Friday night delight

Should we even call it nostalgia when we’re only thinking back to last season when it seemed like every Friday was Hockey Night in Wellington? The parking lot would be overflowing by 7:15 and there were nights when the crowd exceeded 600. In the stands, there were all those familiar faces from Bloomfield, Huyck’s Point Road and Wellington on the Lake. And there were smiles and friendly greetings inside the lobby from Betty, Judy, Linda and the 50-50 sellers Robert, Ken, Derek and Rita. It was a weekly social event. And the 50-50 was always close to $400.

But this season is different with only nine Friday night games in the whole season. Last year, nine of Wellington’s 13 Friday games were done by Christmas. That’s what made last Friday’s game such a joy—a throwback to seasons of the past.

DUKES 6 – NORTH YORK 5 (OT)
Any fan in line at the snack bar when the puck dropped on Friday night missed the flukey first goal. After winning the opening faceoff, North York shot the puck into the Wellington end where it caromed off the glass then ricocheted out through the crease and into the Dukes net at the 10-second mark. The Rangers celebrated like lottery winners, but their joy was short-lived. Three minutes later, Dukes captain Sacha Trudel popped in a rebound to tie the game.

Wellington weathered some serious adversity later in the first period when North York had a two-man advantage for a minute and a half. Dukes defenders Kyle Grasby and Tristan Williams stayed out for the full 3-on- 5 and kept the Rangers at bay. Any shots that did get through that defensive wall were turned aside by goalie Colby Booth-Housego. It was an impressive display of penalty killing. The crowd of 439 roared with approval.

After some encouragement at intermission from coach Jacob Panetta, the Dukes came out strong in the second with Zach Carrier and Trudel scoring to put the home team ahead 3-1. The Rangers scored two more, but a pair of goals by Landon Marleau gave the Dukes a two-goal lead when the buzzer ended the second frame.

Unfortunately, Wellington took a page from the Toronto Maple Leafs playbook in the third period when they let North York press for a pair of goals to send the game to overtime. When the tying goal crossed the line with 2:20 left, that flukey first-period goal came back to haunt the home team.

With just over a minute left in the extra period, Rangers forward Brayden Boyle took a silly tripping penalty during a scrum in front of the North York net. Then as the clock ticked down, Dukes defenceman Williams fired a hard shot from the point that found the lower corner of the Rangers net with 29 seconds left.

Wellington outshot the Rangers 53-45 to secure their 11th win of the season. It was also their fourth win in a row. North York lost their 21st game of a season in which they have won only one game—and that was against the Dukes.

The Dukes were playing without their leading scorer Ethan Murray (12 goals, 23 assists). He has left the team to play in B.C. He obviously prefers dull wet winters on the west coast to the sparkly snowy ones here in Prince Edward County.

PICKERING 4 – DUKES 1
Wellington survived a 17-shot barrage in the first period, giving up only a power play goal to the Panthers in Pickering on Sunday night. But the home team continued their assault in the second, firing two goals past Dukes netminder Royden Smith before Zach Carrier potted his team-leading 16th goal on the power play.

That was as close as the Dukes could get to continuing their win streak. All hope vanished when Pickering scored into the empty net with just over a minute left. The Panthers outshot the Dukes 42-30.

The win moved Pickering four points ahead of Wellington in the East Division and allowed Haliburton to leapfrog into fifth place. The Dukes are tied with St. Michael’s at 28 points.

UP NEXT: OAKVILLE (NOTE SPECIAL START TIME)
To accommodate Oakville’s travel needs, the Dukes will host the Blades in Wellington on Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. This will be the only Sunday night game of the season for the home crowd. Oakville sits in second-last place in the West Division.