A stronger effort on both sides of the puck from the Wellington Dukes still didn’t translate to a win on Friday night.
Nathan Phillips’ hat trick lifted the Newmarket Hurricanes to a 4-1 win at Lehigh Arena, with his empty-net marker to complete the trio coming right under the buzzer.
The veteran forward opened the scoring by tapping in a backdoor pass from Sam Pye in the first, then struck quick just 12 seconds into the second on a spinaround shot from the top of the Wellington zone.
The outstanding play of rookie goalie Royden Smith kept the game close and allowed Liam Campbell to shave into the deficit at 12:12 of the middle frame.
The son of former Duke David Campbell roofed a centering pass from Sacha Trudel over Hurricanes goalie Hayden Duncan to get the Dukes what would end up being their only marker on the night.
Cole Ellis added the secondary assist on Campbell’s fourth as a Duke.
A powerplay opportunity gave the Dukes a chance in the third, but Chase Yanni beat Smith by throwing a shot on net from a bad angle on a shorthanded tally to add some huge insurance.
Smith finished with 37 saves as the Dukes mustered just 17 on Duncan in their seventh consecutive loss.
Wellington, now 7-6-0-2 on the season, will try to snap the slide at 1:30 p.m. Sunday back at the Duke Dome versus the Burlington Cougars.
(BROCK ORMOND)
