Leaky D

Dukes put up defensive gem on Saturday, a dud on Sunday

In the game of hockey, if you score six goals in a game, more often than not, your team is likely to win that match. Similarly, if you limit your opponent to a single goal, success is all but assured. Both things happened to the Dukes in a pair of games over the weekend, but alas, the team didn’t win either. And so the Dukes’ winless streak continues. But winless doesn’t mean pointless. The Dukes managed a 1-1 draw in Saturday’s game in Haliburton. It was the seventh game this season that the Dukes pushed into overtime. It was the second game that ended in a stalemate. Still, points.

STOUFFVILLE 8 – WELLINGTON 6
The Dukes’ defensive challenges were on full display in front of a hometown crowd on Sunday. Wellington actually jumped out to an early lead with Zach Carrier, Sacha Trudel and Ethan Murray making tidy work in the Stouffville zone. But a pair of quick Stouffville goals, including a powerplay tally, and the Dukes were on their back foot.

Then the top trio struck again. The Dukes went into the second period tied. Outshot, but tied.

In the second, two more Stouffville goals. The air was leaking out of the Wellington enthusiasm bubble fast. That is, until Landon Marleau and Evan Erwin bolted down the ice, short-handed. Marleau pass, over the defender’s stick onto Erwin’s stick. Goal.

Maybe? But a moment later, the Spirit struck again. The Dukes Will Mitchell snapped home a nifty feed from Zach Mascard. Perhaps? Stouffville had another response. The Spirit carried a two-goal lead into the third period.

But the Dukes weren’t done. A pair of Wellington goals, Blake Berthiaume’s first in the OJHL, and Marleau’s fourth, tied the game with just seven minutes remaining.

Wellington fans were robbed of the moment to celebrate in this wild and woolly bit of pond hockey. Stouffville took the lead back just 42 seconds later—as if they could play this game all night long.

Pulling the netminder didn’t help. Stouffville forced a turnover and put the dagger in this game.

Improbably, the Dukes had rebounded twice to tie the game. The team simply didn’t have the horses to repulse the determined Stouffville offence.

HALIBURTON 1 – WELLINGTON 1
Kyle Grasby was back on the Dukes’ blue line on Saturday after a month on the sidelines due to injury. Grasby’s absence, notably, coincided with the Dukes’ slide last month and into November.

But with a fortified defence corps—and perhaps another proven D man in the wings—the Dukes’ prospects may soon rebound.

And for 50 minutes, it appeared as though the script had changed.

Despite being badly out short in the first, Wellington found some juice in the second. Landon Marleau scored his third of the season from Cole Ellis and Liam Campbell. It looked like the single goal might be enough.

Colby Booth-Housego had turned away more than 20 shots through two and a half periods, but with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game, the Huskies scored to tie the game. Haliburton outshot the Dukes seven to four, but neither side managed to score in the two overtime periods.

UP NEXT: AT NIAGARA FALLS, AT AURORA AND COBOURG
These are three games the Dukes should win. Each of Canucks, the Tigers and the Cougars has a poorer record than the Dukes.

Niagara Falls has lost four of its last five games— three by wide margins. The Canucks are particularly vulnerable when killing penalties—having given up 26 powerplay goals in 21 games.

Friday’s game at the Falls will be the first time these two teams meet this season.

Aurora has a slightly better winning percentage than the Dukes, but most other metrics —i.e., powerplay percentage and penalty killing — Wellington is outperforming its record. Both teams allow too many goals—an average of 4.1 per game. The team that figures out how to shrink this statistic will likely move up the ranks.

Aurora beat the Dukes 7-5 in their last meeting in October.

Sunday’s home game against the Cobourg Cougars will be the first meeting between these two clubs this season. Despite considerable off-ice noise in Cobourg this season, the Cougars have managed to eke out four wins and a tie in their last ten games.