Round 2

Dukes face Whitby in division final

It’s Wellington versus Whitby in Round 2 of the OJHL playoffs. On Friday night, the Dukes downed the East Division regular season champions, Cobourg Cougars, in five games earning their place in the Division Final. The Fury defeated the Trenton Golden Hawks on Sunday to advance to face Wellington.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After trading wins in the first two games of the series, Cobourg unravelled in front of their hometown crowd in Game 3. Eleven power plays gifted to the Dukes. Three power play goals. The Dukes won that game 6-1. It was crushing victory for Wellington.

But the Cougars were only down one game. A strong bounce-back in Wellington might have put memories of Game 3 behind them.

And it seemed, early in the match on Thursday, Cobourg might do just that. The Cougars scored just 12 seconds into the game. Another goal just 40 seconds later. The game was barely a minute old and the Dukes had spotted the Cougars a two-goal lead.

Three minutes later a slashing penalty put the Dukes down a player for two minutes. Another Cobourg goal. It was a terrible start for the hometown team. It had the potential to spin out of control.

The Dukes’ Daniel Panetta holds his ground while looking to redirect the inbound shot in Cobourg on Friday night. PHOTO: CEILIDH MCDONALD

But then something happened. Something undefined but powerful. Calmly and deliberately the Dukes began taking the game to Cobourg. In every aspect of the game. Moving the puck crisply. Winning the battles along the wall. Forechecking relentlessly. Racing back to thwart the Cobourg rush. There were no histrionics, no flailing about. Just a workmanlike approach to resetting this game.

After falling behind 3-0, the Dukes dominated the remainder of the period. Elijah Gonsalves scored midway through the frame putting Wellington on the board. But despite out-working Cobourg, the Dukes could not close the gap in the second period.

Seconds into the third that changed. Daniel Panetta scored to narrow the Cobourg lead to a goal. Cobourg regained the two-goal margin midway through the period. But everyone in the rink could feel the ice tilting in Wellington’s favour. The Cougars were gassed. Andrew Rinaldi scored. 4-3. The Dukes pressed. With 92 seconds left in the game, Quinn Hanna scored to tie the game at four goals apiece.

Tyson Gilmour won the next face-off. Hanna carried the puck into the Cobourg zone and rifled a shot on net. Rebound came right to Gonsalves. The Dukes came all the way back to win this game. Fans were on their feet in jubilation.

For Cobourg, there was no coming back from this game.

SERIES WINNER
Game five on Friday was made more interesting than it needed to be. The Dukes set the pace early on, putting the Cougars back on their heels and keeping them there. But seven Dukes penalties led to three Cobourg goals in this game.

When the Dukes forward Logan White scored a highlight goal early in the second, giving the Dukes a 3-1 lead, it seemed this game might settle into a quiet farewell for the hometown Cougars. But then came a Cobourg power play goal. Then a flukey goal. Suddenly the game was tied.

Early in the third, another Dukes penalty. But soon Dukes defender Hanna had the puck, hitting Gilmour streaking up the middle with a pass. Goal. Short-handed.

Cobourg still had a chunk of time with the man-advantage and used it to restore the tie. The third period ended in a 4-4 draw. Overtime.

Systematic: Dukes forward Jacob Thousand finishes his check in the Dukes zone, ending a Cobourg rush. PHOTO: KATHLEEN SABYAN

To be clear, the Cougars had some good chances to win this game. Both in the third and in overtime. But it was the Dukes who wanted the puck more. As such it was Ben Woodhouse who won the battle for the puck along the boards in the Cobourg zone. He drilled a pass onto Rinaldi’s stick, who was hovering around the blue paint in front of Cobourg’s netminder Dershahn Stewart. Zig and zag and the puck was in the net. The Dukes won the game on Rinaldi’s goal and the series.

UP NEXT: WHITBY
The Fury are a hard-nosed team that gets balanced production from front and back ends. They have a strong penalty killing unit and a good netminder in Luke Pearson.

In the playoffs, their power play has come alive, scoring nearly 40 per cent of the time with the man advantage.

The Fury are a stronger team at home than on the road, winning three of their four games in the first round at the Iroquois Centre.

In six regular season games the Dukes and Fury split the series with three wins each.

Buckle up.

SCHEDULE
Game 1 – Thursday, March 14 – 8 p.m. in Whitby
Game 2 – Saturday, March 16 – 7 p.m. in Wellington
Game 3 – Tuesday, March 19 – 8 p.m. in Whitby
Game 4 – Thursday, March 21 – 7:30 p.m. in Wellington
*Game 5 – Saturday, March 23 – 7 p.m. in Whitby
*Game 6 – Sunday, March 24 – 2 p.m. in Wellington
*Game 7 – Tuesday, March 26 – 8 p.m. in Whitby
*If necessary