Dukes’ offence erupts in victory over Pickering

Ben Sokay of the Wellington Dukes takes a faceoff against Owen Scuralli of the Pickering Panthers. Photo by Cam Kennedy, QNet News

By Cam Kennedy

WELLINGTON – The Wellington Dukes netted six goals in the second period in a 7-2 victory over the Pickering Panthers Wednesday night.

Chase St. Aubin and Brodie Maracle each contributed two goals for the Dukes in what was their third victory in a row.

The Dukes are currently in third place in the North East Conference of the Ontario Junior Hockey League after its victory at Wellington’s Essroc Arena.

The team’s scoring came from five different players, with 12 Dukes getting at least a point.

That was something that forward Luc Brown said was important.

“A lot of guys stepped up. We got scoring from all the lines,” Brown said. “It was nice to see. We’ve got a lot of depth.”

Both teams were held scoreless in the first period, with big saves coming from Panthers goalie Troy Paquette and Sam Tanguay of the Dukes.

Wellington assistant coach Ryan Woodward noted his team’s slow start and gave credit to Tanguay’s strong play.

“We weren’t happy with our first period. We thought that we were flat,” Woodward said. “We were lucky for our goaltender – he kept us in it.”

The Dukes began the second period with two goals 30 seconds apart from Maracle and Nicolas Mucci.

After St. Aubin made the score 3-0, Pickering responded with a goal from Doug Carter to break the shutout.

In the final 10 minutes of the second frame, Wellington expanded its lead. Three goals found the back of the Pickering net to secure a home-team victory.

The Dukes now look forward to hosting their rivals, the Trenton Golden Hawks, on Friday night.

The Golden Hawks are coming off a 5-2 victory Wednesday night over Oakville.

Coach Woodward said a full team effort will be needed against the Golden Hawks:

A game against a rival is a fun one to play, said Brown, who currently leads the OJHL with 66 points.

“It’s definitely a good atmosphere, a big rivalry with a lot of history,” he said. “We beat them last game” in Trenton. “They’ll be coming in here hard for sure.”

Friday’s game between the Dukes and the Golden Hawks gets underway at 7:30 p.m. at the Essroc Arena.