Winning ways return

Dukes get their defensive mojo back

On the Monday following a pivotal weekend, your correspondent will focus on the positive. That’s not to suggest there weren’t wobbly moments— especially on Sunday—but we choose to look beyond a bizarre game on Sunday—to recognize the good bits and what they may portend for the rest of the season.

First, the Dukes rediscovered how to play in their own zone. Mostly. It helped to get defenceman Kyle Grasby back in the lineup. His absence nearly perfectly overlays the Dukes’ losing streak. Another sturdy defenceman, Tristan Williams, finally emerged from a thicket of paperwork that entangled him from his departure from Powell River of the BCHL.

Both Grasby and Williams had an immediate impact on their team on the weekend. Williams scored a pair of goals while Grasby earned four assists in three games. Both players helped to solidify the Dukes’ defensive game.

It was also a big weekend for Liam Campbell. The 17-year-old forward scored three times and added four assists in the three weekend games. Ethan Murray had a big weekend, too, with six points, including three goals.

Overall, the Dukes rebounded to September form on the weekend. It should give Wellington fans a fresh injection of optimism. But it will take sustained performance to erase the oddity of Sunday’s game from fans’ memories.

WELLINGTON 8 – COBOURG 5
Sadly, the Cobourg Cougars are currently in severe disarray. Likely, a combination of fact and speculation has scattered the team that was assembled in September. Just three of the 15 skaters who dressed as Cougars on Sunday were with the team at the beginning of the season. Many of those who dressed on Sunday didn’t have names on their jerseys. Some didn’t show up on the official gamesheet roster.

It was strangely sad to see this proud rival humbled in this way. It likely led the Dukes to underestimate the collection of misfits.

The first period went pretty much as one might expect. The Dukes scored at will. But weirdly they allowed a Cobourg goal. Just a blip, it seemed. The period ended with a solid 6-1 Wellington lead.

Now, there is something about the game of hockey that relies on intensity for success. Intensity can’t be summoned simply by words or sheer willpower. It is innate in the contest—a struggle between relative equals. When parity isn’t there— intensity evaporates. It is natural. But on Sunday, it could have been lethal.

The Dukes settled into a back-and-forth affair in the second period. But Cobourg scored midway through the frame. Another late in the period. Okay. It was still a healthy lead. The Dukes took a sigh of relief when Will Mitchell scored early in the third. Surely the Cougars would submit. Instead, this collection of mostly pick-ups scored two more goals against the Dukes. Wellington had mostly squandered a five-goal lead.

Vince Albanese intercepted a pass in the dying moments of the game, with the Dukes down a man due to a penalty and the Cobourg attack bolstered by an extra player in for its netminder.

Fortunately, Albanese found Evan Erwin with the outlet pass. Erwin hit the empty net.

Wellington fans drew a breath. They would take the win. And hope for better days in Cobourg.

WELLINGTON 5 – AURORA 3
After an uneven start to the season, the Aurora Tigers have played well in November, having won five of their last six games. On Saturday night, the hometown Tigers jumped out to a two-goal lead early in this game. But the Dukes responded. Liam Campbell scored his eighth goal in 12 games with Wellington. Evan Erwin tied the game on the powerplay.

The Dukes took control in the second, with three quick goals from Zach Mascard, Vince Albanese and Ethan Murray. The Tigers found the Wellington net midway through the period. But the Dukes tightened down the defensive screws. They would not allow another goal.

Wellington headed home with their second win in two nights.

WELLINGTON 4—NIAGARA FALLS 2
It was a key win. The Canucks lost five of six games before Friday’s showdown with the Dukes. Liam Campbell scored the only goal in the first period. Niagara Falls responded with an equalizer in the second, but Captain Sacha Trudel scored his seventh to retake the lead.

Early in the final frame, the Canucks tied the game again on a goal that beat Royden Smith in the Dukes’ net. But shortly afterward, Liam Campbell scored his second of the game. He set up Mascards’ 10 goal of the season to seal the road win—the first win of any kind since early October.

UP NEXT: NORTH YORK AND PICKERING
The Dukes return to the Dukedome for a rare Friday night game this week. North York is in town. The Rangers haven’t won a game since they defeated the Dukes in early October. It remains their lone victory of the season.

On Sunday, the Dukes may have a more difficult test as they travel to Pickering. After a strong October, the Panthers have swooned of late, dropping three losses so far in November.

Your Dukes report will be in the trusted and always entertaining hands of Kevin Scanlon next week. See you back here in a couple of weeks.