Grit and resilience

Dukes’ winning record earned in the trenches

With Ben Evans sidelined for the second game of a two-game suspension, it was left to others to bear the brunt of the grinding work in front of the Chargers’ netminder on Friday. Stepping into that role was, among others, Ben Woodhouse. Woodhouse has many talents, including a very smart and diligent game at both ends of the ice. But Woodhouse gives up four inches and nearly 50 pounds to Evans in the dirty area in front of the opposing netminder.

He is, however, fearless. And tireless. Over and over again the Chargers defencemen— each of them seven-foot ogres—wielded their sticks like cudgels to inflict orthopedic realignment to Woodhouse’s spine. Yet he stayed in there. Making the ogres cross. Until they went too far.

Ben Woodhouse finishes his check while well-positioned to pursue the loose puck in the corner.

The Dukes entered the third period tied with the visiting Chargers. Daniel Panetta had scored in the first period, a nice pass from Brett Humberstone splitting the defence and then, with the presence of mind to pull the netminder with him to the left, he waited. Waited. And shot. Score. Mississauga’s netminder Frank Boal had been a wall until then. The Dukes pounded 20 shots at him in the first frame, Panetta’s goal was the only one to get by him. The Chargers tallied their lone goal midway through the second.

In truth, the Chargers are a motley collection that includes a clutch of acutely wee centres, surrounded by a forest of thick blueliners. They are prone to grind their opponents in the corner, but they possess some agility and speed on the breakout. Too often the Dukes found themselves chasing an odd-man attack against Matt Dunsmoor in the Wellington net.

In the third, the Dukes simply outworked their opponent. Woodhouse et al, guiding the puck deep in the Chargers zone, wearing them down. One Charger tossed for violence against Woodhouse’s backbone. Wellington pressed harder. Nothing. But the pressure was unrelenting. A few moments later, Woodhouse won the puck behind the net. He simply outworked his opposite number. Pass out to Frank Vitucci in the mid slot. One timer. Goal. And that was it.

Jake Gagnon added an empty-net goal late, but the Dukes escaped from a game that was sometimes sleepy, sometimes scrambly with a couple more points—extending their winning streak to eight games.

DUKES 2 – TRENTON 2
The Dukes headed over to Trenton on Sunday evening to face the Golden Hawks. The game was billed as the battle for the top spot in the East Division. This framing, however, was too complimentary to Trenton. For while the teams had the same number of points, as of Sunday game time, the Golden Hawks, had played four more games. Judged by winning percentage, a more indicative measure of success, the Wellington Dukes were alone at the top of the East and second overall in the OJHL and no matter the outcome of this game would remain there.

Nevertheless, the Golden Hawks came to play on Sunday night. They weren’t going to be blanked by Wellington in front of their hometown fans, as they had two weeks earlier.

Frank Vitucci has an innate sense of where the opportunity will arise. He jumped into the play on Sunday after Quinn Hanna had missed on a breakaway attempt. Hanna tracked down the loose puck and found Vitucci charging toward the net. Pretty goal. Vitucci has notched five goals and three assists in his last five games.

Trenton had the Dukes back on their heels early, but Matt Dunsmoor was playing well, keeping the hungry Hawks at bay. Mostly. Trenton scored 15 minutes into the first period—igniting joy throughout the Duncan McDonald Memorial. It wouldn’t last.

Ben Evans was back in the line up on Sunday— and parked for much of the game in the blue paint. On the power play, early in the second, Dukes defenceman, Ben Addison ripped a shot on net. Evans was poised for the rebound. And with that the game was tied.

Later in the period, Quinn Hanna jumped out of the penalty box after serving his two minutes. Addison spotted him at centre ice, from inside his own zone. Long pass. Breakaway. Shot. Miss. But rather than look up to the sky for divine explanation, Hanna chased down the puck in the corner. Hard pass to Vitucci charging through the slot. Vitucci’s quick release offered the Hawk netminder no time to respond. The Dukes took the lead for the first time in the game. Trenton fans were suddenly seized with foreboding.

A desperate Golden Hawks team pressed for the equalizer in the third. It finally arrived with just over two minutes remaining in regulation time—Dylan McMahan stuffing the puck far side. Neither the Dukes nor the Hawks managed to score in two periods of overtime play.

And so it was that the Trenton fans had a solitary point to cling to as they headed home on Sunday night.

UP NEXT: WHITBY, LINDSAY, AND BRAMPTON ON THE ROAD
This week the Dukes are on the road for three games. Last night they were in Whitby to face the 9-9-1 Fury. Whitby has won just two of their last five games. But they haven’t resigned themselves to the middle of the pack. The Fury have added four new forwards in the last couple of weeks to ignite a bit more production.

On Friday the Dukes head up to Lindsay for another rematch with the proud but struggling Muskies. Late last month, Wellington eked out a 2-1 win with a dying seconds- goal by Dawson Ellis, salvaging a point or two.

Last week, the Dukes rolled over the Muskies in a 9- 2 mauling. Lindsay has not won a game since—amassing only four wins all season. And yet. This is a team working on pure emotion now. Victory is not measured at this point by playoff aspirations—but rather whether they can compete on any given night. Or maybe even steal a win against one of the best teams in the league? That makes the Muskies a threat on Friday.

On Saturday night the Dukes travel to Brampton. The Admirals were in Wellington for the first game of the season, where the Dukes emerged with a 6-5 win after putting up a 4-0 lead. The Admirals occupy the basement of a tough South Division, with just a single win in their own rink. But the Dukes know first-hand that Brampton remains a team that can cause trouble for the presumptuous.