He who works hardest, wins

Dukes netminder Tyson Teichman has been sharp in the playoffs allowing an average of just two goals in the Dukes first three games.

Grit to determine the winner between Wellington and Cobourg

The Wellington Dukes are a better team than the Cobourg Cougars. By every measure, by every statistic, and at every position, the Dukes are more skilled, more talented and more productive. Yet at times, the Cobourg Cougars work harder, skate harder and check harder. And that, in the early going of the playoff series with the Dukes, has been the difference.

While this newspaper is going to press— game four of the best of seven series will be underway. Either Cobourg will have taken a 3-1 lead or, more optimistically, the Dukes will have tied up the series, two games apiece. To do so, the Dukes will have had to match the intensity of the Cougars—as they did on Monday night. That is the test of this series.

GAME 1
Gritty energy forward Mike Soucier is tagged with a high stick in the first period. Cobourg’s Mason Marchment steps in from wall inside the Dukes zone and fires a bullet past Tyson Teichmann. A power play goal. Later in the period, a missed assignment allows a Cobourg forward to skate unchallenged with the puck to the net. Buried.

The Dukes deserved better in the period—they controlled the territorial play and shots on net—but where it counted, they were down 2-0.

Abbott Girduckis got the Dukes on the board early in the second. But then came the spirit crusher. On the power play, the Dukes looked to draw even. But in gathering up the puck in his own end, Kyle Paat was descended upon by a pair of hard-forechecking Cougars.

Paat’s defence partner was caught in nowhereland. A Cobourg forward scooped up the loose puck, skated to the net, unfettered by any backchecking, and beat Teichmann with a shorthanded goal.

Still, the Dukes outshot Cobourg in the period. In the third, another Dukes’ penalty. Another Cobourg power play goal. The Dukes would get another shortly there after—but with a two-goal lead Cobourg went into shut down mode—breaking up every Dukes rush at the blueline. Promptly tossing out any dump-in attempt.

GAME 2
The loss in Cobourg set up the opportunity to tie the series in front of a hometown crowd in Wellington. The cold and snow did manage to slow down the Cougar’s fan bus—it didn’t arrive until the third period. It didn’t matter. Both teams had settled down into tight defensive hockey— tight checking, no blind passes, no odd-man rushes.

But as the series has grown older—the nastier forms of physical play has notched higher. Roughing. Slashing. Spearing. Head contact. Both teams battled long penalty kills. Shooters were kept to the outside. Few rebounds.

Then, with the nearly half of the third period played—the Dukes lost a critical battle below the red line behind their net. The slot area was well covered—but each defender picked up a winger, looking to cut off a pass. In doing so, they opened a lane for the Cobourg puck carrier to bring the puck to net. Shot. Rebound. Score.

That was the game. The Cobourg fans had arrived in time after all.

Despite another power play opportunity— the Dukes failed to beat Cobourg’s netminder Nathan Perry, dropping their second game in the series.

Skilled forward Alex Carnevale has transformed himself since joining a line with Andrew McCann—stifling the impulses that put him in the penalty box early in his tenure with the Dukes. With acrobatic McCann and hard-nosed Steven Deeg, Carnevale’s line is a scoring threat every time they are on the ice.

GAME 3
Back in Cobourg on Monday—the series, the season was on the line. Cobourg is too strong defensively to fall back three games to none. This was it. On unfriendly ice.

The Dukes were faster. More skilled. Worked harder. The results followed.

Alex Carnevale and Andrew McCann combined for the first of two goals in the game in the early going of the first period. The Dukes were in charge in every corner of the ice. The Dukes outshot Cobourg 15-8 in the first frame. Early in the second, Mike Robinson extended the Dukes lead on a setup by Joe McKeown and Abbott Girduckis.

Late in the period the Dukes had some bad luck. Cobourg’s defenceman simply fired a blind pass on net. The puck redirected off a skate and past Teichmann.

The Dukes would get that back on the second marker by McCann and Carnevale. Carnevale made the cross-ice pass while the acrobatic McCann went down on a knee to get away the one-timer past Perry.

By now, the Cobourg crowd and players were getting restless and frustrated. The referees wishing to leave it to the players—had largely kept their whistles in their pockets.

Even after Cobourg’s Mason Marchment levelled a vicious hit directed at the head of Erick Delaurentis, the whistles were quiet. The play went on as the Dukes captain lay slumped on the ice—clearly injured from the attack. The Dukes coach and players screamed for a whistle, a penalty call and a suspension. Eventually play was stopped, and Delaurentis was assisted off the ice. No call. No suspension.

Thus began the recriminations. Roughing. Roughing after the whistle. Et cetera.

With less than two minutes remaining— Cobourg pulled their netminder in favour of an extra forward. Delaurentis was back on the ice. Broke up a play. Scored an empty net goal.

Still with the extra attacker, the Cougars scored in the final minute. By then it was already over.

NEXT UP
The Dukes will have played on Tuesday night. We will post a report on www.wellingtontimes.ca immediately after the game.

In any event, the series will continue on Friday night in Cobourg. If needed, the series resumes on Sunday in Wellington. Puck drops at 7 p.m.