The Pembina Valley Twisters endured a challenging weekend in Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League action, dropping a pair of games against two of the league’s top teams.
On Friday night at the Morris MultiPlex, the Twisters were defeated 7–2 by the Transcona Railer Express. Transcona jumped out early, scoring three times in the opening period and adding two more in each of the final two frames to improve to 19-2-1 on the season.
Nathan Turner led the Railer Express with a dominant five-point performance, recording a hat trick and two assists. Ryder McLure added two goals and two helpers, while Trey Sellen chipped in three assists from the blue line. Transcona outshot Pembina Valley 45-27.
The Twisters’ goals came from Ethan Wilde and Dominic Rooney, both scoring in the first period to briefly keep the game within reach. Riley Brown started in goal for Pembina Valley before Rowan Cherkas took over and finished the game.
Sunday afternoon in Winnipeg saw a similar outcome, as the Twisters fell 6–1 to the St. Boniface Riels at Southdale Arena. St. Boniface scored three times in the first period and never looked back, improving to 17-2-3 on the season.
Cohen Thomas scored the lone Twisters goal midway through the second period, finishing a play set up by Vlad Stepic and Josh Guilford. Cole Davis and Nathan Burzynski each scored twice for the Riels, who held a 43-28 edge in shots.
Cherkas made 37 saves in a busy outing for Pembina Valley.
With the losses, the Twisters sit at 2-20-0 on the season. They return home to Morris this week, hosting the Stonewall Jets on Dec. 19 before welcoming the St. James Jr. Canucks on Dec. 21.
