Nobody asks how, they only ask how many. 

Wellington will remind themselves of this fact after ekeing out a 3-1 win over the North York Rangers on Friday. 

Still short a few key roster players, the Dukes’ defensive effort put them over the edge in a game that felt like a parade to the penalty box. 

“The rhythm in a game like that gets a little bent out of joint. When we don’t bring our A game on nights like tonight, it’s nice to see our B game get it done,” said Dukes Head Coach Jacob Panetta.

Slow starts continued to plague the Dukes in this one. North York forward Nathaniel Adams opened the scoring 1:44 into the first period. 

Fortunately for the home side, the momentary lapse out of the gate was enough to bring the best out of a depleted back end. 

“It seems backwards but usually when you don’t notice the defence, it means they had a pretty good game. I thought our defence stepped up tonight. We have two APs (Associated Players) in the lineup, they have been great for us and gotten better with each game they play. Having guys step in is huge, then players like Justin Doak and Presley Kelly have played big minutes for us,” Mr. Panetta said.

Three minutes after the Adams goal, Jayden Levesque equalized for Wellington. North York rarely threatened Dukes goaltender Dryden Riley the rest of the way. 

The powerplay went to work once again four minutes into the second period. This time Dukes leading scorer Landon Marleau was johnny on the spot, picking up a rebound out front before tucking it between his legs and finishing a gorgeous game winning goal. 

Marleau iced the game in the third and final frame with his second of the night to make it 3-1. 

“He’s a creative player and he’s got a knack for finding the back of the net. He’s played really well for us. He and a few other guys have really stepped up and won us games,” Mr. Panetta said.

Riley turned aside 25 of the 26 shots he faced in the win. 

Wellington will enjoy their first week off of the OJHL season before returning on Friday for a huge divisional matchup against the Trenton Golden Hawks.

The break means three days off before four days of working on their structure in the defensive end ahead of the Friday night showdown.

Puck drop in Trenton is 7:30 p.m. 

“It’s a long season so it’s nice to be able to let the guys get away and not think about hockey. It will then be nice to have four days of practice to really nail down systems work. We really want to nail down our D-zone. We don’t like to preach a lot of structure in our offensive zone, that’s where we want creativity. Our D-zone is something we want to look at,” Mr. Panetta said.