Sad

Dukes fail to score in first two games of the playoffs

Wellington fans didn’t deserve this. Dukes’ players didn’t deserve this. I dare say the team’s GM and coach didn’t deserve this. But this may be the last Dukes’ game story before the season comes to a sad and disappointing end.

The Dukes failed to score in the first two games of a best of seven series against the Stouffville Spirit. You can’t win if you don’t score. But it isn’t as though the Dukes weren’t working. They were. They were dominating play for long stretches of both games. But the Spirit scored on their chances. The Dukes did not. And now Wellington faces elimination, as soon as this weekend.

GAME 1
Wellington kept this game within reach— until it wasn’t. Perhaps they weren’t ready in the early going, as the Dukes managed just four shots in the first period. They also gave up a goal in the period. But it was a more rugged and determined Dukes’ team that threw its weight around in the second. Wellington outshot the Spirit in the frame, keeping the puck out of their net, but failing to get the puck past Kyle Downey in net for Stouffville.

Stouffville kept chipping away. The Spirit’s Riley Pope scored early in the third. There was time for the Dukes to rebound. But it didn’t happen. Stouffville added a power play goal a few moments later. The Dukes had no response.

Game one went to the Stouffville Spirit 3-0.

GAME 2
A good crowd filled the Wellington rink on Sunday afternoon. But the signs weren’t good early on. Most notable was that GM and coach Kent Lewis was alone behind the bench (aside from trainer Caitlin McCuaig).

The Dukes dominated the early going. Working hard. Checking hard. Winning battles on the wall. Getting back. Clearing the zone. All the things that win hockey games. But none of the Dukes’ chances found the back of the net.

The first shot on net beat Jacob Brown—a high wrister from the top of the slot. Brown swatted away the Spirit’s second shot, fired from the neutral zone. The Dukes were killing a pair of penalties— including a too many men infraction— when the third shot came. The Spirit’s point shot was tipped on its way into the Dukes net. There was nothing Brown could do.

But the Spirit were scoring on their chances and the Dukes could not. It would continue this way for another four Stouffville goals. Yet the Dukes players never gave up the fight. But there is a feeling that evelops teams when universe is lined up against them. Team structure gives way to individual’s trying to do too much. When players try to strap the team on their backs. It is understandable. Heroic even. But it doesn’t work. And the unravelling makes things worse.

Dukes fans hung around to the end, but the outcome had been clear for at least two periods.

UP NEXT: GAMES 3 AND 4
The Dukes travel back to Stouffville on Thursday evening. The Spirit enjoy support from a solid fan base—many of whom made the trip to Wellington on Sunday afternoon. Before then, Wellington will have to figure out how to beat the Spirits’ netminder—if it hopes to square this series.

On Friday, the Dukes host game four. The significance of this match will be clear to everyone. In any event, I expect a rousing crowd to celebrate their Dukes.

If needed, game five is set for Sunday in Stouffville and game six is back in Wellington on Monday with a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.