Setting a tone

A tough loss sets up a pair of critical wins

It was a cautious beginning to the game on Monday night—each team trading a goal in the first period. But Wellington broke the game wide open in the second with four goals.

I expect Connor Roach does everything in life at top speed. Full-on energy. So it was that just six seconds into the second period, Roach beat the Cobourg netminder, giving his team the lead. Jacob Vreugdenhil followed with another goal shortly afterward.

Cobourg got one back, but Lucas La- Palm tallied on the power play midway through the frame, giving his team a 4-2 lead. It was LaPalm’s fourth point in two games.

Matheson Mason scored shorthanded midway through the third. Ryan Smith padded the Dukes’ lead shortly after that.

In the dying seconds, the Cougars beat Ethan Morrow a third time. But this game had been settled much earlier.

DUKES 4 – HALIBURTON COUNTY 3
Haliburton County ought to be looking over their shoulder. The Toronto Junior Canadiens are so far ahead in the South/East Conference that the team has already secured a playoff spot. In mid- January. Neither the Muskies nor any other team in this conference is likely to topple them from the top spot.

Meanwhile, the second-place Muskies have been solid through 39 games with 28 wins, ten losses, and a tie that couldn’t be resolved in overtime.

But Wellington, Cobourg, and sometimes Trenton have been nipping on their heels. More intensely as of late.

So it was an important test on Sunday for both Wellington and Haliburton. The Huskies had the early jump, setting the pace and amassing shots and scoring opportunities. Yet Julian Osborne and the Dukes’ defence held. Wellington had chances in the first. Corbin Roach hit the post. The Dukes created a pair of great scoring chances on the penalty kill and a couple more on the power play, but the first period ended without a goal from either side.

On a power play, Dukes’ forward David Campbell roamed behind the Huskies’ net early in the second. Pass onto the stick of Jacob Vreugdenhil, poised in the slot. Fire. The Dukes had the lead.

A moment later, new Dukes player Ryan Cutler sailed through the neutral zone unchallenged. At top speed. He dropped the puck sideways to LaPalm and headed to the net. Cutler redirected LaPalm’s shot for a sweet, sweet goal.

But late in the second, Haliburton scored a pair to draw even. A moment later, however, the Dukes regained the lead when Jacob Julian hit LaPalm with a ridiculously long pass from just in front of his netminder. A one hundred and twenty foot long pass down the middle of the ice where the forward was waiting at the Huskies’ blueline. Unfettered, LaPalm buried his shot.

Early in the third, the Dukes mounted a brilliant rush into the Haliburton zone but failed to score. The Huskies turned that rush around, skated into the Dukes’ zone, and scored to tie the game again.

Midway through the frame, the Dukes managed to kill a 5-on-3 Huskies power play. The momentum swung back to Wellington. The Dukes turned up the heat. LaPalm fired an impossible shot from deep in the corner on the net. The puck found its way through the feet of the towering Huskies’ netminder.

With the lead restored, the Dukes didn’t let up, skating to a solid, thrilling win.

A signal, perhaps, to the Huskies that the Dukes are preparing to overtake them.

DUKES 0 – TORONTO JUNIOR CANADIENS 4
Where Sunday’s outcome was uplifting, Thursday’s tangle with the Toronto Junior Canadiens inspired humility. Coming into the match, the Junior Canadiens had lost just four games all season and had defeated Wellington twice.

It was a tight-checking affair as the Dukes held Toronto off the scoresheet through more than half of the game. Toronto did not score its second goal until midway through the third. Another followed. And an empty-netter.

The Dukes managed to outshoot the Junior Canadiens 20-30, but could not solve the Toronto netminder.

UP NEXT: CALEDON, COBOURG AND NORTH YORK
Another busy week for the Dukes. On Thursday, they visit Caledon to face the Admirals, who have suddenly found game. While they aren’t yet accumulating wins, Caledon is making games competitive— especially against teams taking them for granted. On Sunday, the Admirals pushed the mighty Junior Canadiens into double overtime before finally succumbing to the league’s best team.

On Friday, the Dukes welcome Cobourg to Wellington. The Dukes have won two of three against the Cougars this season. Cobourg was quiet at the trade deadline. The Dukes meanwhile added a defenceman, Trevor McDowell, and forward, Lucas Strickland. They traded Will Mitchell (Lindsay) and Zander Latreille (Leamington Flyers-GOJHL)

The Dukes travel to North York on Sunday evening. In three previous outings, the Dukes have had their way with the Rangers, scoring an average of nine goals per game. North York has failed to win a game in the new year.