The North York Rangers came close to giving away a five-goal lead to the Wellington Dukes, but did just enough to escape with an 8-6 victory.
North York led by five goals at one point and ended with the victory. The largest advantage in the game came when the Rangers’ Keegan Blasby scored on the power play at 1:51 in the third period to put North York up 7-2.
The Rangers got the win with help from a great game by Fedor Rudakov, who had one goal and three assists. Rudakov scored 4:39 into the first period to make the score 1-0 North York. Louis Kereakou assisted on the tally.
North York kept Wellington’s goalie busy throughout the game, and Anthony Popovich made 24 saves on 32 shots. The Rangers outdid their season average for goals scored. This season, North York averages 3.8 goals per contest. The Rangers got an offensive boost from their blueliners, who contributed two goals during the game.
North York also got points from Jeremy Szabo, who also grabbed one goal and one assist and Nick Campoli, who also had one goal and one assist. North York also got a goal from Nick Zanette as well. In addition, North York received assists from Joshua Dame, Jonathan Hampton, Ryan Takamatsu, and Luke Hincenbergs, who each chipped in one and Tyler Currie and Ryan Hunt, who contributed two each.
The Dukes forced North York goalie Jett Alexander to work between the pipes, taking 48 shots. Wellington found the back of the net more times than it usually has this season. The Dukes average 3.2 goals per game.
Wellington was helped by Brodie Butt, who racked up one goal and two assists. Butt scored 12:36 into the third period to make the score 7-5 North York. Jacob Panetta provided the assist. Wellington additionally got points from Luc Brown, who also finished with two goals and two assists to lead the team in points and Ben Sokay, who also registered one goal and one assist. Others who scored for Wellington included Chase St Aubin and Dylan Mascarin, who scored one goal each. Other players who recorded assists for Wellington were Justin Bean, who had one and Justynn Steven, who had two.
Jett Alexander made 42 saves for the Rangers on 48 shots. North York incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. The Dukes incurred 12 minutes in penalty time with six minors.
