Rock solid

Erick Delaurentis narrowly misses the net during a scoring opportunity in Friday’s 3-2 win over Trenton.

Sturdy netminding propelling Dukes’ winning streak

Where was Matt Larose last February? It would have been a different story for the Dukes’ playoff run had Larose been tending net for the Dukes last season. The 20 year old brings so much more than sure-footed puck stopping ability to this team—he puts a period at the end of a threatening rush. He steals the momentum from another team’s push. He rarely lets the puck get away from him. He smoothly gathers the puck and skillfully moves it to his defenceman in one motion. He kicks or swats away high-powered slap shots as if they were marshmallows at a campfire.

Along the way he has amassed the secondbest save percentage in the OJHL and is steadily marching up the ranks in terms of goals-against average. He is currently eighth. But in the seven games since the Christmas break, Larose has allowed on average just 1.57 goals per game. He will be closer to first when the season is done

He does all this with remarkable calm and serenity. He seems able to slow down time— never frantic, never caught running around. He seems always poised and prepared. Always ready. Never surprised.

Nor is he prone to grand fits of remonstration or self-flagellation when things go wrong.

He has been a gift to a young team still very much trying to find an identity. He cleans up the messes made by others. He fixes mistakes in his own zone.

His team knows the other side won’t score an easy goal. They can count on it. That feeling is infectious. It means the

Spencer Turcotte’s blistering slap shot gave the Dukes the first goal and the lead in Sunday’s game against Aurora.

Dukes can make a youthful mistake and the puck likely won’t end up in the net.

The Wellington Dukes have won all but one game since the new year. A big reason why is Matt Larose.

The Nanaimo native will play for the D1 Huntsville Chargers of the NCAA next season.

WINNING WAYS
The Dukes put together another couple of thrilling wins over the weekend to solidify a playoff spot by putting some breathing room between themselves and contenders such as Cobourg and Pickering.

As of Tuesday morning the Dukes had sole ownership of sixth spot overall in the North East Conference. The top eight teams will advance to the playoffs.

Making the wins sweeter is that they were won at the expense of the leaders of the East and North divisions—Trenton and Aurora, respectively.

DUKES 3 – TRENTON 2
The Dukes were ready for Trenton. It was likely the largest crowd of the season—many Golden Hawks fans had made the drive down the Loyalist Parkway. They were eager to see their team turn around a short skid in which the Hawks had lost two straight and hadn’t scored a goal.

It seemed they would get their chance. The Dukes’ Abbott Girduckis was tagged with a four-minute penalty for a high sticking infraction. On the penalty kill, the Dukes won the races for the puck, won the battles along the boards—not with size—but with tenacity.

The more the Dukes kept the Golden Hawks off-kilter, the tighter they gripped their sticks. And when the Golden Hawks got a shot away, Larose was there to swat it away

After getting nowhere with the man-advantage, the Golden Hawks decided to turn up the temperature—by focusing on punishing the smaller Dukes players along the wall. For half the period the Dukes had to be wily to avoid being run over by the much older and larger Golden Hawks.

Early in the second period the referee signalled that a Golden Hawk was about to be penalized. Confused, the Trenton defence eased up for just a second. It was just enough for Jake Marchment, grinding it out in the corner, to move the puck to Jan Kaminsky, who dished to Cam Nicoll in the slot. Nicoll scored to give the Dukes the lead.

Moments later Marchment found success grinding out the cycle low. Gathering the puck Marchment tried to stuff the puck short side from behind the net. It took three or four whacks but the puck climbed the seam and fell into the net for a two-goal lead.

The Golden Hawks scored shortly afterward— Trenton’s first goal in more than two and half games. They also had the momentum.

In the third, one of Trenton’s chief irritants, Loren Ulett, was taken down on partial break. He was awarded a penalty shot but Larose turned it away with ease.

But midway through the period Trenton scored to tie the game. It would take a shootout to solve the matter. Two of the Dukes’ three shooters beat the Trenton netminder—handing the East Division leader their third loss in a row.

For Dukes fans it was one of the most thrilling spectacles of the season so far.

DUKES 3 – AURORA 2
Sunday’s game followed a familiar pattern. Once again the Dukes jumped out to a two-goal lead in the second period after a scoreless first frame. But just as in Friday’s game the Dukes’ opponents, the Aurora Tigers, clawed their way back into the game, tying the game at two goals apiece by the end of the second period.

The Dukes gave up the first of these on a brutal giveaway deep in their own zone while on the power play. Once again it seemed the momentum was going the wrong way.

As the clock wound down in the third period it appeared the contest was headed for overtime. But with just 46 seconds left, the Dukes’ leading scorer, Craig Campbell, scooped up a loose puck deep in the Aurora end, and swept a low backhand shot toward the net. He was looking for linemate Parker Wood but the puck bounced off a defender’s skate and into the net—giving the Dukes the fortunate win.

UP NEXT: LINDSAY AND WHITBY
The Lindsay Muskies visit Wellington this Friday. It is another critical game with important playoff implications. As of Tuesday Wellington stood just one point ahead of the Muskies in sixth spot—though Lindsay has two games in hand over the Dukes.

On Sunday the Dukes travel to Whitby. It was in Whitby in December that Campbell was crushed with a blind hit that knocked him out of the lineup for more than month. Whitby has just two wins in its last five games.