After picking up two wins in a row, the Canucks would be in tough to make it three as they hit the highway south the face the Pembina Valley Twisters in a battle of teams separated by just two points in the standings.
Luckily for the Canucks, the team’s top scorers were in full flight, and carried the team to a 5-3 victory.
The Canucks would get things started in the first period with Mitchell Lockhart scoring his 32nd goal of the season with assists from his linemates Tyler Meixner and Nick Stire. It was the only goal in a first period where the Canucks out shot the Twisters 18-6.
The second period was scoreless until the final minute when Wyatt Kemball would use a great individual effort to score his 11th of the season, putting the Canucks up 2-0. Stire and Lockhart had assists on the goal.
The Canucks would come out quickly in the third and make it 3-0 on Lockhart’s second goal of the game but the Twisters battled back, scoring three unanswered goals in the first half of the final frame to tie the game at 3. After Canucks head coach Blair Mooney called a timeout, the team was able to get back on track, scoring twice in the final 10 minutes.
Kemball would get his second of the game at 11:40 of the third to put the Canucks back out front and Dylan Reinheimer would net his 12th of the season to lock up the Canucks’ 24th win. Stire had two assists in the third period and Meixner and Lockhart chipped in with assists as well.
Despite a rocky start to the third, Tyler Weiss stopped 28 of 31 shots to pick up his 11th win of the season.
The win moved the Canucks into a tie with the Twisters for third place in the league standings. It was the Canucks’ third win in a row.
Next up for the Canucks was a match-up with their arch-rivals, the Charleswood Hawks on Sunday, Feb. 19.
Despite outplaying the Hawks for much of the game, the Canucks fell victim to a few bounces and lost 4-1, with one of the Hawks’ goals coming on an empty net.
Nick Stire opened the scoring with his 17th of the season but the Hawks would answer back with less than a minute left in the first period to tie the game at one.
Dylan Zeke scored twice in the second period for the Hawks and Shane Kustra-Nelson would add the empty-netter in the third to seal the win.
The loss dropped the Canucks record to 24-15-2 on the season and snapped a three game winning streak.
Chalk Talk Three Stars:
3 – Wyatt Kemball: Kemball had two goals this past weekend and has 21 points in 25 games this year. He’s one point away from tying his career-best 22 points last year, despite playing nearly half the game he did last year.
2 – Mitchell Lockhart: Lockhart had a big game against Pembina Valley with two goals and two assists. He also had a number of good scoring chances in the game against Charleswood. He has 33 goals and 33 assists in 39 games this season and is third in the league in point-scoring.
1 – Nick Stire: Stire had a goal and four assists this past weekend and has 52 points in 36 games this year, which is two points more than he had last season in less games played. He has nine points over his past 5 games.
What’s Next?
The Canucks will welcome community club teams throughout St. James to the Civic Centre on Friday Feb. 24 for Community Club Night, when they take on the St. Vital Victorias at 7:30 pm. On Sunday, Feb. 26 they’ll head to Century Arena to face the red-hot Ft. Garry/Ft. Rouge Twins at 7:30 pm.