The Pembina Valley Twisters tied their franchise record with their 12th consecutive win over the weekend. With the victories, the Twisters are staying firm into second place in the MMJHL’s standings with a record of 20-8-2.
On Jan. 19, the Twisters were 5-2 winners at home over the St. Boniface Riels. Derek Wiebe led the charge for Pembina Valley with a pair of goals, while Merek Degraeve, Mike Heppner and Ryan Orchard had the other Twisters’ tallies. Logan Enns stopped 32 shots in net for the win.
A few nights later, on the road on Jan. 21, the Twisters blasted the Stonewall Jets by a 5-1 count. The offence was spread out as the Twisters’ goals were scored by Orchard, Degraeve, Josh Guilford, Wiebe and Riley Goertzen. Owen LaRocque stopped 22 shots in the win.
“This weekend we were able to get two huge wins, as I think Friday night with St. Boniface was some of the best hockey we’ve played all year,” said Twisters’ head coach Braeden Beernaerts. “Sunday in Stonewall with a short bench I thought that we stayed patient, played our game and was able to open the game up in the third period with our powerplay scoring twice.”
The Twisters recently added goaltender Larocque, who had been a member of the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals for the past season and a half, into the fold. Larocque is 3-0-0 since joining the Twisters.
“We are extremely happy having Owen and Logan Enns on our team, and we are satisfied with both of our goaltenders in net,” said Beernaerts.
Twisters’ sniper Wiebe remains in third in the MMJHL’s scoring race with 52 points in 30 games and Degraeve is in sixth with 48 points in 31 games, while Enns is currently fourth in the goalie rankings as he boasts a 2.98 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
The Twisters are back in action with a road game on Jan. 26 against the first-place St. James Jr. Canucks. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
“We are looking forward to our toughest test of the year on Friday and hope to keep the wins going.”
