After a slow start, the Pembina Valley Twisters have hit their stride and dominated this past week, sweeping all three games. As a result, the Twisters have climbed to seventh place in the MMJHL rankings, holding a solid 8-7-2 record.
On Nov. 21, the Twisters defeated the St. Vital Victorias by 5-2. Riley Goertzen (2), Derek Wiebe, Alex VanDeynze, and Max Collet scored the Twisters’ goals. Logan Enns stopped 22 shots in net for the win.
A few nights later, on Nov. 24, the Twisters doubled the Charleswood Hawks 6-3. Goertzen had another pair of goals, while Merek Degraeve, Zander Carels, Jacob Carels and Ryan Orchard had the other goals for Pembina Valley. Enns was fantastic in the net, stopping 41 shots for the win.
In their most impressive victory of the week, the Twisters overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period to defeat the Fort Garry/Fort Rouge Twins 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 26. Scoring for the team were Degraeve, Wiebe, Mike Heppner and Slade Sotheran, with Enns recording an impressive 36 saves during the match.
“After losing three straight games, we knew we had put ourselves in a tough position,” said Pembina Valley Twisters head coach Braeden Beernaerts. “We played this week like our backs were against the wall. And with battling a few injuries on some key guys, all the boys stepped up and got the job done. Moving forward we just want to keep the consistency and effort up every night.”
Twisters’ sniper Derek Wiebe is currently third in the MMJHL’s scoring race with 29 points in 17 games, while Enns is currently fifth in the goalie rankings as he boasts a 3.42 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
The Twisters are gearing up for their next game on Dec. 1, when they face off against the River East Royal Knights at home. The puck will hit the ice at 8 p.m.
