car

46. can you change a tire? // Nope

47. what is your favorite state/province? // Favorite state Massachusetts and favorite province Alberta

48. favorite job you’ve had? // Probably the job I have right now

49. how did you get your biggest scar? // From a french fry basket at McDonald’s

50. what did you do today that made someone else smile? Said something funny to my Mum about our dog Joey

#Get to know me #Hello!!#I did not create these #credit to creator

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ledenews · 4 months

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Nailers Special Teams Bring Holiday Cheer in 4-2 Win

The Wheeling Nailers will enter the holiday break with a joyous feeling, as they collected their third straight victory, and swept a home-and-home series against the Cincinnati Cyclones at Heritage Bank Center. Dillon Hamaliuk put Wheeling ahead for good at the 8:05 mark of the third period in a game which was dominated by the special teams for the Nailers. Wheeling scored twice on the power play, once shorthanded, and killed all eight Cincinnati man advantages. The best penalty killer was Taylor Gauthier, who improved to 5-0-1 in his last six starts with 35 saves. Wheeling's special teams shined in the first period, as the visitors got on the board with a power play goal and a shorthanded marker. The power play strike came first, when Lukas Svejkovsky sped down the right side of the ice. It appeared that Svejkovsky may turn behind the goal, but instead banked the puck off the back of Cincinnati goaltender Olof Lindbom and in over the goal line. The shorthanded goal came 3:06 later. Jordan Frasca and Matt Koopman exchanged passes on a 2-on-1 break, and Frasca eventually took his time in the right circle, then whipped a shot through Lindbom's legs. The score remained 2-0 for the majority of a penalty-filled middle frame, but with 1:34 remaining, the Cyclones pulled within one. Nick Isaacson spun the puck off the wall and into the low slot for a wide-open Sahil Panwar, who roofed a wrist shot into the top-left corner of the cage. The goal ended Taylor Gauthier's shutout streak at 144:16. Justin Vaive tied the score for Cincinnati with a breakaway wrist shot up and under the crossbar 1:14 into the third, but the Nailers quickly dusted themselves off and went back to work to regain the lead. 11 seconds after killing a penalty, Wheeling netted the go-ahead tally. Cédric Desruisseaux came out of the box and touched the puck ahead to Dillon Hamaliuk, who cruised into the right circle, and drilled a shot through Lindbom's legs. 2:58 later, the power play converted once more for a key insurance marker. Isaac Belliveau slid a pass into the left circle, where Jordan Martel clobbered home his second man advantage goal in three contests since joining the Nailers. Gauthier and the 8-for-8 penalty kill took care of the final 8:57 to preserve the 4-2 triumph. Taylor Gauthier was phenomenal between the pipes again for Wheeling, as he denied 35 of the 37 shots he faced. Olof Lindbom suffered the loss for the Cyclones, as he made 29 saves on 33 shots. The Nailers will have four days off for the holidays, before returning to action in Indy on Wednesday at 7:00. Wheeling's next two home contests will take place on New Year's Weekend, when the Norfolk Admirals come to town for a series on Saturday, December 30th at 7:10 and Sunday, December 31st at 6:10. The highlight game of that weekend is Sunday, which is Kids New Year's Eve, featuring an interactive light show, free sparkling grape juice, as well as New Year's hats and noisemakers. That will also be a Screen Time Sunday in which one lucky fan will win a new TV courtesy of Walmart, and $2 ice cream sundaes will be available at Flurry's. The next Big Six Promotional Game is Super Nailers World on Saturday, January 13th. Season memberships and other terrific ticket plans for the 2023-24 season are available now by calling (304) 234-GOAL. The Wheeling Nailers, considered one of the top things to do in Wheeling, West Virginia, provide affordable family entertainment for fans throughout the Ohio Valley. Read the full article

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junker-town · 5 years

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A Nationals-Astros World Series is the perfect redemption for a bizarre MLB season

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In the year of the home run, the Astros and Nationals have served as reminders that exciting, dominant starting pitching is still out there, and still effective. Both clubs, who will face off in the 2019 World Series beginning with Game 1 on Tuesday, are built around their rotation. Pitching, was hardly the focus in the regular season, however. Instead, it was the juiced ball that got the attention, from early April when its use was first detected, and then in the postseason when, suddenly, it was nowhere to be found.

Some narrative-setting background, for those who haven’t been following along: the 2019 ball isn’t actually “juiced,” but its seams have been altered in a way that changes its aerodynamics significantly — those alternations and their effects have been described in detail by Meredith Willis and Rob Arthur. That change, which reduces drag, played more than a small part in this record-setting season, in which a new mark was set for the most homers in a single MLB season… on September 11, with weeks to go before all of the playoff spots were locked up. That record-breaking dinger, struck by the Orioles’ Jonathan Villar, was number 6,106 for the year: by season’s end, the league had hit 6,776, shattering the old mark.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, like in the 2017 season when ball physics was also a popular topic, repeatedly denied anything was different about the balls, then moved on to denying that anything was deliberately different, and then finally admitted that something was both different and wrong, and that MLB would get the baseball scientists on the case so they could figure out what it was come the offseason.

