Kasen Beitz continuing his scalding goal streak, but the Wellington Dukes couldn’t overcome a relentless Burlington Cougars attack on Wednesday at the OJHL Governor’s Showcase.
The Chesley, Ontario product buried his fifth goal in as many games, but the Dukes had to settle for a split of their two showcase games, falling 5-2 at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls.
The Dukes were burned by three powerplay goals against, including one within the first two minutes by Sean Short
Rookie Gavin Godick beat Burlington netminder Carter Vicente for his second of the season at 12:47 from Jayden Levesque and Landon Marleau to draw Wellington back even again, but the Cougars went back ahead again less than a minute later on a goal by Nolan Keeler.
Beitz tied the score again early in period two by slamming home Austin Ottenhof’s centering pass upstairs, but Wellington was left pressing the rest of the day thanks to ill-timed penalties and Burlington’s strong powerplay.
Ty Daniels and Mickael Tessier both scored on man advantages to put the Western Cougars ahead by two.
Zaiden Hraiche punctuated the win with another insurance goal in the third to finish off the Dukes.
Mason Raycroft made 37 saves in the defeat as the Dukes yielded 40-plus shots for the second straight game.
Wellington makes its trip home for Friday’s contest with the Pickering Panthers at 7:30 p.m.
