After a 16-game unbeaten streak had them flying high as one of the most dangerous teams in the OJHL, the Wellington Dukes have hit a bump in the road.

The Dukes were outgunned by the Buffalo Junior Sabres in a cross-border matchup Wednesday night by a score of 7-5, dropping two games in a row for the first time all season.

After a scoreless first 15-and-a-half minutes of the first period, Jake Gagnon added to his team and league-leading goal total with his 26th of the season by blasting a Quinn Hanna set-up through Buffalo goaltender Luke Pavicich just seconds into a five-on-three powerplay. Ben Woodhouse earned the second assist after winning the initial faceoff inside the offensive zone.

Buffalo tied the game on a two-man advantage of their own with two minutes remaining in the first period on a one-timer from Alec Cicero, then took the lead with only 12 seconds left on a Nathan Mann goal off the rush.

Wellington’s potent offence was not about to be denied in the second frame, as the Dukes combined with the Junior Sabres for seven goals in the period.

On that same powerplay, Matteo Costantini restored Buffalo’s edge 30 seconds later, but the offensive fireworks were far from over.Before the ice was dry, Dawson Ellis quickly struck on a shorthanded break to even the score, throwing the puck on goal from an odd angle that snuck through Pavicich’s legs. Brett Humberstone was credited with the only assist on the Campbellford native’s ninth of the season just 34 seconds into the period.

At the 8:33 mark of the stanza, Jacob Vreugdenhil was left unattended at the right post to jam a Barret Joynt feed into the Buffalo net to tie the game once again for his 10th of the year, then the Dukes retook the lead on a Quinn Hanna powerplay marker.

The Peterborough product finished off a seamless passing play between him, Ryan Smith and Gagnon with a wicked wrist shot for his eighth of the year.

That advantage was quickly erased on a Colby Seitz tally a little more than a minute later and the pendulum swung back in Buffalo’s favour at the 14:49 mark on a shot off the faceoff from Cicero that shocked Matt Dunsmoor in the Wellington net.

Dawson Ellis earned his second point of the game on the secondary helper. An argument from the Junior Sabres that the play was offside at the blueline went to no avail and the wild game was up for grabs heading into the third.

A determined Dukes team refused to go away, tying the game for the third time in the frame on Gagnon’s second of the game and 27th of the season. He took a hard Ben Evans outlet from the far boards, fielded the ricochet off his close-side boards and sent a rocket past Pavisich with less than three minutes remaining in the second.

Unfortunately for Wellington, the most penalized team in the league at more than 700 minutes coming into the contest, a minor infraction wound up being its undoing.

With Woodhouse in the box, Logan Tobias slid a free puck past Dunsmoor in the Wellington crease 2:49 into the third period for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning marker.

Several quality Dukes chances to tie the game were turned away by Pavisich and the resurgent Buffalo defence and a Constantini empty-net goal in the final minute sealed the Junior Sabres fourth straight win.

Wellington will look to rebound when they roll out to Burlington to tangle with the Cougars at 7:30 p.m. Friday night.Buffalo outshot Wellington 36-31 on the night. Dunsmoor made some solid stops in a 29-save effort, but was dinged for six goals in the game, a performance the Dukes and their fans are not quite used to from the Guelph, Ont. product.