Manfred spoke of how MLB wanted to strive for transparency on the ball issue, and that, while they weren’t required to discuss changes to the ball with the Players Association, they wanted to make sure players would be “aware” of the situation. Then, when the playoffs started, roughly a week after Manfred’s comments, the rocket ball vanished. There was no notice from the league. MLB is, once again, denying they’ve done anything, and are saying that the postseason balls are the same as the regular season balls despite acting entirely differently. Then again, MLB spend months trying to tell us there was nothing special or different about the 2019 regular season balls, either.

Teams like the Twins rode the juiced ball to the postseason. Minnesota crushed the previous record for homers in a season: they surpassed that mark of 267 on August 31, and then finished their campaign with 307 bombs. Twins, whose strategy for victory was to hit dingers and let a stellar bullpen do the rest, were swept by the Yankees in the ALDS. Their team, which featured 11 different players with at least 10 homers, had their most significant advantage removed just in time for their toughest and most important matchup of the year.

That brings us back to the Astros and Nationals, teams which did rely on pitching during the regular season. The loss of the juiced ball meant little to them, compared to what it did to the poor Twins. The Nationals made it to October on the strength of a rotation that featured perennial Cy Young contender Max Scherzer doing his usual thing, Stephen Strasburg reminding the Nats why they signed him to a lucrative extension, free agent acquisition Patrick Corbin improving on the work that earned him a $140 million deal this past winter, and the inexplicably revitalized Aníbal Sánchez, who has produced some of the best work of his career the last two seasons in his mid-30s after escaping Detroit.

Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images

The Nats’ offense, bereft of Bryce Harper, was around average. They had home run hitters in Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto, both of whom went deep 34 times, but they weren’t juiced-ball hunters: the 20-year-old Soto hit 22 in his shorter rookie campaign a year ago, and Rendon had hit 25 the year before. The Nats had more homers because of the ball, sure, but not in a way that gave the team a completely new identity. It was their rotation which propelled them to 93 wins and the Wild Card Game. Disappointing bullpen work hides the true story of the Nats’ staff, which limited opponents to a .389 slugging percentage and just 116 dingers (1.1 per nine innings, compared to the NL’s 1.4 average). Despite throwing 438 fewer innings, Washington’s bullpen allowed just 30 fewer homers than the starters.

Less deadly offensive opponents and the de-juiced ball have meant the pen’s most significant weakness — their long ball problem — has been somewhat nullified in October. The Nats’ offense wasn’t scarred in the same way the Twins were, and a frightening rotation became even more terrifying when some of the “whoops, a homer” chaos was taken out of each game.

The Astros, meanwhile, did not have an average offense heading into the postseason: they had the best in baseball. Unlike Minnesota, theirs did not come out of nowhere. Houston won the World Series in 2017 with the best offense in MLB, and while it was indeed aided by a juiced ball then, as it is now, they also ranked sixth in MLB in OPS+ in 2018 while winning 103 games. They can thank their rotation for picking up what little slack there was: it was tops in MLB last year by ERA+, a distinction they once again hold in 2019.

Unlike in 2017, Houston’s bullpen is also phenomenal. During their championship season, the Astros ignored the building of Super Bullpens across the league, method derived from the Royals’ World Series team of 2015. Instead, they leveraged their immense starting pitching depth out of the pen to make up for the dominant relievers they didn’t have. In 2018, the Red Sox, under new manager Alex Cora, who just happened to be Houston’s bench coach in 2017, used a similar strategy to fill in the gaps en route to their own World Series trophy. It’s a highly effective plan, maybe even more so than going with the super relievers from a team-building and budgetary perspective. But the 2019 Astros have those excellent relievers in Roberto Osuna, Ryan Pressly, and Will Harris, and, if necessary, some of the same starters they handed reliever duties to in 2017. There’s a reason they’re considered the class of MLB in 2019, and it’s because they have depth everywhere. Even without the 2019 ball, they’re still a great offensive team, and now their pitchers have an easier time of things than they did all season long.

Coincidentally, the Nats have been using their starters as relievers this October. Like with the 2017 Astros and last year’s Red Sox, it was out of necessity, but it’s been working. Scherzer has thrown one key inning in relief, striking out all three Dodgers he faced in Game 2 of the NLDS. Strasburg threw three shutout innings in the Wild Card Game against the Brewers, limiting Milwaukee to two hits while striking out four. Corbin has been the starter getting the most play in relief, and besides one hiccup against the Dodgers, things have gone well. Against the Astros’ offense, there will be more opportunities to relieve for all three of the Nats’ best starters.

The teams’ pitching-friendly approach isn’t all they have in common, and in many ways the 2019 World Series is an extension of the major narratives running through baseball lately. The Nationals are either right over the luxury tax or right below it: we won’t know how close the estimates are until MLB reports on the figures after the postseason is over. Their owner, Ted Lerner, does not want to be over the threshold: that, plus the non-ignorable existence of star youngster Juan Soto, is why the team failed to retain Bryce Harper this past winter. The Nats’ attitude towards spending matters in both the present and the future. Keeping this team together might require going over the tax in 2020: retaining star third baseman and pending free agent Anthony Rendon isn’t going to be cheap, and replacing him won’t be simple, either.

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The same can be said for the Astros. Jim Crane, has already implied that keeping inevitable Cy Young winner and pending free agent Gerrit Cole around isn’t in the cards for Houston. It’s not just Cole, though: thanks to arbitration raises around the team, the Astros are going to be over the luxury tax threshold of $208 million in 2020 unless they shed salary. There are ways to do that, for sure, but to shed as much as they would need to stay completely free of the luxury tax might not be painless, given their free agents include vital pieces like Cole the aforementioned Harris. Baseball’s overall spending habits have changed, and gone are the days in which championship teams would be kept intact with money no object.

Is this World Series pairing a matchup between two teams attempting to win now before their players get too expensive? For the Nationals, it’s not every year you can pair homegrown talent like Soto and Rendon with a refurbished Sánchez, a 35-year-old Howie Kendrick playing like he’s 10 years younger, while getting peak performances from Strasburg and Corbin. Scherzer isn’t getting any younger, and the 2019 Red Sox are a terrifying reminder that even the best of rotations can fall to injury. Everything was in place for the Nationals to make a run in 2019. What about 2020?

As sobering as it is to consider, here and now could be it for the Nats at this level. They won a wild card, then the Wild Card Game, toppled the National League’s regular season best in the Dodgers, breaking a miniature curse in the process. The team, good as it is, has played out of its mind to get this far. There’s nothing wrong with riding your luck — the 2015 Royals are thrilled with their title, you know, and the Cubs aren’t about to trade their 2016 rings back in just because snapping a historic streak of failure didn’t come with a dynasty attached. It’s just something to consider: how vital it is to seize on this opportunity while it’s here, especially with Rendon possibly leaving town and the 2020 Nats looking like they’ll be worse-off for his departure.

The Astros only have the A’s to worry about in the AL West, should they intentionally make themselves worse to save a buck by letting Cole sign elsewhere. Still, Oakland has won 97 games in consecutive years, and even if Billy Beane’s shit still doesn’t work in the playoffs, his teams figure out how to get there with some consistency, and that could be an issue for Houston. At least they’ll have the 2017 title to fall back on, should they fail to win this time out. Still, championships in 2017 and 2019 would better justify the atrocious, tanking-on-purpose first half of this decade, best personified ‘round these parts by a gif of one of their players sliding face-first into another player’s ass.

The Astros are the better team on paper. They have the superior offense, even without the juiced ball, especially now that it features less Josh Reddick and Jake Marisnick than it did this summer. Their rotation is at least as good, if not better, than Washington’s: a lot of that thinking rides on what you think the Nats’ lineup can do against Cole compared to what the Astros might do to Sánchez. Houston has the better bullpen in terms of straight relievers, but as the Astros themselves showed back in 2017, the Red Sox in 2018, and the Nats are once again hoping to show in 2019, that doesn’t matter if you’ve got starters who can moonlight.

All of Houston’s advantages mostly add up to them having a better chance of winning the World Series than Washington, and nothing more. The Dodgers had a better chance of winning than the Nationals did in the NLDS, and they’re watching the World Series at home, their 106 regular season wins cold comfort as they once again failed to bring home their first World Series championship since 1988. Why can’t the Nationals do to the Astros what they already did to the Dodgers?

The Nats winning is not the most likely outcome, but, as the cliche goes, anything can happen in a short series. What matters is that we have a compelling, multi-layered narrative to pay attention to: an attempt at a mini-dynasty, potential last, best chances at winning, departing free agent stars, and no juiced ball in sight to mess with any of it. The playoffs so far have been an incredible spectacle, and the World Series looks like a worthy culmination of that spectacle. It’s baseball we should all want to watch, regardless of our traditional rooting interests, because watching it play out should be, to use an industry term, dope as hell.

It took the entire regular season and most of the postseason, but we finally have a series of compelling, dominant starting pitcher matchups, in the games that matter most. The 2019 season will be remembered for its home runs, regardless of which side comes out on top, this World Series will be so much more than a dinger-fest.

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hoenursey · 7 years

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pretty sweet (lush and zealous) || nurseychow

It’s dumb. It’s incredibly dumb and completely unfounded and totally unreasonable and he definitely, most assuredly, one hundred and ten million percent should not be thinking it because there’s no way, no reasoning, no evidence, and no defense for the absolute garbage his brain is coming up with.

