It took 59 shots before the Pembina Valley Twisters were finally able to put away the Charleswood Hawks Friday night in Morris.

Wyatt Sabourin scored 11:07 into overtime to lift Pembina Valley past Charleswood 3-2 in game one of their best-of-seven quarterfinal.

Sven Schefer and Jeremie Goderis also scored for the Twisters who finished the regular season schedule in first place in the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League, 31 points ahead of the eighth place Hawks.

Max Gardiner and Mitch Justl replied for Charleswood.

Game one was tied 1-1 after the first period and 2-2 after 40 minutes.

The Hawks had a chance to end the series opener early in the extra session and steal home-ice advantage but were unable to convert on the power play as the Twisters killed off a two-minute boarding minor to Goderis.

Pembina Valley goaltender Travis Klassen faced 25 shots while Charleswood netminder Ryan Hall made 56 saves,

Game two goes Sunday (7:30 p.m.) at the Eric Coy Arena in Winnipeg.


photo courtesy Janice Beernaerts