The Markham Royals gutted out a close 4-3 win against the Wellington Dukes.

No lead was more than two goals during the contest, and the winning goal was scored by Marco Azzano at 16:54 of the third period.

Azzano had a great game for Markham, netting two goals.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 18:42 into the first period. Four fighting penalties were dished out along with two game misconducts.

The Royals' offense rang up 38 shots on Wellington's net. Penalties took their toll on Markham, as its penalty kill unit let in three power play goals.

Markham also had goals scored by Lucas Condotta and Aaron Spivak, who scored one goal each. In addition, Markham received assists from Matthew Dunlop and Trevor Abbot, who each chipped in one and Brendan Valko and Jeff Joynt, who contributed two each.

The Dukes racked up the penalties in the contest, and ended with six minors and one major for 27 minutes in penalty time. Wellington surpassed its season average of 14.0 penalty minutes per game. The Royals were unable to stop the Dukes from sending pucks towards the net, and Wellington eventually piled up 31 shots on goal.

The Dukes were helped by Brodie Maracle, who racked up one goal. Maracle scored on the power play 19:35 into the second period to make the score 3-2 Markham. Wellington had gotten the advantage when Markham's Khadyn Butterfly was sent off for cross checking. Ben Sokay assisted on the tally. Wellington additionally got points from Luc Brown, who also registered one goal and one assist. Wellington also got a goal from Brodie Butt as well. More assists for Wellington came via Dylan Mascarin, who had one and Jake Falcao, who had two.

Nathan Colitto made 28 saves for the Royals on 31 shots. Markham totaled 28 minutes in penalty time with four minors and two majors and went 2-for-5 on the power play. Team's Butterfly and Hudson Michaelis were slapped with misconducts and ejected from the game. The Dukes' Olivier Lafreniere stopped 34 shots out of the 38 that he faced. For Wellington, Carter Allen and Chase St Aubin were ejected from the contest.