He’s still thinking it.

Nursey could be cute, his little dimple popping into his cheek when he laughed, really laughed, or when he tossed a cheeky smile his way when he did something like steal an extra slice of pie for them to split.

He could be pretty. The prettiest thing Chris had ever seen, when they woke up together and Nursey was sleep tousled, soft around the edges– he would blink himself awake, rubbing sleep from his eyes, and then gaze up at him with inky-black lashes and hazy green eyes.

He could be hot, that was for sure. He didn’t know if it was just because he was a hockey player, or if it was because he was dating a hockey player, but there was something to him that was just… really, really hot about seeing Nursey on ice– all that cocky false self-confidence he played up now real and completely founded. Seeing him net a goal (when he wasn’t on the other side of it), watching the pride light up his face, his frankly illegal body movements when he skated– he was quite literally a beast on ice, quick, sharp, focused, and aggressive as fuck. It was almost distracting, if his focus didn’t completely block everything while he was in the cage.

And he was definitely sexy. He shivered, just a little, in his seat, thinking about the times where Nursey got just tipsy enough to dance at kegsters. Or when he pressed toe-curling kisses to his lips before he left for his 9 am, waving him off with a smile that might’ve been sleazy on anyone else. And of course, he was definitely sexy in bed, prowling up his body like a lion stalking prey, or flat on his back beneath him loud and unashamed, thighs locked around his waist as if he were afraid he’d leave, or whenever play-fighting and wrestling turned into making out, lazily grinding on one another.

Chris shivered again. This time Nursey noticed, frowned softly at him. “Baby, are you cold? You could’ve said something, i’ve got an extra jacket.”

“Oh, no, it’s not–” Chris tried to say, but too late, Derek was already sliding under the table, bumping his head a little, (“fuck, ow,”) and sliding the jacket up Chris’ thighs, covering them like a blanket.

“There you go,” he said triumphantly. Nursey slid his hands down Chowder’s thighs, squeezing just slightly, and his knee jerked in reaction. He chuckled softly.

“Shut up and help me with this paper,” he said immediately, embarrassed by the effect Nursey had on him, and Nursey snorted softly, easing his way out from under the table.

“Anything for you, honey bunches,” he crooned, leaning on his shoulder, and Chowder shoved him, grinning faintly.

He was overreacting. He had to be.

The thing about his brain, however, particularly his ADHD, meant that it didn’t matter if he knew he was overreacting, he was still doing it. Chris’ brain started aggressively replaying all the compliments Derek had given him, all the little comments on his appearance, and unfortunately, he didn’t really like his end results.

Nursey never called him sexy.

Attractive, beautiful, pretty, cute– all of that he called him, almost regularly, but sexy? He couldn’t remember a time he’d been called that not just by Nursey, but anyone, anyone at all.

He had to find him sexually attractive, obviously. They had decently regular sex, games permitting, and Derek was often the instigator (mostly because Chris had no problems with PDA, and no problems inside the bedroom, but he was a little shyer about being sexual in public) so of course he was sexy to him, logically speaking.

But jeez. Sometimes a guy wanted to hear that his boyfriend thought he was sexy out loud. Was that wrong? Was he asking too much?

Chris kept thinking it, and overthinking it, and re-thinking it, and soon he could tell Nursey was getting a little worried.

“I’m just in my head,” Chris promised the next time he caught Nursey looking at him cautiously after he’d pulled away from yet another compliment, only semi-guiltily. It wasn’t really lying, he reasoned, because he was in his head, but that wasn’t the problem. Not really.

Nursey’s eyes stayed on him for just a second longer, and then he nodded softly. “Make sure you come out again though, yeah?” he asked, reaching over the tabletop and squeezing his hand. “I miss you.”

God, he really, really liked Nursey. “Always,” he said, squeezing back, and then he eased back to continue doing his homework.

Nursey’s smile was just shy of radiant. He kind of hated himself for making problems where they didn’t really exist.

Of course, Chris couldn’t keep his giant mouth shut, so it all had to come to a head.

They’d just gotten back from a roadie– Brown, Cornell, West Point– losing to West Point but taking a shutout with Brown and a scrappy 3-1 win from Cornell. They were tired, but happy, and the kegster raged around them as Chris and Derek were settled on the couch, nursing their beers contently. His feet were tucked under Nursey’s thigh comfortably. A few people flittered in and out, waving to Chris or to Derek, stopping to make quick conversation about classes, the party, whatever– a lot of people for Derek, actually.

“Hey, hot stuff!”

“Derek fucking Nurse, Mr. Universe.”

“How do you look like a fucking model in a frat house, dude?”

“Is this your boyfriend? You two are adorable.”

“You’re Chris? You’re so cute!”

