The Trenton Golden Hawks tried their best to erase a three-goal deficit, but the Wellington Dukes would not be denied the victory and hung on to win, 3-1.

A goal by Dylan Mascarin put Wellington up 3-0 in the second period, but Trenton pulled to within two on Danny Hanlon's tally 17:07 into the third period.

The Golden Hawks were stymied by the Dukes' netminder Olivier Lafreniere, who stopped 42 shots during the victory. Lafreniere managed to improve on his goals against average, which stood at 2.24 prior to the game.

Wellington forced Golden Hawks' goalies to work hard to keep the puck out of the net, getting 33 shots and forcing 30 saves. Jackson McIntosh made 24 stops and Daniel Urbani made six.

The Dukes were helped by Luc Brown, who had one goal. Brown scored 8:45 into the second period to make the score 2-0 Wellington. Ben Sokay assisted on the tally. Shaw Boomhower also scored for Wellington. In addition, Wellington received assists from Carter Allen, Jacob Panetta, and Brodie Maracle, who each chipped in one.

Trenton stifled Wellington's power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. The Golden Hawks did not reach the goal total they have come to expect this season. Trenton averages 3.8 goals per game. The Golden Hawks' offense rang up 43 shots on the Dukes' net.

More assists for Trenton came via Quinn Lenihan and Hunter Fargey, who contributed one each.

Wellington totaled 15 minutes in penalty time with five minors and one major and went 0-for-3 on the power play. For the Dukes, Boomhower was ejected from the game. Trenton incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors.