After a scoreless first period Kyle Hawlkins-Shulz got his first goal of the playoffs early in the second to get the Dukes on a roll, that one was followed exactly three minutes later by another one for the home side this time from the stick of Marc Senecal. Less than a minute later and just over seven minutes into the period Zach Morbeck made it 3-0 Dukes and the other Zach..Blake made it 4-0 Dukes after two and a long road for the Junior Canadiens to come back on.

More trouble for Toronto in the third as Marty O'Grady scored just ten seconds into the period and Kyle Crawford made it 6-0 Dukes a minute afterwards. This period would feature eight goals in all as Toronto scored the next three courtesy Jared Docking and a pair from Paul Chiasson but O'Grady made it 7-3 with his second, this time shorthanded, followed by one from Toronto's Mike Sicilia and the second of the night from the Dukes' Crawford which rounded out the scoring. The games goals number 5,6 and 7 came in a two-minute span and numbers nine to twelve came in a span of less than three minutes..sounds like good old Central Division hockey which must have the likes of the Raiders, (and Blades), Vees and Otters licking their chops!

Ninety one shots in the game and just seven minor penalties. Marc Senecal had a four point night for Wellington. Chris Ayotte had three helpers. Chiasson and Skylar Quinn both tallied three points for the Junior Canadiens.

Even with the small contingent of Tornto JC fans, and Dan Cameron with his own air horn on the bench, the noise level was no match for when the Dukes stepped onto the ice to begin their Central Division Final with the Toronto Junior Canadiens at the Duke Dome tonight and the fans were treated to top notch hockey.

Under 3 minutes into the game, Toronto forward Cody Smith went awkwardly head first into the boards which led to a lengthy stoppage. Trying to finish his check on defenseman David Pratt, Smith's foot caught the goal post and send him sprawling into the end boards. Toronto trainers rushed to the aid of the player who laid motionless on the ice. Soon after, Wellington Dukes trainer Paul Robinson and team doctor Earl Taylor attended to Smith. Fortunately, Smith was able to skate to the dressing room under his own power but did not return to the game but was watching the stands.

After a quiet first period in which both teams looked as though they were getting their legs and feeling the opponent out, Wellington opened the scoring 3:34 into the second period. A great forechecking effort by Kyle Hawkins-Schulz led to a giveaway and eventually ended up on his stick after a goalmouth scramble to give the homeside the 1-0 lead. 3 minutes later, the Dukes would strike again, this time from Marc Senecal who took a lead pass from Kyle Crawford for a breakaway goal. Just 36 seconds later, Wellington made it 3-0 when Chris Ayotte tried to pass a puck out from behind the net to a streaking Morebeck when it deflected off Morebeck's skate and passed Marc Rinfret. That was it for Rinfret as Dan Cameron pulled him and put Edwards into the game. Just over 6 minutes after Wellington made it 3-0, the Dukes scored again, this time Zach Blake who pulled a great deak around the Toronto defender before wristing a shot to the far side of the net. With a 4-0 lead, it seemed the Dukes slowed up a bit and focused more on playing a defensive style game; something a team cannot do against a very offensively gifted Toronto team.

10 Seconds into the third period, Wellington increased their lead to 5-0 after Marty O'Grady made a great deak to beat Edwards after picking the puck up inside the near circle and busting in on goal. Just over a minute later, after a Kelly Jackson high sticking penalty, the Dukes went up 6-0 after converting on the powerplay on a 3-1 passing play which ended with Kyle Crawford scoring his first of 2 on the night. Being down 6-0, Toronto showed why they are never out of a game and why you have to keep the peddal to the floor if you are going to beat them. Jared Docking put his team on the board after a goal mouth scramble and when going to the bench for a celebration emphatically told his team mates "Lets go", a message that seemed to be heard loud and clear because 6 minutes later, Paul Chiasson made it 6-2 on another scramble in front of the net. With new life, Toronto continued to press in its high risk high reward style of play and having two floating forwards to keep the Wellington defense stretched. Paul Chiasson scored again 5 minutes after his first as he beat Defazio with a wrist shot from in close to close the gap to 3.

After Marc Senecal took a questionable interference call behind the net, things looked like they were fully swinging into Toronto's favour, but Marty O'Grady quickly put an end to that as he won the faceoff and skated into the Toronto end beating a Toronto defender to the outside before taking a shot that went up over top of Edwards and bounced off his defenders leg and into the net to put the homeside ahead 7-3. Michael Sicilia scored with just over 4 minutes to make it a 7-4 game, but Kyle Crawford scored his second of the night, again on a 3 on 1 rush that looked exactly the same as the first goal and had the same end result to make it 8-4 and kill any momentum that Toronto had.

Wellington went 1-4 on the Powerplay while Toronto was 0-3. Steele Dafazio picked up his 9th win of the playoffs stopping 37 of 41 shots. Marc Rinfret and Frederick Edwards combined to stop 42 of 50 Wellington shots.

Game two gors tomorrow night in Toronto.

DUKES_FAN


DUKES_FAN

Looks like the Toronto team that knocked the Waxers out, didn't show up tonight. It's going to be a long bus ride home.

Top notch hockey? 8-4 sounds more like a "turkey shoot" for the Dukes in this one.

Hopefully tomorrow night the Canadians can make a game out of it at home.

Some of the goals that were scored were world class goals and NHL goaltenders would have been hard pressed to stop them. High scoring yes, but if I do recall, even the Calgary Flames of the NHL lost a game recently to the Tampa Bay Lightnight 8-6

DUKES_FAN