“Oh my god, Derek will not shut up about how pretty your smile is in class. He’s driving us nuts!”

And more, and more, and more, until finally he couldn’t take it anymore, he had to know.

“Nursey, do you not think i’m sexy?” Chris burst out.

Nursey blinked at him. His beer slipped from his hand– thankfully it was a can, mostly empty, and his arm was hovering over the side of the couch– it landed upright.

“Dude, what?”

He instantly regretted saying it and looked away, flushing pink. “Nothing– it’s nothing, sorry–”

“No, what the fuck? Chowder– Chris, baby. Look at me. Chris, please.” Derek’s hand reached out to take his and squeezed and he broke to meet his eyes.

Instantly, he wished he hadn’t. Nursey’s eyes were soft and sad and a little lost and now he felt guilty, all over again, because Nursey was as a fantastic boyfriend and he didn’t deserve him being sad over a couple little words.

“It’s not– it’s not a big deal, Nursey, gosh, don’t worry about it. I’m sorry I brought it up,” he tried, but Nursey made a hurt noise and his mouth snapped shut.

“Don’t do that, please, we said we weren’t gonna lie when something hurt us,” Nursey begged him, scrambling up onto his knees on the couch to better meet his eyes.

“But it’s stupid!” he argued. “We’re dating, and we’re always together, and we have a lot of really good sex, and you tell me all the time that I look good so I shouldn’t be feeling like this and I don’t know if it’s a me thing or a Bitty babying me thing or if it’s an Asian thing but everyone always calls you hot and they want you- i’m not jealous!” he said hastily as Nursey looked frightened and opened his mouth to argue. “I know you don’t care about them but I don’t know, I just. You’re hot and i’m just cute!”

By the end of his rant, Derek looked horrified, hand tight around his own. He was speechless, too, for a little moment, and then he rasped out, “God, I don’t make you feel wanted.”

“Nursey, it’s not–”

“Baby, I don’t make you feel wanted the way you want. That’s just as bad,” he said softly.

He, paused, swallowed, and then nodded. “Yeah. I… yeah.”

Nursey let go of his hand and shifted on the couch, easing him back, prowling over him, the kegster forgotten behind them. His eyes were trained onto Chris’ own, a look in them like he only usually got just before post-win sex or just-finished-an-exam sex but maybe just a little softer and oh, now he was in his lap curling his hand around the back of his neck, soft and warm, and kissing him.

He kissed with a sure intent, near-overwhelming but more tender; Chris could taste the sharp-sweet of tub juice on Derek’s plush lips as he licked open his mouth, shivered as he eased his hands up his shirt. Chris’ own hands clutched loosely at Nursey’s shirt, letting himself be kissed with fervent desire. On his lips he could nearly taste Nursey’s desire to prove himself. A groan sounded– from who he didn’t know– and he could feel it tingling between their joined mouths.

They broke, breathing heavily, but Derek let his face drop down to his exposed collarbone, kissing there, licking at skin, dragging his tongue up his bare neck. He was squirming underneath him, trying not to just pull Nursey down and have him grind on him until they both came in the middle of the party, until Nursey pulled back and said breathlessly, “I can’t believe I didn’t make you feel sexy, Chris. I think you’re fucking irresistible.”

Fuck. Nursey always knew what to say to make him weak.

“We need to– to like, not do this here,” he said, a little desperately, and Nursey nodded, pulling back. Chris chased after him, reluctant to part despite what he said, and stole another quick kiss from him and Derek grinned dopily, smile lopsided. He stood and laced his fingers through Chowder’s, pulling him up, and they pushed through the crowd together.

“Get it, Nurse!” Holster yelled, and Nursey flipped him off good-naturedly– it made something bubble up inside of him and he laughed, bright.

“Yeah, screw off!” he called, and Nursey laughed, throwing a glance over his shoulder: his eyes were shining with mirth. He squeezed his hand and stumbled up the stairs with Chris in tow, both of them giddy and high with arousal.

When Nursey pulled him into the bathroom, Chris made a confused noise, though the reason was soon lost on him when Nursey backed him up against the wall, forearm tucked behind his head, hand easing along his hip and up his shirt, tracing the little circles into the small of his back that made him shiver. They kissed, Chris’ arms easing over his shoulders to pull him closer and closer, meld their bodies together and feel the heat radiating off his body. Nursey was hard and so was he, his ilegs spreading to accommodate for Nursey’s slim hips pressing between his own, grinding up against him. A hand came down, cupped his ass and squeezed and he moaned softly, leg sliding up to sling around his boyfriend’s hip– Derek hefted him up with one hand under his ass, grunting just a little until he was hitched around his waist.

“I’ve-”

“Got-”

“A room-”

“Nursey,” Chris breathed between kisses, eyes fluttering open and closed as he spoke. Derek pulled away slightly, grinning up at him.

