The Wellington Dukes saw their four-game winning streak halted on Sunday night in a 4-1 loss to the Pickering Panthers.
Pickering took advantage of a Wellington penalty by scoring just over three minutes into the game through Ryder Dagenais to take a 1-0 lead.
The Dukes managed a late surge in the period and thought they had tied the game, but had a goal called back on them, keeping the score 1-0 after 20 minutes.
The Panthers got to Royden Smith again on an early marker from Tyler Bruce, then expanded on their lead some more with a tap-in goal from Sam Ethier.
The Dukes got on the board when Zack Carrier got teed up by Tristan Williams and Sacha Trudel on a powerplay for his team-leading 16th of the year.
Wellington made a valiant push in the third period, but the Panthers did an excellent job of stifling the visitors’ effort to produce a comeback and Quinte Red Devil graduate Ethan Toms buried an empty-netter to seal the victory.
Royden Smith made 38 saves in a solid start for the Dukes.
Pickering outshot Wellington 42-30 in dropping the Dukes to 11-10-2-4 on the season.
The Dukes are now off for a full week before facing the Oakville Blades back at Lehigh Arena at 1:30 p.m. next Sunday.


