The Haliburton County Huskies have their backs against the wall, trailing the Wellington Dukes three games to none in their best of seven, second round, OJHL playoff series.
It’s a must-win situation for the Blue and White tonight (March 30) at the S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena or the Huskies’ second season in the OJHL will draw to a close.
Head coach Ryan Ramsay said, “our message is your backs are against the wall, how do you guys respond as a group? It’s a character check. It’s a gut check. We won a lot of hockey games this year. We’re a good team. Just go out and play.
“I think the boys got together as a group Tuesday, so there’s no quit in them.”
Dukes 8 Huskies 0
The Dukes thumped the Blue and White 8-0 March 27.
It was all Welly on a night that saw them score four first period goals, followed by another four in the second frame.
The Dukes took advantage of a Huskies parade to the sin bin, with two powerplay goals in the second.
They also notched a short-handed tally.
Goalie Aidan Spooner was chased at 9:14 of the first after surrounding three goals on three shots.
Tyler Hodges came in to face another 45 shots, turning aside 40. The Huskies managed 29 shots but could not crack Jacob Osborne in the Dukes’ net.
Dukes 4 Huskies 3
On Saturday (March 25) the Blue and White got off to a 3-1 first-period lead.
Handed a powerplay at the 6:09 mark, it took just 41 seconds for Christian Stevens to snipe one past Osborne to get the home crowd into the game early. Boyd Stahlbaum and Isaac Sooklal got the assists.
Then, just 1:10 later, Patrick Saini found the back of the net, from Sooklal and Luca Rea, to spot the Huskies a 2-0 lead and what looked to be a rout.
It was short-lived, though, as Wellington answered back a little over four minutes later, at 12:09, with Luke Strickland beating Spooner.
But the sell-out crowd was soon back on its feet, when, at 13:05, Stevens popped his second powerplay goal of the period, from Alex Cunningham and Sooklal, to send the Huskies into the dressing room up 3-1.
But it was all Wellington from there as they roared back for the win.
Dukes 4 Huskies 2
On Friday (March 24) the series opened in Wellington with the Dukes taking game one.
Wellington opened the scoring at 8:56 before Sooklal tied things, from Stahlbaum and Saini. The Huskies took the lead in the second, on a Stevens powerplay goal.
However, Wellington scored three, third-period goals, including an empty netter.
Puck drop tonight is 7 p.m. in Minden.
