The worrier

Dukes win decisively but know Villanova won’t roll over

Dukes crafty forward Steve Evans ends up with the puck on his stick and a wide open net after pushing around a Villanova forward and leaping over a sprawling netminder. A tap later and the Dukes had a 5-2 lead and did not look back.

His job is to worry. Where some see a 7-3 win as a good way to start a playoff series, Marty Abrams, coach and general manager of the Wellington Dukes, worries about his team’s power play output. The team went zero for four power play opportunities on Sunday. It is not just one game that has him concerned. The Dukes have managed to score only two goals in 15 power play opportunities in their last four games.

“I like to see the balanced scoring we are getting from all four lines,” said Abrams, “but as we get into closer games in this playoff run we will need better production from our power play.”

The Dukes are the most disciplined team in the OJHL. They consistently lead the league in fewest penalties taken. But to take advantage of this mismatch, the Dukes must score on the power play.

Abrams is impressed with the breakout speed of the Villanova Knights.

“They have a very strong transition game,” said Abrams. “We heard this from our scouting folks and it they were right. They are very good at attacking in our zone especially three on two. We’ve got to find an answer.”

The answer, according to Abrams, is a more concerted backchecking effort by his forwards. Too many times on Sunday the Knights managed to slip through the Dukes’ defence, creating scoring chances.

These are the worries of a coach.

Wellington’s fans on the other hand celebrated a decisive win in the quarterfinals of the OJHL playoffs. Although, early on, it didn’t appear there would be much to cheer about.

Villanova started fast. The Dukes had early chances but the speed of the Knights breakouts seemed to catch the home team flat-footed. After five minutes of this, Villanova got a bounce, and the puck was behind Ruby.

Then, trying to slow down the Villanova forward, Darcy Murphy was caught and penalized for hooking. The Knights moved the puck well in the Dukes’ zone and seconds into the man-advantage scored to take a 2-0 lead.

Zach Blake continues to pace his team in the playoffs-always a threat on the offence and working hard on the backcheck. Blake scored the first goal for the Dukes on Sunday as his team overwhelmed Villanova 7-3.

The celebration was a bit too exuberant, a bit too soon. A few minutes later Zach Blake, proving that all shots on net are good shots, threw the puck on net from a sharp angle. In attempting to clear the puck with his skate the Villanova defender pushed the puck into the net. The Dukes were on the board.

The Dukes were a bit more wary in the second and a lot more physical. The Knights were suddenly on their heels. Seven minutes into the period, rock-steady defender Curtis Leonard pounded a shot from the point that sailed past the glove hand of the Villanova netminder and into the top corner of the net. That goal took the rest of the gas out of the Knights’ tank. The game was tied.

The Darcys were rewarded on a particularly hard-fought shift as first Murphy eluded his checker. He then dished to Greenaway in the slot who fended off another checker while firing a partially screened backhander into the net.

A minute later the Dukes were pressing again. The Knights could not escape their zone. Blueline Brendon Barletta fired a shot on net that changed directions en route. The Knights’ Jared Lockhurst made a great initial save but lost the puck underneath him. The referees could see the puck and would not blow the whistle. In wriggling around in an attempt to gather up the puck Lockhurst instead pushed the puck into his own net.

It was a tough goal, giving the Dukes a two-goal lead.

The Knights were spent. They would have benefitted from a time-out, but the second intermission was just a few minutes away. Enough time for opportunist Steve Evans to push his way down the wing, around the defender and toward the net. Stepping over the netminder he calmly collected his own rebound and slid it into the yawning net.

The Knights couldn’t let it go. As time ran out on the period, Villanova’s Zack MacArthur decided he might turn his team’s fortunes around by tangling with the Dukes’ Zack Jones. Jones wouldn’t bite and the teams went to their respective dressing rooms.

But on the opening face-off in the third, MacArthur, a defenceman, lined up opposite Jones, a forward. Jones knew something was up. His coach had just instructed the team not to get lured into a fight or retaliation, so Jones wasn’t going to make the first move.

He didn’t have to. The puck had barely dropped and MacArthur’s gloves were on the ice and he was swinging at Jones. But Jones soon had the upper hand, pounding the eager Knight with pneumatic regularity. Perhaps sensing the danger he was in, MacArthur refused to shed his helmet— a decision that didn’t reflect well up upon the young man.

Soon Jones had his man on the ice and the referees took over, ejecting MacArthur from the game and the next one as well.

Villanova played better in the third but could no longer keep up with the Dukes.

The Knights’ fleet-of-foot Matt Lorito split the Dukes defence early in the period and slid a knuckle ball under Ruby and into the net.

Brandon Kavaratzis has found his scoring touch in recent games, playing well with linemates Cam Yuill and Jeff Stanton.

But it wasn’t long before a Sean Rudy blast restored the Dukes three-goal lead. Then Brian Bunnett carried the puck into the Villanova end untouched. His shot was stopped but Brendon Kavaratzis was on the doorstep to slide home the final goal of the game.

Villanova will be better on Wednesday night. They play on Olympic-sized ice at York University which suits their strong transitional game.

To be successful, the Dukes forwards will have to commit themselves to getting back and creating pressure on the puck carriers—a task made harder by the larger ice surface. But then, nothing comes easy at this time of year.