A wild and woolly affair ended in a 4-4 deadlock in Pickering between the Dukes and the host Pickering Panthers on Friday.
The Dukes snapped a modest three-game losing skid by gaining a two-goal lead, losing it and then striking twice within an 11-second span to pull out their third tie of the season.
Sacha Trudel opened the scoring on a powerplay almost halfway through the first from Cain Tucker and Cole Ellis, before Blake Berthiaume popped home his second of the campaign off a faceoff win by Sammy Longo
Matt Indovina netted one back for the Panthers with 5:26 to play in the opening frame to cut into Wellington’s spread.
The ‘Cats’ pulled even before the period was over on a Jake Mallory marker within the final minute.
Pickering beat Dryden Riley twice more late in the middle frame with Mallory’s second of the night and Devon Ferroni doing the damage to give the hosts a 4-2 advantage.
The Dukes offence then came back to life with Landon Marleau firing home a live puck off a missed Berthiaume opportunity for his 18th of the season (Will Mitchell drawing the second assist), followed in a flash by Aiden Lee’s seventh and first as a Duke from Trudel and Zack Carrier.
Wellington got its chances in the first overtime, but Pickering tipped the scales back with a 6-2 shot advantage in double OT, and earned a penalty shot, with former Duke Kyle Kavc getting denied by Riley.
In the end, Wellington earned an important point to keep pace with the St. Michael’s Buzzers in trying to jump to sixth place in the East, sitting three behind.
Riley, a Trenton native in his Dukes debut after being acquired from the BCHL, made 28 saves as Wellington outshot Pickering 47-32 through 70 minutes.
The Dukes return to action Monday still looking for its first win of 2026 in Cobourg at 7 p.m.
