When the going gets tough

Dukes drop first two games in hard-fought playoff series

The Dukes are in tough after a pair of games against Pickering. The Panthers are just a wee bit faster, a bit older and a bit more responsible in their own zone. Yet, the Dukes are right there. In the first two games of the best-of-seven series, Wellington had plenty of chances to alter the outcome of each. The Dukes were badly outshot in each game—but Dryden Riley was brilliant in Wellington’s net, turning away 43 shots in game one, and 47 more on Sunday.

Every engine was turning on Sunday for the Dukes—the intensity was dialled up to 11. Feet were moving and legs churning, while emotions were on a knife’s edge— but it wasn’t enough. Not against this veteran team.

So now the Dukes prepare for game four in Wellington on Friday. (Tuesday’s game three in Pickering will have been played and the outcome determined after press time.) It could be the last time we see the Dukes in Wellington this season.

GAME 1 PICKERING 6 – WELLINGTON 3
Zach Carrier scored a minute into the game at the dreary Chestnut Hill Recreation Complex Arena on Friday night. Carrier caught the Pickering defence standing still as he entered the zone and whipped a shot from the wall. Netminder Anthoney Sciere was as shocked as anyone to see that it had slipped past him into the net.

But the period went downhill from there for the Dukes. Pickering pelted Riley with 22 shots—scoring on three, including one from former Dukes player Kyle Kavc.

The Dukes turned up the pace in the second, scoring twice, Zach Mascard and Carrier, with his second on the power play. The game was tied.

But before the period was done, Pickering had taken the lead with the man-advantage.

Still, the Dukes pressed. Creating chances. But midway through the final frame, Pickering’s Matt Indovina scored his second of the game. That was it. The Dukes had nothing left. Pickering added an empty-net goal.

GAME 2 PICKERING 3 – WELLINGTON 1
The Dukes jumped into this game firing on all cylinders—winning every race, digging out the puck from the wall and getting the puck into the scoring zone. Wellington put five shots on net before the Panthers managed one.

Then, an aggressive forecheck by Cain Tucker on the penalty kill led to a breakaway. The battle for the puck at centre ice left the lone defender on the ice. Tucker lifted his shot past Sciere. The Dukes had scored the first goal in two games.

The Dukes pushed hard. They understood the importance of this match. They created several eyesquinting scoring chances. Meanwhile Dryden Riley was rock solid in net.

But past the midway point in the game, the Dukes’ defence failed to clear the puck. And then got lost in the play. The Panthers capitalized, and the game was tied. Pickering turned up the heat in the third.

A hooking penalty put the Panthers on the power play. The Dukes battled relentlessly. Tirelessly. But after the puck pinballed between a forest of legs in front of the Dukes’ keeper, it bounced toward the net, sliding slowly through Riley. He was helpless to stop it.

Another empty-net goal sealed the Dukes’ second loss in two games. It makes the next two crucial.

UP NEXT: GAME 4
Friday. 7:30.