The post-Christmas portion of the OJHL schedule hasn’t been too kind to the Wellington Dukes so far.
Even as they picked up a point, the Dukes dropped their third game in a row with a 3-2 double overtime loss to the Markham Royals on Sunday, as they saw a two-goal lead wiped out in the third.
The first frame belonged to the goalies, with Wellington’s Royden Smith and the Royals Noah Caballero sealing their respective nets on 26 combined shots.
The Dukes opened the scoring through Will Mitchell on a shorthanded break with his sixth of the season, set up by Cain Tucker on the odd man rush for his first assist/point as a Duke.
Landon Marleau chipped home goal number two for Wellington 2:20 into the third from Evan Erwin and Blake Berthiaume, registering his 17th of the season.
An ensuing Wellington penalty cued a Markham powerplay that was taken advantage of by Chance Adams.
A couple minutes later, Ben Bowen knotted the score at two to set up a frantic finish.
Wellington got a glimmer of a chance on a late powerplay in regulation, but could not beat Caballero and it eventually burned them in double overtime.
Andrew Brees buried the winner at the 3:41 mark of the second OT stanza to send the Dukes home frustrated.
Markham outshot Wellington 40-33, with Smith playing a solid game in a losing cause, making 37 saves.
The Dukes continue to be road warriors in the first half of January as they face the Collingwood Blues on Thursday at 7 p.m.
