Bad night at the Essroc

Dukes shut out at home in Game 5

It was quick. There was, at least, that small mercy in the Dukes, loss to Cobourg in Game 5 on Tuesday night. The game was just a minute old when Chad Thibodeau was sent to penalty box. Fifty-two seconds later the Cougars scored on the power play. It turned out to be the winning goal—but not Cobourg’s last.

The Dukes earned a pair of back-to-back powerplays but could not find the equalizer. Then another. Nothing. Late in the frame the Dukes Austin Broadhurst was penalized for slashing. The Cobourg powerplay struck again.

The Dukes had been outplayed in the first. But in the second they came out with an extra stride. They won some key battles along the boards, hemmed the Cougars in their own end and generated some good scoring opportunities.  But nothing the Cobourg net.

Then on Cobourg’s first bit of pressure in the second frame, they won the battle in the Dukes crease. The puck wasin the net. The game was clearly headed in the wrong direction. But it was about to get much worse.

Thibodeau had been having some good luck picking off forwards exiting their own zone from his perch on the blueline. His large frame and eagerness to use it, had levelled more than a few Cobourg puckhandlers. It was a move made once too often. Thibodeau braced himself for the check—as the the Cougars’ Kenzie Smith slid the puck one way , and dashed the other around the Dukes defenceman, now standing still. Smith raced down the wing, picked up the loose puck from deep in the Dukes corner and flung it toward the net. A stupid angle. A seemingly wasted shot. The puck slid through Tyson Teichmann. 4-0. The game was effectively over, with a period and a half to play.

Before the second period was done—another puck eluded Teichmann.

In the third, the Dukes racked up more penalties but nothing else on the scoresheet.

The Cobourg Cougars went home with the win and a 3-1 grip on the series.

The Dukes will have a couple days to rest and prepare for game 6 in Cobourg on Friday night. They will need it.