Dukes fall in double overtime in Minden

Story by Brock Ormond

Photo: OJHL Images/Wellington Dukes

A thrilling game of big momentum swings ended in a double overtime loss for the Wellington Dukes on Saturday.

Chase Lefebvre’s second of the game was the winner with 46 seconds left in the fifth period as the Haliburton County Huskies edged the Dukes 5-4.

The Huskies pounced on the Dukes early with two quick goals, Deandres DeJesus sniping off a drop pass at 4:42 and Lefebvre cutting through the Wellington defence to finish off an individual effort at 7:15.

Ben Vreugdenhil got Wellington back within a goal about halfway through the first when he took a quick pass from Kyle Kavc and rifled a shot past Huskies goalie Tyler Hodges for his 15th of the year

With a little more than two minutes to go in the frame, newcomer Zennon Edwards buried a pass from Jayden Levesque for his first goal as a Duke and 12th of the season to knot the score at two.

Carson Littlejohn cashed in the only marker of the second period, scoring his fifth of the season and first as a Duke against one of his old teams from Levesque to put Wellington in the lead going into the third.

The Dukes jumped ahead by two on a powerplay goal from Ryan Schaap (21st of the season) after Cory Jewitt and Zander Latreille cycled the puck to the net.

The Huskies started their comeback with a Tai York goal at 10:14, then a Wellington penalty cued up the tying goal on a point shot that found its way through Dukes goalie Jacob Brown off a Haliburton stick with just over a minute to go in regulation.

After a scoreless first overtime, Lefebvre got a jump on a Wellington defender in the three-on-three second overtime, went to the backhand and roofed a shot over Brown to send the SG Nesbitt Memorial Arena into a frenzy.

That key extra point puts the Huskies seven points up on Wellington for third in the East Conference, with the Dukes record now at 25-12-0-2.

The team will next visit Markham at 2 p.m. Tuesday to kick off a busy week.