It was a Game 2 full of heart and emotion for the Wellington Dukes, but unfortunately, not a winning one.
Matt Indovina slipped home a powerplay goal more than four minutes into the third, which stood as the game-winner in a 3-1 Pickering Panthers victory in front of a buzzing Lehigh Arena crowd.
The goal was the Toronto native’s third of the postseason as part of a game where the Panthers inundated Dryden Riley with 47 more shots in the Wellington crease (48 total).
For the second straight game, the Dukes broke the ice, with Cain Tucker flying after a loose puck while killing a penalty, upended a Panther defender, then took the puck and went upstairs on Anthony Sciere for his first of the playoffs.
Riley ended up with the only assist after making a save just prior to the goal.
The structured, composed Panthers shook that off and slowly took control of the contest, bouncing back after having a goal disallowed to tie the score on an Evan Elliott redirection in the second.
A Dukes penalty set up Indovina’s winner, knocking a puck past Riley despite the Dukes goaltender’s best efforts.
Wellington got its chances throughout the game, hitting at least one post and narrowly missing a late powerplay goal in the third that was gloved away by a Pickering defender behind Sciere.
Charlie Key’s empty-netter in the last seconds touched off a melee between the two sides, but the Panthers came out of it with a 2-0 series advantage.
Game 3 goes Tuesday at 3:30, with Wellington’s desperation increasing for a win to draw back in the series.
