Rearguard Duff shows playoff stuff
BRAMPTON, Ont. – Nick Duff had to bide his time before seeing his first Ontario Hockey League playoff action, but the sophomore Battalion defenceman figures it was worth the wait.
Duff made his first postseason game a memorable one Friday night, scoring a goal in the Troops’ 7-5 road loss to the Ottawa 67’s in the opener of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal. The Battalion gets a chance to even the series when it hosts Game 2 at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Duff, acquired in a trade from the Kitchener Rangers on Oct. 21, was a member of Kitchener’s Memorial Cup championship team last season but didn’t see any playoff or tournament action.
“It was well worth the wait, and it felt good to get that first game out of the way,” Duff said Saturday. “It was a pretty intense game, and it was a big night for me.
“I had a lot of jitters going into the game and even after the first period I was still nervous.”
Duff said the game gave him a better understanding of what his Rangers teammates endured on their road to the OHL title and an eventual Memorial Cup triumph at Quebec City.
“I’m pretty sore today, and after only one game that gives me a better appreciation of the kind of grind the guys went through last year.”
Duff, whose goal was his first in a Battalion uniform after he recorded three assists in 56 regular-season games with the Troops, said seeing offensive-minded Kitchener defencemen Andre Benoit and Steve Eminger at work last season helped him.
“I learned a lot just watching and practising with them,” said Duff, who beat Ottawa goaltender Lukas Mensator with a shot from the blue line at 2:53 of the second period. “They’re among the best players I’ve ever played with.”
Another player who made an offensive splash in his first playoff game was rookie right winger Patrick Sweeney, who scored two goals.
“It was a great experience to play that game in Ottawa,” said the resident of Nepean, Ont., who also admitted to having been nervous.
Sweeney, who scored three of his eight regular-season goals in the schedule’s last five games, tied it 2-2 at 2:31 of the second period and gave the Battalion a 5-4 lead at 17:06 of the third. Linemates Tyler Harrison and Howie Martin, who was also making his OHL playoff debut, earned assists on both goals.
“Tyler and Howie have been doing a great job getting me the puck,” said Sweeney, who scored twice from the deep slot. “I know where I have to go to score goals.”
Veteran left winger Adam Henrich, who was held off the scoresheet, said the Troops were disappointed to lose while scoring five goals.
“Anytime you get five goals in a playoff game on the road you expect to win. I thought we played hard and we might have had some late breakdowns in our own end. We didn’t do a lot of things we’d been doing throughout the game, and it cost us.
“We got off to a good start, and everyone chipped in. I don’t think we got away from the systems that we’d been playing over the second half of the year.”
