Dukes win game one

Twenty one seconds into the game and the Dukes had the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners hemmed in their own end. The puck cycled back to Kyle Paat, positioned at the high slot. Paat’s shot sailed inbound, waist high. Captain Erick Delaurentis got his stick on the puck dipping it past the Kirkland Lake netminder. Goal. The Dukes never looked back.

Dukes forward Luc Brown celebrates after linemate Matt Lippa powered a slapshot past the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners on Tuesday night giving the Dukes a 3-0 lead early in the second period. Brown forced the turnover at centre ice, passed to Lippa and served as decoy as Lippa scored. The Dukes won the game 4-1.

Kirkland Lake are a tough, hard nosed squad accustomed to pushing teams off the puck and creating opportunities through sheer physicality. But the Wellington Dukes are faster and when they their feet were moving were able to emerge with the puck more often than not—creating their own opportunities, largely keeping Kirkland Lake on the defence.

Even with rugged line mates Chad Thibodeau and Spencer Turcotte on his side, crafty Dukes forward Andrew McCann was a target for much abuse by the Gold Miners—largely overlooked by the officiating crew.

That said there were some crimes the referees could not overlook. A succession of Kirkland Lake players headed for the penalty box in the first period. Tripping. Hooking. High stick. Symptoms of a team struggling to keep pace. When the Kirkland Lake player closed his hand on the puck late in the first the Dukes had a five on three for one minute and 21 seconds. The Gold Miners, however, did a good job of clogging up the shooting lanes and blocking shots.

Forced to regroup in their own end, and with time running out, Mike Soucier scooped up the puck and skated end-to-end—around the Kirkland Lake team curling with the puck to the net. He looked as though he would cross the crease but skillfully lifted the puck short side. A gem. Dukes had a 2-0 lead.

In the second period the Dukes had lost a little foot speed. More hits were landed. It appeared Wellington might be pushed off the puck. But the line of Luc Brown, Soucier and Matt Lippa had been chugging all night long—never letting up the intensity with or without the puck.

Early in the period Luc Brown forced a turnover in the neutral zone and headed to the net against a lone defender. He dished the puck to Lippa on his wing. Brown headed to the net ready for the pass. Lippa saw daylight and fired a blast past the Kirland Lake goaltender

The steady stream of penalties for the Gold Miners in the first period meant the Dukes were due. Interference. Slashing. Slashing. The penalties teams take when getting pounded relentlessly.

With Kenny Murduff, brother to Cole, in the box for slashing the Gold Miners Damon MacEachern fired the puck on net from a bad angle in the corner. The puck was redirected past Tyson Teichmann. It would be the only goal he would allow in the game.

In the third period the Dukes were once again on the power play with Steven Deeg assigned to do battle in front of the Kirkland Lake netminder. The Gold Miners had done such a good job of blocking shots from the point—the Dukes shifted tactics moving the puck low to the wingers. From the corner Brian Bunnett featured a pass to Deeg. He jammed once. Then lifted the rebound over the netminder. The Dukes had a solid 4-1 win.

The Dukes outshot the Gold Miners 43-24—a good measure of the game.

Newcomers Braydon Blight and Kenny Murduff acquitted themselves well on the backend while Brian Bunnett and Matt Lippa made strong contributions at both ends of the ice.

Mike Soucier was up and down the ice all night—turning on the jets to chase loose pucks, avoing an icing call—and when the opportunity arose go end to end to score the game winning goal.

Kyle Paat was solid and Andrew Copeland gave the Dukes

Special mention must go out to Joe McKeown. Shift after shift he battled tirelessly in the corners against bigger, uglier opponents. He’d get knocked down. Pick himself up and throw himself back into the fray. McKeown’s name wasn’t on the game sheet—but he was a big part of the Dukes success on Tuesday night.

The Dukes face the Fort Frances Lakers tonight at the Essroc Centre. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

In other Dudley-Hewitt Cup action yesterday the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots handily defeated the Fort Frances Lakers 4-1.

The Lakeshore Patriots take on Kirkland this afternoon. Game time is 2:30 p.m.