The Pembina Valley Twisters showed third-period push but couldn’t overcome the Charleswood Hawks on Friday before being shut out Sunday by the Fort Garry/Fort Rouge Twins, dropping to 1-17 on the MMJHL season.
Pembina Valley opened with one of its better first periods of the year, matching the Hawks 1–1 after 20 minutes. Lucas Thomas buried his fourth of the season at 15:48, converting a setup from Ketema Wall after sustained pressure in the Charleswood zone.
But the Hawks took full control in the second, scoring four unanswered — including back-to-back power-play markers from Tyson Sperber and Kaelan Briggs — to build a 5–1 lead. Nathan Morrison and Lucas Turcotte added even-strength goals as Charleswood carried a 6–1 advantage into the third.
The Twisters showed late spark, scoring three times in under seven minutes to close the gap. Defenceman Brayden Cox ripped home his second of the season at 2:34, followed by a power-play marker from Josh Guilford at 4:58 and a rebound finish by Rylan Keck at 9:24 to make it 6–4.
Pembina Valley pressed with 12 third-period shots, but an empty-netter from Hawks captain Elliott Lewis with 50 seconds left sealed the 7–4 final.
Rookie goaltender Rowan Cherkas faced a heavy workload, stopping 39 of 45 shots.
Two nights later, Pembina Valley struggled to generate offence against the Twins, managing just 13 shots in a 6–0 loss.
Ft. Garry/Ft. Rouge opened the scoring late in the first, then pulled away with two goals in the middle frame — including Daniel Hamill’s first of the season at 16:10. The Twins added three more in the third, including a pair on the power play.
Goaltender Riley Brown made 15 saves in 57:20 of work, while Cherkas stopped all three shots he faced in relief.
Special teams and standings
Pembina Valley was 1-for-4 on the power play Friday and 0-for-2 Sunday. The penalty kill went 1-for-3 against Charleswood and 3-for-5 against the Twins.
Through 18 games, the Twisters sit 10th in the MMJHL at 1-17-0 (.056). Charleswood sits third overall, while the Twins moved into sixth.
The Twisters return home Friday, Dec. 5 to host the fourth-place River East Royal Knights at 8 p.m. They visit the Raiders Jr. Hockey Club on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m.
