Back on track

Spencer Turcotte scored a pair of goal and added an assist leading his team to a 6-1 victory in Pickering on Friday night.

Campbell sets things right

It didn’t take long for Craig Campbell to get back into the swing things. The veteran playmaker was sidelined early in December after he was blindsided by a nasty check along the boards in Whitby. With Campbell out of the lineup, the Dukes lost seven and won three. Since his return the Dukes have won three straight. Campbell is making up for lost time.

He returned to the ice on Friday night in Pickering where he picked up an assist as his team domesticated the Panthers 6-1. On Sunday he scored a pair to lead his team past the same Pickering squad. On Monday he potted another couple as the Dukes downed Cobourg 4-1 on the road. Campbell is the leading goals scorer and point getter on his team, despite missing more a month of action.

With the three wins the Dukes helped solidify aspirations of reaching the playoffs. They are currently tied for sixth place overall in the North East conference with the Lindsay Muskies (the top eight teams in the North East qualify for the playoffs).

Wellington Dukes fans will have plenty of opportunity to watch their team down the exciting final stretch of the season. The Dukes play nine of their final 11 regular season games in the friendly confines of the Essroc Centre.

DUKES 6 – PICKERING 1
Spencer Turcotte scored twice and added an assist, leading his team to a 6-1 win over the Panthers on Friday. Erick Delaurentis potted one short-handed goal and assisted on another. Captain Jan Kaminsky generated three assists in the lopsided win.

Pickering emerged with the early lead, opening the scoring in the first period, but that just seemed to get the Dukes’ blood going. Jake Marchment tied the game before the period was done. Then the Dukes opened up the guns, scoring three goals in the second and a couple more in the third.

The Dukes badly outshot the Panthers 55-26 in the game.

DUKES 4 – PICKERING 1
It was Craig Campbell’s welcome home on Sunday night. And he didn’t disappoint. On the team’s very first rush up ice, Delaurentis barged up the wing before dropping a pass to Campbell. Campbell recoiled and slapped a shot from a bad angle past the netminder. No one on the ice can ever predict with certainty what he is about to do. He is a consummate playmaker and given his druthers would be just as happy for one of his younger teammates to finish the scoring drive. Yet just as the opposing netminder expects a pass—Campbell drills the shot home.

Matt Larose boasts the second-best save percentage in the OJHL—turning away 93 per cent of the shots he has faced this season. Since the new year he has allowed an average of just 1.4 goals per game.

Just 11 seconds had elapsed in the game. Before the period was done Delaurentis scored a short-handed marker, his second in as many games.

Midway through the second the puck bounced off the glass behind Matt Larose, landing in the slot. It was a gift to the lone Pickering player who snapped it high on the Dukes netminder.

Early in the third Delaurentis served Campbell again—and once again a strike. This time it was a bullet snap shot Campbell got away on a one-timer.

DUKES 4 – COBOURG 1
The Dukes travelled to Cobourg with some uncertainty. Curtis Hodgins’s team has underperformed through most of the season—but had shown signs of rebounding late in 2012 as some key skaters returned to the Cobourg lineup.

Wellington is also one of the teams the Cougars hope to catch to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Cam Nicoll scored to give the Dukes the early lead. Campbell scored twice in the third, opening up a 3-0 lead. Midway through the third the Cougars were able to beat Matt Larose with a goal. But Abbott Girduckis and Austin Broadhurst combined a few moments later to extend the Dukes’ lead and seal the win. Four defencemen (Kyle Paat, Jake Hetherington, Josh Finkelstein and Broadhurst) assisted on each of the Dukes goals.

Matt Larose went the distance in net for the Dukes. It was his third straight game in which he allowed just one goal. This weekend’s performance moves him back into the OJHL’s top netminders with a goalsagainst average of 2.54 and the second-best save percentage in the league.

UP NEXT: TRENTON AND AURORA
The Dukes welcome cross-bay rivals Trenton to Wellington on Friday night. Expect a loud and noisy crowd to cheer on their Golden Hawks in the Essroc Centre. This is the last time these teams meet in the regular season.

Trenton has dreams of winning the RBC Cup this year. The Dukes, on the other hand, are hoping for a good run in the playoffs and a great experience.

DUKES FANS WILL BE LOOKING FOR AN UPSET
Aurora could be the Dukes’ playoff opponent in just over a month’s time. The teams will likely look at this game as a test of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.