The Pembina Valley Twisters picked up a single point during Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League action last week before closing the stretch with a loss Sunday afternoon.
Pembina Valley dropped a 9-4 decision to the River East Royal Knights and then fell 3-2 in a shootout to the Raiders Jr. Hockey Club, before being defeated 5-2 by the Transcona Railer Express on Feb. 15.
At Terry Sawchuk Arena on Feb. 10, River East’s offensive pressure proved decisive as the Royal Knights outshot Pembina Valley 44-21. Graham Maslow scored twice in the opening period, including a power-play marker, before Ryan Thiessen replied late in the frame, finishing a rush set up by Dominic Rooney and Jack Holmes.
River East added three goals in the second period from Adam Hryhoruk, Nolan Fielding and Eros Bazan, while Vlad Stepic countered for the Twisters with his sixth of the season off a feed from Josh Guilford.
The Royal Knights struck just 25 seconds into the third and continued to build their lead, though Darby Olson scored twice for Pembina Valley in the period, with assists going to Stepic and Owen Vanrobaeys. Rowan Cherkas stopped 16 of 20 shots in relief while Darion Penner made 19 saves in the loss.
The Twisters bounced back with a strong effort Feb. 13 at Morris MultiPlex but came up short in a shootout against the Raiders. After a scoreless first period, Josh Guilford opened scoring on the power play at 3:56 of the second, converting passes from Olson and Ethan Wilde.
Raiders forward Cole Kennedy tied the game later in the period and Riley Kushnier gave the visitors the lead midway through the third before Pembina Valley forced overtime when Ketema Wall scored with 1:55 remaining in regulation, assisted by Olson and Guilford. Neither team scored in overtime and Kushnier netted the deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout. Cherkas turned aside 31 of 34 shots.
The Twisters wrapped up the week Sunday in Winnipeg, falling 5-2 to the league-leading Transcona Railer Express despite a competitive effort. After a scoreless first period, Transcona struck three times in the second before Owen Vanrobaeys got Pembina Valley on the board with help from Stepic and Olson.
Ryan Thiessen cut the deficit to one early in the third, assisted by Olson and Dwight Sawatzky, but the Railer Express sealed the game with two late empty-net goals. Penner turned aside 37 of 40 shots in a strong performance as Transcona held a 42-37 edge in shots.
Pembina Valley (5-29-2, 12 points) sits 10th in the MMJHL standings and continues its schedule with games Feb. 19 at Stonewall, Feb. 20 at home to St. Boniface and Feb. 22 hosting Stonewall.
