Trevor Cope returned to action from a serious injury that kept him out of the previous 9 games and it didn’t take him long to produce as he opened the scoring at just the 15 second mark of the first period. Chad Thibodeau extended the lead to 2 to 0 with a powerplay goal to complete the opening period scoring. An unassisted tally by 2nd Star of the Game Erick Delaurentis in the middle frame turned out to be the game winner as the Junior Canadiens scored twice to narrow the gap to 3 to 2. No scoring in the third as new Dukes goaltender Taylor Welsh picked up his first win facing 32 shots.
Steven Deeg, Mike Soucier, Andrew Coupland and Delaurentis picked up helpers in the win. The Dukes will now have five days off to prepare for a pair of home games next weekend. Friday the North Division Newmarket Hurricanes visit with a 7:30 PM start. Sunday, January 12th sees the South Division Oakville Blades make their lone trip of the regular season to the DukeDome with a 7:00 PM puck drop.