The Wellington Dukes have climbed out of a four-game winless skid and earned their first victory of 2026 at the expense of the hard-luck Cobourg Cougars on Monday.
The Dukes won 4-1, outshooting Cobourg 32-16, but had to put up with a healthy fight from the badly struggling Cougars, who have not won since Nov. 7.
Sacha Trudel dug the puck free from behind the net, curled out in front and flung a pass out to Zack Carrier for a goal into the gaping Cougar cage for the icebreaker.
Blake Berthiaume continued his sharp hand with a highlight reel-caliber display, taking a slip pass from Landon Marleau and toe-dragging around a Cobourg defender before slotting the puck through a space between the legs of Timothee Fengos for his third of the season and second in as many games.
Wellington added further to its lead at 15:21 of the second when Aiden Lee connected with Cain Tucker on a two-on-one for the 20-year-old’s first as a Duke.
The Cougars got on the board in the third frame 48 seconds into the third on a Riley Misa powerplay shot through Dryden Riley and played about as good of a period as they have all season with many shot blocks and solid plays.
In the end though, Cobourg was unable to beat the deficit and a Carrier empty-netter in the final minute, his second of the game and 24th of the season from Kyle Grasby and Cole Ellis, put an exclamation point on the win.
Riley made 15 stops overall for his first win as a Duke.
The win helps Wellington improve to 18-13-3-5, moving one point within the St. Michael’s Buzzers for sixth in the East Conference with three games in hand ahead of a big head-to-head matchup Tuesday night back at Lehigh Arena at 7:30 p.m.
