Turnaround

Parker Wood battles for the puck lost between the feet of the Pickering defender on Sunday night.

Dukes win two of three; end losing skid

The Wellington Dukes took a couple of big steps toward correcting their mid-season skid that saw the team lose five game in a row. The streak ended in dramatic fashion on the road in Kingston last Thursday—their second come-from-behind win against the Voyageurs in as many games.

It certainly didn’t begin well. The Dukes found themselves down four goals on the road well past halfway through the game. A now-familiar pattern seemed to be dictating the outcome—the Dukes, badly outshot, were back on their heels defending, rather than creating scoring opportunities. But with six minutes left in the second period, the script was rewritten.

Brian Bunnett scored. It was the Dukes’ first goal in nearly six periods. Then Erick Delaurentis. Then Josh Gervais. The Dukes were within a goal and had all the momentum as the game neared the end of regulation time. That is when the Voyageurs’ defenceman Brett Dupuy was sent to the penalty box for tripping.

Delaurentis tallied, his second goal of the game, to tie the game. Nothing was settled in overtime. In the ensuing shootout Mike Soucier and Erick Delaurentis scored on their attempts; just one of the Vees’ shooters beat Larose. Abbott Girduckis had the chance to win the game but was stopped. The Vees shooter, Junior Harris, scored to extend the tension.

Then it was Captain Jan Kaminsky’s turn. He scored. The Vees shooter didn’t.

The Dukes celebrated a most improbable win. Yet a key victory—likely to grow in significance later this season. For Wellington, Kingston and Whitby and perhaps Trenton too, seem destined to battle to the end of February to sort out who makes the playoffs and who doesn’t. The outcome of head-to-head matchups now will surely be meaningful in February.

Netminder Matt Larose is currently riding the top save percentage (.937) in the OJHL. Kyle Paat leads all Dukes defenders with 21 points and is fourth overall.

COBOURG 3 – DUKES 0
Of course, this sorting exercise assumes the Cobourg Cougars take an early pass on the season. And while the Cougars got off to a slow start, they were a fearsome beast on Friday night in Wellington.

The Dukes failed to find the speed they must have in order to avoid the heavy checks and make their opponents miss. So they were pounded into the boards and chased from the puck. Matt Larose did his best. But the Dukes repeatedly failed to clear their zone when given the opportunity. And the puck eventually found its way into the Dukes net. Three times.

Give Cobourg credit—the team has a good balance of speed, skill and size. They cycle the puck deep in the offensive zone as well as any that have visited Wellington this season. Meanwhile, Nathan Perry has provided solid netminding since coming to Cobourg in the off-season.

Friday’s game began with marked intensity— both teams working the puck up and down the ice. But as the first period wore on the Dukes struggled to get the puck out of their end against the aggressive Cobourg forecheckers. Then in a matter of 13 seconds the Cougars scored twice—stuffing the puck past Larose— nary a defender nearby to offer resistance.

The Dukes battled back but this wasn’t the Vees. One thing a Curtis Hodgins team knows is how to defend a lead. Cobourg successfully choked off the centre of the ice, turning back rush after promising rush. Even on the power play the Dukes struggled to own the offensive zone.

Cobourg scored again in the second period, then battened down the hatches to seal the win.

DUKES 4 – PICKERING 0
On Sunday night a very large hometown crowd, augmented by many children and youth admitted free, watched as Dukes netminder Matt Larose kept the Pickering Panthers off the scoresheet until the Dukes found their legs.

The young line of Evan Erickson, Nik Coric and Luc Brown has seen plenty of ice in recent games. With it their confidence has grown. Late in the first period Erickson drilled the puck hard off the boards as he entered the Panthers’ zone. The puck rebounded through Coric, who was tied up by a Pickering defender, onto Brown’s stick as he sliced through the slot. Brown snapped his shot high, giving his team the lead.

Midway through the second Spencer Turcotte earned his first as a Duke working on a line with Mike Soucier and Brian Bunnett. Pickering kept skating and continued to earn scoring chances but Larose was unbeatable.

Erick Delaurentis scored twice to lead his team in a thrilling come-from-behind win in Kingston last week.

Joe McKeown and Abbott Girduckis scored empty net goals in the dying minutes, sealing the Dukes second win in three games.

The Dukes have dearly missed the scoring prowess of Craig Campbell—sidelined with an upper body injury suffered in Whitby 10 days ago. Campbell was named the OJHL’s northwest conference player of the month for November after leading the conference in scoring throughout the month with 11 goals and 20 points in 12 games.

Currently tied for third in OJHL goal scoring with 21 goals, Campbell’s month also included two gamewinners and seven power play points.

Dukes General Manager and Head Coach Marty Abrams acknowledged his star’s accomplishments thus far this season, “Craig has been a leader for us since the start of camp. I can’t say enough about his leadership and day-to-day work ethic. His offensive ability has enabled us to be in the thick of things in the Northeast Conference.”

UP NEXT: TRENTON AND LINDSAY
Despite filling their larder with more than their limit of 20 year olds the Golden Hawks remain within striking range by the remainder of the East Division rivals.

This will be the fifth meeting of Trenton and Wellington—the Golden Hawks have won three of four previous matches this season, though all but one have been decided by two or fewer goals.

On Sunday the Dukes welcome Cole Murduff and the Lindsay Muskies to Wellington for the first time this season. Murduff toiled for parts of two seasons with the Dukes before the Peterborough Petes signed him to the OHL club. Now Murduff is back in the OJHL but with Lindsay.

Despite the combined talent of the Muskies and the former Peterborough Stars, the Muskies are finding it tough going in the North Division with a below .500 record.