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Dukes return to Wellington on the back of a three-game winning streak

The Wellington Dukes remain a puzzle. The team has, with Saturday’s victory in Whitby, now won three games in a row. Against the three top teams in the East Division. The wins came not from a wild, run and gun offensive outburst, but rather from strong defence and rock solid netminding.

In three prior losses, the Dukes had given up 13 goals on 89 shots. In the current streak, Olivier Lafreniere faced 118 shots, allowing just six goals behind him. The story is in these numbers.

Of course, great goaltending is tightly integrated with a strong defence. Newly acquired Joe Roy appears to have helped firm up the Dukes’ defence—hobbled by injuries to Tim Fallowfield and Zach Uens. Roy, an 18-year-old from Stirling, joined the team on November 7. Last year he patrolled the blueline for Whitby.

Adam Usinger set up the Dukes’ winning goal on Saturday in Whitby, winning the race for the puck and feeding Keenan Eddy with a tape-to-tape pass.

Dukes fans will, finally, be able to assess the newly resurgent Dukes at home this Friday. After being absent from Wellington for the past two weeks. On Friday they will face Lindsay, for the fourth time in a little over a month.

An opportunity to measure the Dukes at midseason.

DUKES 3 – WHITBY 2
On their return to the lineup after a game suspension each, Tyson Gilmour and Elijah Gonsalves made early amends in Whitby on Saturday afternoon. Early in the game, Gilmour and Gonzalves double-teamed the lone defenceman behind behind the Whitby net. Gilmour emerged with the puck. A quick pass to Gonzalves, who was, by then, drifting into a shooting position near the face-off circle. The puck was scarcely on his stick and the shot was away. In the net. The Dukes had the early lead.

A moment later the Dukes were assessed a two-minute minor for hooking. While they managed to kill the penalty, the Fury kept the pressure in the Dukes zone. A shot from the point found its way through a forest of bodies into the Dukes net. The game was tied.

was tied. Ninety seconds into the second period, a Dukes defender coughed up the puck after being knocked to his knees in his own zone. There likely should have been an interference call. But none came. Pass to the open Whitby forward. One on one with Lafreniere. The Fury had the lead.

A moment later, Frank Vitucci might also have been tagged for tripping. But instead he won the puck at the Whitby blueline, skated to the mid-slot, with Ben Woodhouse serving as decoy. Vitucci had time to pick his spot. Fired. Tied game.

Seconds later Roy was sent to the box for flattening Whitby’s Shane Bull behind the Dukes net. Sensing a chance to retake the lead quickly, the Fury turned up the intensity. But Lafreniere was simply remarkable. A series of spectacular saves. One in particular. Lafreniere kicked away a long low shot from the high slot, but right to the stick of the Whitby forward just a metre away. It seemed a certain goal. But Lafreniere stuck out the mitt and snatched the puck out of mid-air. The Whitby team skated away shaking their heads in disbelief.

Later in the second, the Dukes had the Fury running around in their own zone. Adam Usinger won the puck along the boards at the face-off dot. He had two targets charging hard to the net—Keenan Eddy and Jacob Vreugdenhil. He hit the far winger, Eddy with a solid pass. Shot. In the net. The Dukes had the lead again.

Wellington tightened up defensively through the remainder of the game. Well, mostly. Gonsalves earned a two-minute hooking penalty with less than minute left in the game—with his team clinging to a one-goal lead. The Fury played the last 51 seconds with the two-man advantage (their goalie pulled in favour of an extra attacker).

Tyson Gilmour doesn’t mask his disagreement the referee in a recent game in Trenton.

But Lafreniere, Daniel Panetta, Brett Humberstone, Quinn Hanna and Gilmour held the Fury in check, preserving the win. And building a bit of a streak in the process.

UP NEXT: LINDSAY AND MARKHAM
The Dukes have eked out only one win in three games against Lindsay this season. That lone win came in overtime. The Muskies have just a single win in six games since they last bested the Dukes on November 2. Yet, Lindsay is a better team than their record. And they have learned how to win against the Dukes.

This game will be an important character determinant for both sides.

The Dukes head to Markham on Sunday for another afternoon tilt in the GTA suburbs. The Royals are currently in second place in the North Division but with a below .500 record. Markham was on a four-game skid until Sunday when they skated past the Toronto Junior Canadiens for a 7-2 win. The Royals’ Nick Davis scored three times and assisted on two others. Zac Sirota earned five assists.

The Royals have a decent power play, so the Dukes will have to muster some discipline in this game. Netminding seems a weak spot for the Royals, with both goalies ranked near the bottom in terms of save percentage. So Dukes, put shots on net.