Forgettable

Dukes drop three games in a late-season swoon

Perhaps the best thing to happen to the Dukes over the past week was a snowstorm. The threat of blizzards postponed the scheduled match in Aurora on Saturday. Otherwise it was a dismal few days in Dukesland.

MILTON 8 – DUKES 3
Milton pummelled the Dukes on Tuesday. The Menace jumped out to a 6-1 lead by the end of the second—including a goal from former Dukes blueliner Graeme MacAuley. Ethan Murray scored a pair of goals, while Zennon Edwards added a third, but that is all the good news from this game. Fifteen-year-old Cole Vreugdenhil took the loss in the Dukes’ net. Despite a stellar season in Triple-A it was a rough first outing in the OJHL.

PICKERING 7 – DUKES 2
Matters were little improved on Friday night in Wellington. Dario Cantini was in the net for the first time since an injury took him out of the game on January 30. The challenge—at least in the first two periods— wasn’t netminding but rather an inability by the Dukes to finish their chances and to turn scoring opportunities into goals.

The Panthers were as surprised as anyone that they were up 2-0 after the first period. Though it may not be as big of a surprise as it seems, the Panthers have won all five games in February. Pickering has a firm grip on the eighth and final playoff spot in the East Conference—with an eye on jumping over Cobourg to avoid Trenton in the first round of the playoffs.

Jared McNeil and Jayden Levesque responded in the second period with power play goals. But Pickering had added another to hold a one-goal lead. The game was in reach for the Dukes. And then it wasn’t. Four Panther goals in the third.

NO VALENTINES FOR WELLINGTON
Saturday’s scheduled game in Aurora was postponed, leaving just an afternoon game on Family Day for the Dukes to find some redemption.

TRENTON 5 – DUKES 4 OT
The Dukes certainly made this game interesting. Exciting even. After falling behind by a pair of goals early in the game, scored by former Dukes Corbin Roach and Trevor McDowell, the Dukes settled down and rattled off four straight goals. Ethan Murray and Tyler Tsoukalas scored even strength, while Jared McNeil and Cory Jewitt notched power play goals. Midway through the third period, the Dukes led 4-2. But they’ve seen this movie before.

With seven minutes remaining Trenton’s David Fournier scored short-handed to draw his team within a goal of tying the game. It was the second shorty Wellington gave up in the game. Then, with the Golden Hawks netminder replaced with a forward, Trenton scored to tie the game.

Three minutes into overtime, Fournier beat Jacob Brown in the Dukes net.

The Dukes showed some compete in this game—now they must work at bringing it home.

UP NEXT: ST. MIKES, TRENTON AND NORTH YORK
On Friday, the Dukes welcome another team on a five-game heater. The St. Michael’s Buzzers are just four points back of Wellington in the East Standings. As it stands, they would be the Dukes’ first-round opponents.

The Dukes have won two of three previous meetings this season.

On Saturday afternoon, the Dukes host the Golden Hawks for a 1:30 start. Trenton was beaten 4-2 by the surging Haliburton Huskies last Tuesday at home. Before that game, the Golden Hawks hadn’t lost a game in the new year—a 13-game winning streak.

The following Tuesday, the Dukes travel to North York to visit the Rangers for the fourth and final time this season. The Rangers have won just five games this season—the last winning game was an overtime victory over Markham in the first week of January.