“Dex is sleeping in your room, remember? Besides, pretty sure people who lived here have fucked in here.”

“We’re not, oh my god, I can wait longer than that and, like, go to your dorm or something,” he protested.

“What if I can’t wait?” Derek murmured, smile gently teasing, playful; he brushed his nose against his own and that, of all things, made a blush bloom across his cheeks. “What if my incredibly hot boyfriend is right here in this bathroom, in my arms,” he let his arm snake all the way around his waist, squeezed with his fingers dipping along his hipbone, “And I know he’s still loose because I opened him up until he sobbed and almost crushed my skull between his gorgeous fucking thighs–”

Chris put a hand over his mouth, pink. “Too close,” he warned, embarrassed but honest. “But, I, uh… wanna sit on your face kind of so maybe a bed?” he rushed out, swallowing hard when he finished.

The speed at which Derek’s eyes went practically black was alarming.

“Yes,” he murmured, gravelly and low. “God, yes, fuck. But I do really, really want you now, not in…” he glanced at his watch briefly, “an hour when Dex wakes up.”

“Blow me?”

He grinned slowly.

“Smart is the new sexy,” he murmured. Chris rolled his eyes, but the smile on his lips was irrepressible.

“Just do it,” he mumbled back, still fighting off his grin, and Nursey shifted, setting him on the bathroom sink. He sunk to his knees with a smirk, nosing along his thigh tauntingly.

“Bossy, bossy. You were so much nicer last night.”

“Well you had my dick in your mouth, jerk, so- oh, okay, that’s weirdly hot that you can do that,” he said, surprised and shivering a little as Nursey undid his jeans with his teeth, lightly pressing at the crotch of his pants with his lips. Nursey wiggled his brows at him and ran his hands up his thighs.

“S’a first time trick, but we were in pajamas our first time,” he explained softly. “Help me get em down, then legs up.”

A minute and a few cooperative maneuvers later Nursey was kissing, licking, and sucking hungrily at Chris’ pale thighs– he was only staying upright because he was gripping at the counter tightly, his thighs braced over Nursey’s broad shoulders.

“Nursey, stop teasing,” he complained breathlessly. “I want you, please, c’mon, I- more, Nursey, more.”

His grip grew just a little tighter on the counter as Nursey’s tongue traced up the side of his cock, delicately at first but then more firmly until he was laving his tongue along his length and Chris’ toes were curling, his heels digging into his boyfriend’s back as if urging him on. When Derek’s tongue traced over his slit, lapped up the drooling precum, his hips jerked up and nearly dislodged him from the sink counter. He was narrowly saved by his abdomen and thighs clenching at the last second, the latter around Nursey’s head.

Nursey’s laughter buzzed against his thigh. “Dangerously sexy,” he murmured. Chris opened his mouth to complain (he was kind of bratty during sex, sue him; Derek got off on teasing and so did he) but at that precise moment he decided to slide his mouth down his cock and take him halfway.

“F-fuck, Der,” he breathed. “Oh my god, just like that…”

Derek hummed, pleased; his lashes fluttered closed prettily and a broad hand slid up his thigh as he slowly bobbed his head– Chris gasped weakly and then bit down on his lip to stifle the whimpers and moans fighting to escape him.

Nursey’s tongue traced along the length of him, and then he pressed his thumb deep into a bruise on his thigh as he took him all the way down, buried his dick into his fucking throat, and Chris sobbed. There was no holding back any noises, not with Derek’s mouth tight and hot and wet around him.

“D-derek, Derek, i’m g’nna– f-fuck, oh my god, please, please,” he moaned helplessly. His eyes were squeezed shut, tremors wracking his body with the effort of not coming then and there.

He felt Derek’s hand come up and ease one of his own away from the counter; his eyes peeked out from under his lashes to catch him tug his hand to the back of his head and push down, a little rough.

“Oh my god, Derek– s-seriously?” Chris murmured. Nursey blinked slowly up at him. His eyes were nothing more than a thin ring of green around a heavily dilated pupil, black as night; his tongue teased at the base of his dick as much as it could and Chris hissed, fingers twisting in a tight lock in Nursey’s roots and yanked his head back, shoving him back down his length as quickly as he’d pulled him back.

Nursey practically choked on his own moan: his hand moved down to touch himself but Chowder rasped out, “No,” and the answering sound was filthy around his now steadily leaking cock.

Both hands came back up to squeeze desperately at his thighs and he gave him what he wanted, working him along his dick over and over until his body went taut, spine arching, and Chris came down Derek’s throat with his boyfriend’s nose pressed into his burning skin.

“God damn, baby,” Nursey said when he’d finally pulled off. His voice was low, hoarse as if he’d screamed for an hour straight– Chris shivered weakly. “Where the fuck did that come from?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Sorry if I got too rough–”

Derek surged up and kissed him with a hunger he only usually saw when they were desperately rushing between classes, too worked up over sexts to wait until they were done for the day. Nursey’s hips pressed of their own accord against his thigh and he whimpered: he was still hard in his jeans.

