Leph Twinger - Past Few Games

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Twinger's Recent Games

 

It is not an unknown fact these days that Leph Twinger has slowed down a lot since his great rookie season. He blew away the league as a rookie, but the seasons that have followed with the Riga Reign have been less than stellar. That is not to say that he is not valued, as he has still been a good scoring winger for the Reign as supportive offense to go alongside Pod Cast, Edwin Preencarnacion, and others. But, if you look at his rookie season, his current progress has much to be desired, as he had shown early on that he was capable of much more. One might say this has to do with the surplus of offensive talent on the Riga Reign, which leads to Twinger not having to perform to such levels and thus, earning less points.

 

But, let's look at his previous games:

 

HC Davos Dynamo vs. Riga Reign

In this game, it was 1st place versus last place, so you might expect a blowout from the Riga Reign. This was not the case, although Riga did outshoot the Dynamo 33-17.  Finn Davison, the Davos goaltender, saved a respectable 29 of 33 shots. Without that performance, this game with Riga's offense might have gotten out of hand. The scoring opened up in the 2nd Period as both Edwin Preencarncion and Ryuu Crimson got goals for the Reign. In the 3rd, Preencarnacion scored his 27th and 2nd of the game, which was assisted by Leph Twinger's one and only point of this game. Randoms scored his 12th of the year for Davos, breaking Kriketers shutout late in the game. Crimson would also score his 2nd goal of the game in the 3rd Period, and Riga won by a score of 4-1. Ryuu and Edwin had 2 goals each, and Kriketers saved 16 of 17 against the lowly Davos Dynamo. Leph Twinger himself had 1 assist, with 4 shots and 5 hits, and was named the 3rd Star of the Game.

 

Riga Reign vs. Helsinki Titans

This was a game between the 1st place Reign and the 4th place Helsinki Titans. Despite being in 4th, they are only 5 points behind Riga in the standings, and have a shot at the cup themselves. Similar to their game against the Dynamo, Riga outplayed the Titans in this game and outshot them 42-28. In the 1st Period, Podrick Cast scored, giving Riga the 1-0 lead heading into the 2nd. Halfway through the game at 10:44 of the 2nd Period, Rylan Peace scored on the PP, giving Riga the 2-0 lead. Late in the period though, Helsinki's Joey Boucher brought the Titans within one, with a 2-1 score heading into the final frame. The 3rd Period is where everything changed. Early in the period, Keaton Louth tied the game with his 21st of the season. The ice started to tilt the other way this period, despite being outshot 33-16 in the first 2 periods, and even 22-8 in the 2nd Period alone. At 12:07 of the final frame, Vaydar Odinsson scored the go ahead goal for Helsinki, with the Titans' 3rd unanswered goal, giving them the 3-2 lead late in the game. Sidney Crosby would score the empty netter in the final minute, solidifying the win, with a score of 4-2. Without a doubt, goaltender Alexander Pepper was the hero of this game for the Titans, saving 40 of 42, and the Titans rallied off of his performance, scoring 3 goals in the 3rd Period. A bit of a collapse from Riga there. As for Leph Twinger, he had 0 points and was a -2. He had 2 shots, 3 hits, and 2 shot blocks. Not the worst game from a player, but you know that Kallis Kriketers would love to have those late goals back, as he wound up with an 0.889 save percentage.

 

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Helsinki Titans vs. Riga Reign

In this game which happened just before the previous one I summarized, it was a more even affair. The total shots of the game were 37-35 for Riga. In the 1st Period, Riga's Shawn Glade somehow scored a goal 3 seconds into the game. Riddle me that. In the same minute at 35 seconds into the game, Ko Kane tied it up for the Titans. That would be it for that period. In the 2nd frame, Riga's Rylan Peace brought the Reign to a 2-1 lead at 6:15 of the period. Some hard battles were fought, and with under 3 minutes in the 2nd, Julian Borwinn scored his 18th and tied the game at 2. Riga Reign responded quickly though with a late power play goal, as Leph Twinger scored his 11th of the season, bringing this one to a 3-2 score. In the 3rd, there were no goals. The Titans outshot the Reign 15-13, and Kriketers stopped all 15 of those to preserve the 3-2 win. Podrick Cast fought Sidney Crosby in the final frame as well. This game was a goaltending battle as Kallis Kriketers saved 33 of 35, winning it for his team. Leph Twinger had 1 goal, with 4 shots and 6 hits. Not a bad showing for Leph Twinger, and he earned 2nd Star of the Game.

 

While you might say that Twinger has not lived up to expectations so far, he is definitely still producing. He has 11 goals and 16 asssists, for 27 points in 42 games so far. Although, that pace comes with a -6 in the plus minus column. Last season he had 33 goals with 67 points, so he is on pace to do even worse than that. One area where Twinger thrives is where he makes his presence known physically. He has 179 hits, which is good for 3rd overall. Players very much know he is out there on the ice, no matter if he produces on the scoresheet or not.