Home-ice disadvantage

Trenton leads conference final 2-1

The Wellington Dukes will have to win in the Dukedome if they hope to advance from the OJHL’s South/East Conference. So far, neither Trenton nor Wellington has managed a home win in this series. That must change for Wellington.

The Dukes might be forgiven for suspecting the Golden Hawks might be close to breaking after game two in Trenton. The Golden Hawks had played close, but the Dukes controlled the play for much of the game. But Game three in Wellington on Monday proved there is still considerable fight in Trenton.

It manifested itself in a tough, grinding, and physical game. Several times the game was halted for the trainers to tend to a fallen player and assist them off the ice. The Golden Hawks are more accustomed to this kind of hockey.

The Dukes, meanwhile, tend to turn that aggressiveness into opportunities. And so it was that midway through the third, the Golden Hawks pushed deep into the Dukes’ zone, creating a good scoring chance. But David Campbell found the puck, and made a smart relief pass over to Ryan Cutler in the opposite corner. Cutler sent a missile one hundred feet onto the stick of Ryan Smith, streaking up the right wing. He was past the defencemen. Shift and dangle. The Dukes had the lead.

And so the pattern was set. Golden Hawks pushed, and the Dukes turned it around. But by the midpoint in the second, the space between Trenton players and Dukes’ defenders was growing. The Golden Hawks were being allowed a bit more ice. The Dukes overpursued the puck carrier and neglected Jaden Raad on the opposite wing. Pass. Wide open net. The score was tied. A rare breakdown in Dukes’ discipline.

Then the killer. Corbin Roach was forechecking. Hard. Everything he does, he does at 11. Stiff check into the boards. The Golden Hawk slumped to the ice, and Roach was sent to the box for boarding—something that happens 100 times in a game—but in this case, something about Roach’s check was deemed across the line.

Then a bizarre goal. They happen. The Dukes were breaking out of their zone in an orderly manner. Something they’ve done thousands of times in games and practice. But suddenly, the back pass was in no man’s land—high in the slot before Osborne. No Dukes back.

Trenton’s Ryan Holmes scooped up the loose puck. Deked and slid the puck through Osborne’s feet. It was a fluke. It happens.

But a two-goal hole was daunting. Yet, the Dukes remained poised. A newfound urgency propelled a spate of scoring chances. Then three and a half minutes remaining, Julien Jacob scored to draw the Dukes within a goal of tying the game.

Wellington waited to pull Osborne—confident the five skaters could equalize this game. But with 48 seconds remaining, the Dukes opted for the extra attacker. A mix-up on the entry. Trenton’s Dylan Grube scored on the empty net.

It wasn’t a good outcome—but not a disaster either. The Dukes know they have the weapons to defeat the Golden Hawks. They also know that if they allow their structure and discipline to go slack, Trenton will capitalize.

What happens next in Trenton on Wednesday (tonight) will be a critical indicator.

GAME 1 DUKES 1 – TRENTON 3
The Dukes looked good in game one. Tight, hardworking, and disciplined. Wellington had the advantage of a week’s rest and practice. Trenton was rolling off a tough overtime game seven victory in Toronto three nights earlier. Yet these two teams fought hard in every contest for the puck. In every corner. In the neutral zone. In the slot. Both teams kept their feet moving—ensuring their opposite was not afforded any time or space from which to make a play.

And so the teams battled through two periods. Neither squad was giving anything away. The only worrying bit was that the Dukes had failed to capitalize on four power play opportunities in the first frames.

Then early in the third, the Golden Hawks manufactured a transition rush that wasn’t slowed in the neutral zone. Some nice passing, and the puck was behind Jacob Osborne. Yet, the Dukes were outshooting the Golden Hawks and getting better scoring opportunities. Eleven seconds later, Matheson Mason fired a sharp-angle shot from the corner. Lucas LaPalm was in the slot to tap home the equalizer.

Another Dukes power play. Nothing. Then, at last, a penalty to the Dukes. Trenton moved the puck around the outside. To Adam O’Marra on the right point. He slid down to the top of the face-off circle and sniped a shot, top corner far side—where Grandma keeps her Olympic coins. A power play goal.

The Golden Hawks scored an empty net goal late and celebrated grandly—supported loudly by a large Trenton contingent of fans who had travelled to Wellington for the game.

GAME TWO DUKES 4 – TRENTON 1
It was a different game on Sunday in Trenton. Both teams knew they had to stay close—to keep their feet moving. But Wellington proved better at staying with the game plan. Midway through the first, Dukes’ dynamo Corbin Roach drew a Trenton penalty—the Golden Hawks were unable to contain Wellington’s Tasmanian devil. On the ensuing power play, the Dukes managed, at last, to convert. Captain Vreugdenhil powered to the net. Matheson Mason tucked in the rebound.

Early in the second rifled a blast through the glove hand of the Trenton netminder, Ben Bonisteel. A moment later, however, Golden Hawks forward Zev Podolski ripped a shot past Osborne.

By the third, the Dukes were carrying the play. Lucas LaPalm, Matheson Mason and Edward Moscowitz were controlling the play when they were on the ice. It was only a matter of time.

Then, Moscowitz beat Bonisteel—short side. Seconds later, another by Moscowitz, again assisted by LaPalm and Mason. Through the feet of Bonisteel.

The Dukes battened down the defence and skated home to a 4-1 win, in front of a capacity crowd of fans.

UP NEXT: GAMES 4, 5, 6 AND 7
The rest of the series is a sprint. Game four is tonight (Wednesday) in Trenton. Games 5 will be back in Wellington on Friday night. If a game six is needed, it will be in Trenton on Sunday night. Then the teams will turn right around for game 7 in Wellington—if the series hasn’t been sorted yet.