A strong Wellington Dukes defensive effort was punctuated by a brilliant performance from Dryden Riley.
The Trenton-born netminder turned back all 43 Pickering Panthers opportunities for his first shutout as a Duke in a 3-0 blanking on Sunday at Lehigh Arena in a testy affair.
The win snapped Pickering’s six-game winning streak on its season-ending seven-game road swing.
Riley went head-to-head with Pickering’s Daniel Giusti in a goalless first, before Cain Tucker and Will Mitchell struck within about two minutes to give Wellington command.
Tucker knocked a descending puck past Giusti on a goalmouth scramble at 2:35 for his fourth of the year, before Mitchell took a Blake Berthiaume feed and aced a shot along the ice into the far corner of the net for his ninth on a powerplay.
Zack Carrier hammered a one-timer up high for his team-leading 34th in the late stages of the third on another man advantage to inject some insurance offence into Wellington.
Mitchell, Tristan Williams, Kyle Grasby, Cole Ellis and Zach Mascard notched assists.
The game ended with a wrestling match between Mascard and Michael Lavigne of Pickering, some choice words between teams at centre ice and a 26th Dukes victory on the season.
This key win against a potential first round playoff opponent will aim to lift the Dukes through a tough gauntlet this week, starting with the Colllingwood Blues at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
