The first 40 minutes were a struggle, but the Wellington Dukes managed to dig deep and find a way to win on the road Sunday afternoon.

The Dukes strung together four unanswered goals in the third period to avoid an upset loss to the North York Rangers and extend their season-high winning streak to five games with a 4-2 victory.

Hayden Pimm beat the buzzer for his first goal of the season and added an assist for a two-point game, while Mason Goodfellow, Connor Loerzel and Colin Smith also had multiple points.

Wellington dominated the shot count early on, but North York netminder Matteo Porporino stood tall and gave his team a fighting chance early on.

The Rangers jumped ahead 1-0 on a late 1st period Peter Smith tally, then took a 2-0 advantage on a shorthanded marker 2:06 into the second from Cain Tucker.

The visiting Dukes finally found their legs in the last act when Goodfellow and Quick struck about two minutes apart in the first five minutes to even the score.

Ben Vreugdenhil helped to force a turnover at centre ice and rolled in with a wicked wrister that beat Porporino under the glove with 9:39 to play in the third to plant the Dukes firmly in the driver’s seat.

Pimm deflected a Loerzel shot off a faceoff for a powerplay marker in the dying seconds to seal the win.

Connor Hunt and Caleb MacDonald drew single assists as part of the scoring list for Wellington.

The Dukes recorded 50-plus shots for the second game in a row, pelting Porporino with 56 pucks.

Jack Lisson made 22 stops out of 24 to put Wellington’s record at 12-7-0-2 heading into a date with the Stouffville Spirit on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

They then have a huge clash with the Cobourg Cougars on Friday at Lehigh Arena at 7:30 p.m.