Chris pulled back and breathed against his mouth, struggling for air. “You still- haven’t come?”

“You didn’t say I could,” he rumbled. He buried his face in his neck, kissing and nipping; his own spent dick made a valiant effort to come back to life again at the sensation. “What, you tired of me telling you what to do in bed, Frankie?”

“No! And oh my god, stop calling me that, my middle name is lame-”

“It’s fucking cute, and if you don’t put your boxers on so we can go to your room, i’m gonna call you ‘Frankie’ when I fuck you over this sink.” He froze a bit, hands stilling at his waist and brain catching up to his mouth, then blinked at him, hesitance written over his face. “Sorry, C, I-”

But Chris slid his hand up Derek’s chest, curled his fingers at the nape of his neck to pull him against his lips. “I think I know now,” he hummed. Derek’s fingers tightened along his hipbones. “You’re not calling me cute like everyone else does, are you?”

Derek’s eyes flicked down to his lips and then back up to his eyes. He shook his head almost imperceptibly.

“Tell me why you say it so much. Cute, pretty, sweet, gorgeous, attractive-”

“S’dumb.”

“I wanna know.”

He closed his eyes, a slightly pained look on his face, and then, looking as if he had to draw it deep out of himself from within, muttered, “No one ever called me cute unless they really meant fuckable. Didn’t… want you to feel like that, I guess? Or just think I wanted sex with you.”

Oh my god, Chris thought quietly to himself as he pulled Derek in for a fierce, hungry kiss. I’m honestly in love with him.

Derek looked debauched when he pulled back, breathless; he tugged roughly at a ringlet of curls as if he were trying to calm himself. “We’ve gotta- the talking thing, better. Get better. We- but later? Please, for real for real, because my dick is like mad hard right now and-”

“Room. Boxers.”

Derek grinned and scooped them up for him to shimmy into but as soon as that stopped Chris threw his arms around him, kissing him with reckless abandon and dragging him out of the bathroom backwards into his room. Derek stumbled a few times but stayed upright by the virtue of Chris’ spatial awareness. They staggered into his room, door flinging open, and Derek pushed him up against the wall, hiking his leg up around his waist and sliding his hand up his boxers. A strangled cry sounded from the direction of Chris’ bed.

“Guys, what the fuck-”

“Get out or you’re gonna see us fucking,” Derek ordered breathlessly without looking back at Dex. Chowder choked on his own moan, skin warming, but he couldn’t find a mind to protest when Nursey’s mouth latched into his neck, sucking at bare skin, teeth dragging along it.

Dex started cursing frantically, presumably throwing himself out of bed in his haste to leave his room, but Chris couldn’t tell: had his eyes been opened, his head not tossed back, his gaze would’ve likely been obscured by Nursey or at least focused on him no matter how much chaos Dex was causing.

“Use a fucking condom!” Will shouted as he swept out the room with his bag over his shoulder, door banging shut, and Chris could feel his boyfriend’s grin spread across his face from where it was pressed into his neck.

“He’s just so innocent,” Derek said conversationally, as if he weren’t grinding his hips up against him to the sound of ‘Cyclone’ bumping through the haus speakers. “What, does he think I don’t know how to pull out?”

He choked on his own spit, laughing, and Nursey’s grin grew wider; he hefted him up around his waist and spun him a little as Chris slung off his shirt, tossing it somewhere around his room– it was weird, but it got him kind of hot when Nursey joked like that– Nursey plopped down on the bed with his big, gorgeous smile beaming up at him and Chris had to kiss him, cupping his face with his hands.

“You know i’m super in to you, right?” Nursey murmured when Chowder graciously allowed him to breathe once more. He nodded, settling into his lap.

“Yes, Nursey.”

“So you’ve got to know i’m a hundred percent attracted to you. Endlessly.”

“I do.”

“You’re breathtaking, Chris Chow. I’m a lucky guy. I’m serious– a hundred percent.” He brushed his lips against his temple softly. “I’m attracted to your mind,” he murmured, “your personality,” he said, dipping down to drag his lips along this throat, “your heart,” a kiss to the chest, “and definitely your body.” His kisses trailed along his bare shoulder, down along his bicep, and he squirmed in his lap, once again turned on.

“You’re a nerd,” Chris said breathlessly, “And you’re gonna make me cry if you keep saying nice stuff to me instead of taking off your pants. I don’t want to cry during sex again unless we win the championship.”

“Yes, sir,” Nursey said, eyes twinkling. “I’ll hold you to that.

“I’m sure you will, Dee,” Chris murmured, pressing in close, lips once again joined with his boyfriend’s. “I’m sure.”

