The Wellington Dukes were probably kicking themselves at the end of the second period on Friday night for allowing a 2-0 first period lead to morph into a 4-2 deficit at the hands of the host Pickering Panthers.

But the club showed incredible resilience in battling back against the Cats, picking up a point in a 4-4 draw. Wellington scored a pair of goals in under a minute at the midway point of third to move their record to 17-13-8. Wellington trails sixth place St. Mike’s by three points and has four games in hand on the Buzzers.

“I thought for the better part of the game we were in control,” Dukes bench boss Jacob Panetta told the Gazette. “It was a 3-4 minute lapse in the second in which we fell behind. I was very proud of the guys effort in the third to come back and tie things up. After the third I thought we had a lot of really good chances to win it and we controlled most of the play in both overtimes.”

The skipper praised the efforts of Wellington netminder Dryden Riley who made several key saves at high leverage moments in the congtest.

“Although it was a tie, I was proud of how we played and thought there was a lot of good things to take away and build off of,” Mr. Panetta said.

After snow forced the postponement of Thursday’s contest in Collingwood, the Dukes took the road on Friday and demonstrated no evidence of bus legs early in the first, staking themselves to a 2-0 lead. After a Pickering skater took a major penalty for physical abuse of an official, the Dukes went to work on the power play.

A broken play near the Pickering net allowed Cain Tucker to shovel the puck to a wide open Sacha Trudel at 9:36 for the ice breaker.

Just under four minutes later, Wellington continued to buzz the Pickering net. Off an offensive zone draw won by Sammy Longo, Blake Berthiaume curled to the Panther cage. He fired a low blast under starter Anthony Sciere’s arm at 13:14 for his second of the season.

To and Fro

But the two goal spread evaporated by the first intermission. A pair of Dukes defenders chased Charlie Key behind the Wellington net and Matt Indovina had all day to put the puck over newcomer Dryden Riley at the 14:34 mark of the first.

With less than a minute left in the frame, Pickering drew even with Mr. Key starring as playmaker again as he teed up Jake Mallory in the high slot for an equalizer with 46 seconds left before break.

Mr. Mallory doubled down with under three minutes left in the second for Pickering first lead of the contest. Then, Wellington and Mr. Riley were victimized a second time in the final minute of a period when the Wellington goalie gave up the puck behind the net. That miscue allowed Evan Elliot to find Devon Ferroni in the slot with a 4’ by 6’ yawning cage staring him in the face.

Comeback Kids

Down 4-2 past the midway point of the third, Wellington plucked this game out of the dumpster with some inspired man advantage play.

After testing Mr. Sciere time and again on the power play, Landon Marleau batted a puck out of mid air from the slot area and past the Pickering puck stopper at 12:04 of the third. Mr. Berthiaume picked up an assist on the play. The goal came just as the Pickering offender had stepped out of the sin bin.

From the ensuing faceoff, Wellington intercepted a cross ice pass and turned the puck towards the Pickering blue line. Zach Carrier sprang Mr. Trudel towards the Pickering net with the puck. Aiden Lee slipped his check and benefitted from a slick pass off Mr. Trudel’s stick, knifing a backhander past Mr. Sciere just 11 seconds after Mr. Marleau’s tally.

Justin Doak, victimized on Pickering’s third goal, made a game saving play on a 2-on-1 rush in the last two minutes of the contest.

The Extra Session

Wellington had the lion’s share of chances in the first overtime and only Mr. Sciere’s brilliance kept the Dukes from winning the game. In the second overtime, Wellington had a few more good scoring chances but Pickering’s Jake Mallory will be having nightmares of clanging a game winning effort off the post behind Mr. Riley. Moments after Mr. Mallory’s miss, Mr. Riley denied former Duke Kyle Kavc on a penalty shot.

Wellington is scheduled to take on the Cougars in Cobourg this evening. Wellington is finally back home on Tuesday when they host St. Mike’s in a four point contest.

The Dukes play Markham at home on Friday, January 23.