Out of tune

Nick Devito scoops up the loose puck creating a scoring opportunity in the Dukes 5-3 win over Mississauga on Friday.

Dukes continue to search for goal scoring

The parts look fine. Abbott Girduckis has picked up where he left off last year—playing smartly and opportunistically around the net. Taylor Welsh has been strong in net. Andrew Coupland is leading a fast and balanced defence corps. Newcomers Nick Devito, Brandon Kosik, and Blake Peavey look like solid additions.

Peavey has dazzling speed, Devito possesses tremendous puck handling ability and Kosik always seems to be at the right place on the ice.

Yet despite all these talented parts, the Wellington Dukes are one and four, languishing at the bottom of the OJHL.

Mostly it is appears the parts are not working well together. Not yet. All the practice in the world doesn’t prepare the players for the speed, intensity and physicality of game action. It is here the Dukes need to get better.

The one-time blast on the power play is never unleashed because the puck doesn’t arrive on time or arrives in the shooter’s feet. The lead pass out of the Dukes zone doesn’t connect because the forward peeled off toward the bench. Unforced turnovers have been far too plentiful in the early going of the 2014-15 season.

These are fixable problems. And because this is the Wellington Dukes, they will be fixed.

Two important pieces of the Dukes’ forward unit have been sidelined. Marco Azzano and Dylan Mascarin are both hoping to be back in the Dukes lineup this weekend for the OJHL Governors Showcase in Oakville.

Two new additions to the Dukes’ blueline have also just arrived. Six-foot-two defenceman Francesco Tolfa dressed in the Dukes 2-1 loss to the Toronto Junior Canadiens on Saturday. Twenty-year-old Nathan Browne from BC also skated for the Dukes in that game.

The Dukes have two games and 10 days before they return to Wellington. Most fans expect the kinks to be ironed out before then.

DUKES 5 – MISSISSAUGA 3
It appeared as though it might be another disappointing night at the Essroc Centre last Friday night. Mississauga had a 3-0 lead, and the game was only 16 minutes old. It wasn’t pretty. Former Dukes defenceman Austin Broadhurst skated down the wing, stepped over the blueline and snapped a shot on net. An ordinary shot. Looking for a rebound. But the puck sailed over Welsh’s glove and into the net. This was a puck that Welsh grabs 999 times out of 1,000.

Broadhurst celebrated the goal against his former team as though he had won the Dudley Hewitt Cup. Moments later, a bad giveaway at the Dukes’ blueline resulted in another Mississauga goal.

Then a hard charging Mississauga forward skated around the Dukes defenders to the net. Shot. Rebound. Goal. Mississauga was up 3-0.

Brandon Kosik has a knack for finding the open ice.

Despite the lopsided score, the Dukes controlled the play during much of the first period, so no one at the rink that night was surprised by what happened next.

Before the period was over, Abbott Giruduckis redirected an Andrew Coupland shot into the net. Jacob Panetta’ ssecond period blast sailed just inches above ice into the far left corner. Then ,with the Dukes pressing, Erick Delaurentis carried the puck to the net. Sixteen-year-old Chase St. Aubin buried the rebound for his first OJHL goal.

The game was tied. All the momentum was with the Dukes. In the third, Luc Brown and Nick Devito combined to give Wellington the lead. Abbott Girduckis drilled a well-placed shot from the high slot just inside the left post to seal the win.

TORONTO 2 – DUKES 1
On Saturday, the Dukes travelled to Downsview to take on the Toronto Junior Canadiens hoping to build on the momentum gained at home the previous night.

Olie Lafreniere got the nod in net for the Dukes. But the Dukes guns went silent for the young netminder. Toronto scored once in the first and again in the second. Early in the third, Girduckis scored on the power play, but the Dukes would not get any closer.

Despite six power play opportunities, the Dukes came home with a 2-1 loss.

UP NEXT
The Dukes visit east division rivals, the Kingston Voyageurs on Thursday night. In four games, Kingston has three wins and a loss.

On Saturday the Dukes travel to Oakville for the OJHL Governors Showcase. Wellington will face off against Hamilton on Saturday and against Buffalo on Sunday.

BLIGHT’M UP
Braydon Blight has officially signed with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QHMHL. Blight patrolled the blueline for the Dukes during the team’s exciting run for the Dudley Hewitt Cup last spring.