#nurseychow #derek nurse #derek malik nurse #nursey #chris chow #christopher chow #chris franklin chow #chowder #nurseshark #check please fanfic

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winterolympicssports2018-blog · 6 years

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Flames slip in playoff race as Mike Smith's struggles continue

Click here for More Olympics Updates https://www.winterolympian.com/flames-slip-in-playoff-race-as-mike-smiths-struggles-continue/

Flames slip in playoff race as Mike Smith's struggles continue

In a game that included William Karlsson’s natural hat trick and Marc-Andre Fleury getting his 48th career shutout and 401st win, Vegas coach Gerard Gallant credited a hit by forward Ryan Reaves as the biggest play.

Barely two minutes into the second period, Reaves — acquired from Pittsburgh on Feb. 23 — flattened TJ Brodie with a blast that sidelined Calgary’s defenceman the remainder of the game while sparking the Golden Knights’ recent stagnant offence.

William Karlsson scored 3 goals in the 2nd period, helping Vegas to a shutout win over Calgary Sunday afternoon. 1:28

“That was the difference,” Gallant said Vegas’ 3-0 win over the Flames on Sunday. “That changed the game around. It was a big, clean hit. Ryan’s been here for 10, 11, 12 games with us right now and he’s doing a good job, he’s playing his role real good and that hit changed the game around for sure.”

Colin Miller also scored as Vegas snapped a four-game home losing streak and improved to 25-9-2 at T Mobile Arena. In splitting its last four games, the Golden Knights had been outscored 15-10 and hadn’t scored more than three goals in a game since a 4-0 win at Detroit on March 8.

“We weren’t happy with the way we played over the last couple of weeks,” Gallant said. “We had some real good games in there, we had some games where I thought we played OK and lost. Tonight I thought we had a tough first period and we played real good to battle back and win an important game.”

Fleury, who made his 20th start in 21 games, stopped 42 shots for his fourth shutout of the season, He also moved into a tie with Chris Osgood for 12th on the NHL’s career wins list.

“I thought we played well in our zone and came out as a group together and created that way as a team going down on the other side,” Fleury said. “I could see most pucks, and that makes a big difference and when there [were] rebounds, they took their guys away. It’s the little things that makes a big difference in a game.”

Vegas improved to 3-0-0 against Calgary while outscoring the Flames 15-5. The teams meet once more, in the regular-season finale at Calgary on April 7.

Mike Smith stopped 27 shots as the Flames, one of the league’s better road teams this season, dropped to 20-11-6 away from home.

Marc-Andre Fleury just made an unbelievable no-look left skate save. <a href=”https://t.co/d31O9GxyHM”>pic.twitter.com/d31O9GxyHM</a>

—@RP_Quigs

“That team we’re playing there, they can score,” Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan said. “They got some juice from a mistake and they got their juice started with the power play. We just couldn’t put one past them — especially early.”

The Flames outshot the Golden Knights, 20-6, in the first period. But with the game scoreless early in the second, Brodie looked to clear the puck as he came from behind the net when Reaves levelled him and sent the 18,075 fans in attendance into a frenzy.

Karlsson’s hat trick

“I hope it got a little energy into the boys,” Reaves said. “But big goals at big times, we needed to get the first one. We’ve been struggling to get the first goals the last couple of games, so getting the first one is even bigger. … The last two games we’ve come out in the first period kind of lazy and waiting for the game to go, we did it again today. That’s when I go and try and find a spark, whether it’s a hit or a fight, or just getting in somebody’s face, that’s what I try and bring to the team.”

Not too long after Reaves’ thunderous hit, and with Vegas on the power play, Miller found the back of the net with a vicious slap shot from the point five-and-a-half minutes into the period. Vegas has scored at least one power-play goal in 18 of its last 27 games.

Less than one minute later, James Neal made a steal at the blue line, created space in Calgary’s zone and fed a streaking Karlsson, who one-timed it to give Vegas a 2-0 lead.

Calgary’s Matt Stajan, centre, works against Jon Merrill of the Golden Knights while goalie Marc-Andre Fleury defends a shot. (Steve Marcus/Associated Press)

Karlsson’s second goal came after he set up near the left circle, took Jonathan Marchessault’s pass from behind the net, and fired a shot that deflected off Smith’s glove with just under seven minutes left in the middle period.

The 26-year-old centre completed his natural hat trick when he took a pass from defenceman Nate Schmidt in Vegas’ zone, skated the length of the ice and lifted a wrist shot over Smith’s blocker to make it 4-0 with 5:11 remaining in the second.

“I just got the chances and managed to bury them, turned out to score three goals,” Karlsson said. “We had that hit by Reavo, kind of got the momentum swing for us and I think we played great hockey after that. Those little things that can make a huge difference.”

Karlsson moved to the top of the NHL list of Swedish players with 62 points this season. Karlsson’s 39 goals bring him closer to tying Henrik Zetterberg’s single-season mark for a Swedish-born player, with 43.

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