On the face of it, a 14 game winless streak by the Wellington Dukes looks bad. As bad as any futile stretch of hockey the organization has turned in this century.

But digging a little a deeper, you find that in nearly half those games, the Dukes took the contest to overtime and either settled for a split of two points or lost in either the 4-on-4 or 3-on-3 sessions.

In two others, Wellington lost one goal games. In it until the bitter end with the goal pulled, the Dukes couldn’t muster an equalizer late.

In another, the opposing club picked up a late empty netter in what was ostensibly a one goal affair.

Of the 14 games, one could easily point to only four of them and say the Dukes were decidedly overmatched in the contest.

But after a dark period of competition where key injuries and bad breaks seemed as common as icings and offsides, dawn broke over Wellington this weekend.

They busted the slide with a 4-2 road win in Niagara Falls on Friday night. The next evening Wellington tamed the Tigers 5-3 in Aurora.

Finally, with a chance to sweep the weekend at home against Cobourg Sunday afternoon, the Dukes lit the lamp a half dozen times in the first en route to an 8-5 win over the Cougars.

Wellington bench boss Jacob Panetta said one of his players returned to the dressing room following a victory, saying they forgot how good winning feels. It’s been that kind of stretch in Dukesland.

“We started out with wanting to win the weekend and take two out of three,” the coach told the Gazette. “That was the challenge we laid out for ourselves. Once we got the win in Niagara Falls, that focus and attention to building on to our win carried us into Aurora and then at home, we knew we had an opportunity to change the narrative. With that weight off their shoulders, the guys really came through,” he said.

A Steady Stream to Sickbay

Coach Panetta said the team came extremely close in sprinkling a couple of wins into the 14 game stretch and points to veteran blueliner Kyle Grasby’s month long absence from the lineup as one of a few key missing pieces due to one malady or another. Fellow defenceman Ethan Fredricks remains inactive.

Wellington’s regular use of its taxi squad and Affiliate Player program has meant some players just breaking into junior hockey have been tasked with high leverage minutes.

In terms of the last line of defence, an injury to veteran Colby Booth-Housego in early October meant 16-year-old goaltender Royden Smith was thrown to the wolves night after night.

“I’m really proud of the way Royden stepped up these past few weeks knowing he was going to be playing 90 percent of the games while Colby was out,” Mr. Panetta said. “Facing stretches like this are so important to his maturation process and he really answered the bell for us.”

Clutch Perfromance

The Kingston Frontenacs draft pick came up big in the weekend opener, breaking hearts in the honeymoon capital of the world with 45 saves against the Canucks. On Sunday at home versus Cobourg, Mr. Smith didn’t need to be as sharp working with a sizable margin but still made 32 stops for his 5^th win of the campaign.

The clubs traded goals in the opening five minutes but Wellington beat a path to the Coburg net with regularity over the first 20 minutes. Tristan Williams and Ethan Murray both fired home a pair of goals while Zach Mascard and Landon Marleau also found the range for a 6-1 spread.

In the second, the Cougars potted a pair to inch closer at 6-3 but Will Mitchell’s third of the season just 38 seconds into the final frame proved to be the dagger Wellington was looking for. Riley Misa and Jaden Lyons had goals that made the score look a little closer than the contest actually was. Evan Erwin’s 7th into a yawning Cougar cage with under a minute left made the final 8-5.

Taming the Tigers

In Saturday’s contest at the Aurora Community Centre, Wellington fell behind 2-0 before they came roaring back to tie the contest late in the first. If anyone was looking for signs that the Dukes were skating with a fresh stride and new desire in their eyes, goals by Liam Campbell and Mr. Erwin were flashing neon in the sky.

Mr. Campbell picked up a juicy rebound in the slot and deposited the puck past a prone Matthew Humphries at 12:48 to carve the Aurora lead in half. Wellington was on the power play with under five minutes left in the first when, after some great puck movement, Mr. Erwin pounced on a wayward puck in the slot and pumped it past Mr. Humpheries at 15:42 to make the score 2-2.

Wellington carried the momentum into the second period and kept the offence rolling with three goals in the first ten minutes of the middle stanza.

Zach Mascard, Vince Albanese and Ethan Murray all had markers and that was all Mr. Booth-Housego needed as his 31 save effort made Wellington a 5-3 winner.

Finally Falling Our Way

Perhaps a harbinger of things to come, Wellington would open the scoring early in Niagara as Mr. Campbell converted off a feed from Mr. Mascard just 1:24 into the contest.

The clubs traded goals in the second with Ben Theron beating Mr. Smith at 6:37 to make it 1-1. But less than three minutes later, Mr. Gasby foiled a Niagara Falls clearing attempt and his flip pass across the Canucks blueline allowed Mr. Trudel time and space to pick the corner behind Dylan Bourque and reestablish Wellington’s lead.

The Canucks finally managed to get the game back to square at the 3:05 mark in the third but Wellington was quick to respond.

With the teams playing 4-on-4, Mr. Mitchell’s deft drop pass in the high slot area provided time and space for Mr. Campbell to tickle the twine on the short side behind Mr. Bourque to push Wellington ahead to stay at 8:58.

The Dukes added a measure of insurance when Mr. Mascard counted for his 10th of the campaign with just over seven minutes left in the game.

The Dukes are at Lehigh Arena for a rare Friday night home contest against North York. On Sunday, Wellington is back on the road when they travel to Pickering. The club closes out the month on Sunday, November 30 in Oakville.