After winning six in a row on home ice, the Wellington Dukes have gotten stuck a bit at Lehigh Arena.
Following a 3-2 loss to arch-rival Trenton Friday, the Dukes were dominated 45-27 on the shot count and 5-1 on the scoreboard by the Caledon Admirals on Tuesday afternoon.
After a goalless first period, Jalen Lobo broke up a Wellington clearing attempt and beat Royden Smith blocker-side to open the scoring for Caledon at the 5:31 mark of the second.
The Dukes found an answer through a Zack Carrier powerplay goal less than three minutes later.
The 18-year-old forward snapped a shot through traffic that eluded James Meredith for his team-leading 31st of the season, assisted by Aiden Lee and Cole Ellis.
Unfortunately for the Dukes, they were unable to gain any momentum from that and the Admirals, desperate for a late playoff push, fully took over.
Cam Lang buried a shot from the slot and Clarence Allain pushed another one across on the powerplay to put Caledon up by two going into the third.
The visitors would seal away the victory in that final frame with added insurance from Braeden Van Gelder and Curtis Freeman (shorthanded).
Smith made 40 saves in a busy afternoon, but the Dukes remain in sixth place, eight points back of fifth and six up on seventh spot in the East Conference.
The team will hit the Duke Dome ice again to face the last place North York Rangers at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
