Near misses

Two losses spoil a strong effort

Connor Ryckman was brilliant. That must be said before anything else. The netminder was at times simply astonishing on Friday night—stopping nearly everything thrown at him. Even as the puck bounced off his chest and seemed destined to fall into the net behind him, Ryckman snapped his glove behind his head, snatching the puck—saving a goal.

But it wasn’t just Ryckman— the entire Dukes team came ready to compete in Trenton on Friday night. Every line is skating hard. Toughing it out along the wall. Digging out the puck. Making a play.

Dukes forward Colin Doyle continues to impress with an unwavering work ethic. He is strong and seemingly tireless. One on one behind the goal with any player in this league, Doyle is more likely than not to emerge with the puck.

And so it was on Friday against the Golden Hawks. Doyle hammered away at the Trenton defender, came out of the corner and put a shot on net. It was stopped, but linemate Mitch Mendonca was on the spot to pounce on the rebound and score.

The Dukes’ lead sent the Trenton fans into a funk—broken only by the public address announcer shouting “Go Hawks Go” ad nauseum.

The Dukes’ lead held into the second period. That is when Trenton capitalized on an awkward line change. Confusion about the checking assignments allowed Golden Hawk forward Liam Morgan to waltz into the Wellington zone unfettered and unleash a blistering shot. Ryckman stopped the shot, but Trenton’s Michael Silvieri picked up the rebound and had time for two whacks at the puck before beating Ryckman who had been left twisting.

The Dukes regrouped around the astonishing play of Ryckman keeping them in the game. But with just a couple minutes remaining in the second period, Silvieri wristed a hard shot from inside the blueline, that slipped just under the crossbar.

The Golden Hawks had given their all in the second period and emerged with a 2-1 lead. The Dukes pushed back in the third. All four lines pressing the case deep in the Trenton zone.

Austin Labelle, perhaps the leading candidate for the hardest-working-least-rewarded Dukes player so far this season, burrowed into Golden Hawk players, some half again his size. Pushing. Poking. Grinding.

Early in the third, he emerged from the scrum behind the Trenton net with the puck. In desperation, the defender crosschecked Labelle to the ice. Still with the puck, lying flat on the ice, Labelle swept the puck back through the goalmouth crease to linemate Evan Foley. With a yawning net, Foley redirected the puck. Clang. The puck hit the post.

Rugged forward Kyle Prendel muscles his way through a pair of Golden Hawks checkers on Friday night.

Labelle was on fire in the third—going on to create three more good scoring chances. But no equalizing goal. Newcomer Dean Kiriacou had a chance to make his mark with his new team later in the period. On a three on two break, Kiriacou stepped over the blueline, nodded to his winger before firing. Clang. Off the crossbar.

Sensing the game was drifting out of control, Trenton tightened up and pressed hard late in the third period to save the win. Ryckman, again, was sensational. A defensive lapse allowed Silvieri a late opportunity to secure the hat trick. In all alone against Ryckman, it was the Dukes netminder that won the duel.

The Golden Hawks would go on to score one more before the game was over, but Ryckman was, by then, on the Dukes bench for an extra forward. By then he had stopped more than 40 shots.

If only.

DUKES 1 – OAKVILLE 2 OT
It was a vaguely similar story in Oakville on Saturday night. The Dukes outplayed the Blades through the first period, but were unable to get on the scoreboard—despite three power play opportunities. Early in the second the Dukes, pressing on another power play, coughed up the puck allowing the Blades to score a short-handed goal.

Brayden Stortz and Nic Mucci (sound familiar?) combined to draw the Dukes even with Oakville at a goal apiece.

Despite a succession of penalties to the Blades, the Dukes failed to pull ahead. In overtime, Oakville tallied 46 seconds into the period.

Two games the Dukes might have won—could have won—both go into the books as losses.

If only.

UP NEXT: AURORA AND MISSISSAUGA
The Dukes get a chance to make amends this weekend. On Friday, Wellington hosts the Aurora Tigers for the second time this season in the Essroc Centre. The Dukes beat the Tigers in the first two games of the season (one at home, one away).

Aurora continues to struggle, having won just two games in 22 starts. The Tigers lead the league in penalty minutes by a significant margin. They also have allowed the most goals in the OJHL with 109—16 more goals let in than the next worst team, the Pickering Panthers.

There might be a lesson here for the Dukes. The Panthers beat Wellington 5-3 last month. It would be a mistake to take Aurora for granted. It is risky playing teams only competing for pride.

The Mississauga Chargers are in a similar category. They occupy last place in the South Divison having got off to woeful start—losing six of their first seven games. But the Chargers have improved of late—winning three of their last five games. Sadly, Mississauga struggles to draw more than a 100 fans to its Port Credit rink.