Mired

Dukes lose another, caught in their own zone

The loss on Sunday stung more than others. The Lindsay Muskies wanted it more. They worked harder. Fought harder. For sixty minutes.

The Dukes had moments. Flashes of effort. Glimpses of the level of intensity required to win in the OJHL. But not enough of them.

Moving the puck out from their own zone remains an adventure. It means the Dukes must rely on netminder Royden Smith to put the lid on opponents who set up shop in the Wellington end and won’t leave until they’ve snagged a scoring chance, or three.

Penalties also continue to plague the Dukes. In fairness, Lindsay took their fair share in this infraction-pocked game, but the Dukes hobbled themselves when it hurt most. Five minor penalties in the third, just two for the Muskies. Seven of the 11 goals scored in Sunday’s game happened with a penalized player in the box. Six were power play goals—the seventh a pretty shorty to tie the game. But we’ll get to that.

With the loss against the Lindsay Muskies on Sunday, the Dukes slip a rung in OJHL East Conference to seventh spot. They’ve won just seven games in 20. Wellington is a better team than its record. Fans saw it in September. But this team has work to do to prove it to themselves.

LINDSAY 5 – WELLINGTON 4
The significance of the final score wasn’t lost on many Dukes’ fans, still reeling from the fall of the Blue Jays the evening before. Poking a finger into an open wound.

This game unfolded in the first minute. The teams need not have played the next 59 minutes.

The puck was deep in the Wellington zone. Several times the puck was on the Dukes’ sticks, but they were unable to clear the zone. Losing the cycle battles along the wall. Over and over again. Eventually, however, the Dukes did regain the puck, but overshot the clearing attempt. Icing call. Face-off in the Dukes’ zone. Lindsay won the faceoff. Tap back. The Muskie winger had a clear lane. Shot. Top corner.

The Dukes were starting this game from behind and bogged in quicksand when the puck was deep in their zone. Evan Erwin cleaned up a scramble in the blue paint with a power play goal to tie the game a few moments later. But two more goals from the Muskies—one a power play marker—restored and widened the Lindsay lead.

Landon Marleau converted a brilliant pass from Liam Campbell to finish a sloppy first period.

(Sidenote: The 17-year-old Campbell is a special player. When his linemates figure out their job is to get open on the rush, it sure looks as though Campbell will make them big-time goal scorers.)

A sober second period produced what might have been a change in the Dukes’ narrative. After several powerplays in which they had been relegated to the second power play, Captain Sacha Trudel, Zach Mascard, Zach Carrier and Ethan Murray were back on the first unit midway through the second.

The energized group dominated. Moving the puck. Losing the puck. Winning it back. Murray snatched the puck from the scrum on the wall. He skated across the ice just above the face-off circle. Saw a lane. Fired.

The Dukes had tied the game. It felt, for the first time in the game, that all was right in the world.

But in the third, the penalty parade delivered the Muskies a power play goal, enabling them to regain the lead as the period wore on. More penalties. Tripping. Misconduct. Then a double minor for kneeing. On this power play however, Carson Albert forced a Lindsay turnover in the Dukes’ zone. Outlet pass to Zach Mascard. The talented winger had a step on the Lindsay defence. Vince Albanese raced up the other wing. Mascard served up a lovely saucer over the lone defender’s stick, onto Albanese’s stick. He buried his shot, top half of the net.

The game was tied again.

But another penalty. This one was borderline. Dukes’ defender Cole Ellis was finishing his check behind Smith. The Muskie player crumpled to the ice. Two-minute penalty. Just under three minutes left in the game.

Lindsay scored just 19 seconds into its power play.

Dukes fans sat confused—unsure what to make of the spectacle. Like the night before in the Skydome, they knew it was bad. More disappointing than acute pain.

UP NEXT: HALIBURTON AND STOUFFVILLE
It is certainly too soon to be drawing such lines, but the Dukes game in Haliburton on Saturday afternoon is shaping up to be a must-win. Not in terms of the standings necessarily, but rather to stop the bleeding. Wellington needs to change the storyline—and Haliburton should be a place to do it. It may be harder to do in November than it was in September.

The Huskies have won five of their last 10 games. They beat the Newmarket Hurricanes and stayed close to Trenton. Split a pair of games with Pickering. After a miserable September, the Haliburton County Huskies rebounded in October. They remain one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league. However, this stat is offset by the fact that their netminder, Caden Nadon, has been solid through 13 games. The Huskies’ net got even better last week when it traded for Owen Edwards from King City. Edwards has the best goals-against-average in the league with a stingy 1.61. Edwards’ save percentage is also the best in the league at .951 (stopping 95 per cent of the shots he faces).

When his team starts finding the net, the Huskies may become a threat in the East.

The Stouffville Spirit started strong and remains a potent force in the East, behind only the assembled mercenaries in Trenton.

The Spirit must toil for a while, at least, without one of their better playmakers. Kieran Litterick has been skating in Baie-Comeau of the QMJHL and has scored a goal and notched three assists in four games with the North Shore Quebec team.

The Spirit have soundly defeated the Dukes twice so far this season. Rumours suggest the Dukes may get some defensive reinforcements in the coming week. Not a moment too soon.