Quinn Werbowski helps Ben Thorlakson control the puck (D.Mahussier/1812 Photography)

This one started off on the right note, but it all seemed to go downhill from there as the Hawks were defeated on Friday night by the Fort Garry/Fort Rouge Twins by a margin of 4-1. Shane Kustra-Nelson opened the scoring on a nice wrister as he crossed through the slot 7:02 into the first after being sprung by Riley Gilmore. However, the offensive taps ran dry for the Hawks after this as the Twins Tyler Slobogian netted a pair of goals late in the period – the first on a puck dug out by Cole Zadro and the second was a gift after a Hawks turnover in their own zone. The Twins netted another goal just past the midway point of the second to give them a 3-1 lead going into the third. Early into the final frame saw the Hawks get into some penalty troubles, one of which ended up giving the Twins a 2-man advantage. The Hawks managed to kill it thanks in large part to a number of saves by Ben Thorlakson including a highlight reel save that he somehow managed to get his shaft on while appearing to be completely down and out of the play. Mitch Justl tried to turn the team’s fortunes around with a spirited tussle with Kyle Morton that was followed up at the very next whistle with some rough stuff where every on the ice had a dance partner that was to no avail. The Hawks pulled the goalie with 2 minutes left, but were unable to put one by the Twins Mario Fiorentino. The Twins iced it with an empty netter to give Tyler Slobogian the hat trick on the night.

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Despite the loss the Hawks remain in second place now 10 points back of the first place Raiders who knocked off the St.James Canucks on Friday night by a score of 4-2…A special thanks goes out to Camryn Forrest for leading the Hawks out onto the ice on Friday night as their flag bearer…with his first period goal Shane Kustra-Nelson now has points in his last 6 straight games…the Hawks head out to Stonewall for another Sunday afternoon Matinee against the fifth place Jets…the action gets underway at 2:30pm and what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon in February!