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Hockey: Kingsford holds off Jeffers, 4-3

Kingsford’s Eli Langston bodychecks Jeffers’ Evan Larson on Monday, Feb. 18, 2019, in Iron Mountain, Mich. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Kingsford’s penalty kill saved the night and preserved a 4-3 win over Jeffers on Monday night.

Kingsford (9-11) killed a five-minute power play late in the game, narrowly dodging the tying goal to seal the win, its first since Feb. 5 against Negaunee.

“I thought the kids played hard. We had some chances with our forecheck,” Kingsford head coach Greg Wadge said. “Once we got the puck in deep, we did a good job pressuring them. I thought we played better, especially as opposed to the last couple games. We went high off the glass when we were in trouble so that helped clear the puck out of our zone. Overall I thought our kids played hard.”

The Jets (9-8) pressured late but never capitalized on a tying goal.

“We had many chances. We hit the crossbar, off the pad, off the pipe,” Jeffers head coach Pat Nettell said. “We missed the net numerous times where we should be hitting the net or at least the goalie. We were too high, too wild. We have to get some control on that.”

The Flivvers seemed to have all the momentum, taking a 4-2 lead and forcing a Jets’ timeout and goalie change with about 12 minutes left. Noah Nettell was replaced by Evan Pietila during the timeout after Kingsford scored back-to-back goals two minutes apart.

Hunter Fortner scored Kingsford’s fourth goal on an assist from Carter Kreski and Evan Anderson.

The Jets gained back some momentum when Kingsford’s Trey Bociek, with a hat trick under his belt, was penalized for an after-the-whistle facemask major and a game misconduct. Bociek is disqualified from today’s game at Hancock, but will be available for Thursday’s rematch at Jeffers.

The Jets took advantage of the man advantage with a power-play goal by Evan Larson, assisted by Matthew Halonen and David Storm.

Jeffers kept the pressure on, peppering Anderson’s net and hitting the crossbar and post. Then the Jets took a penalty, a kneeing minor by Larson with 45 seconds remaining and Kingsford played for possession to run out the clock.

Trevor Anderson made 27 saves for Kingsford.

Jackson Andrews assisted Bociek’s first goal in the first period. Jack Perpich assisted Bociek’s second goal in the second.

Nettell and Pietila combined for 24 saves for the Jets.

“Our goalie was hanging his head. He wasn’t in the game anymore, so you gotta change him,” Coach Nettell said of Noah. “The kids battled hard. The never gave up. We felt our goalie was kind of giving up and hanging his head too much. It was a good time to put our backup in.

“We played (Pietila) in a few games this year and he’s come up big for us. He’s got a couple wins under him. I think he gets better every time he sees the ice. He didn’t have the easy part of the game, that’s for sure.”

Halonen scored Jeffers’ first goal in the second period, assisted by Larson. Elias Rajala tied the game with a goal 31 seconds into the third on an assist from Halonen.

Jeffers was 2 of 5 on the power play, while Kingsford was 0 for 2.

“I still don’t like our power play,” Wadge said. “We still gotta settle that down a little bit. We had some good looks.”

The game opened up in the second period with more speed and hitting. Nettell said Jeffers’ approach as to limit the Flivvers’ space on the fast ice at Mountain View Ice Arena.

“We knew we had to take their room away. You come here and it’s hard, fast ice so it’s going to be a fast game,” Nettell said. “We know they’re going to break it out fast. It’s always a good game between us. It’s what they do, it’s two passes and their out, so you gotta try to take their room away.”

Kingsford visits Hancock today and Jeffers on Thursday.

Jeffers 0 1 2 — 3

Kingsford 1 1 2 — 4

First Period — 1, Kingsford, Bociek (Andrews), 11:55. Penalties — Bengtson, Kingsford, (cross-checking), 12:22. R. Fortner, Kingsford, (interference), 16:33.

Second Period — 2, Jeffers, Halonen (Larson), PP, 1:32. 3, Kingsford, Bociek (Perpich), 11:51. Penalties — Brule, Kingsford, (slashing), 0:47.

Third Period — 4, Jeffers, E. Rajala (Halonen), 0:31. 5, Kingsford, Bociek, 3:15. 6, Kingsford, H. Fortner (Kreski, E. Anderson), 5:16. 7, Jeffers, Larson (Halonen, Storm), PP, 14:44. Penalties — R. Fortner, Kingsford, (hooking), 1:12. Bociek, Kingsford, (facemask major and game misconduct), 11:29. Larson, Jeffers, (kneeing), 16:15.

Shots on Goal — Jeffers 6-9-15–30. Kingsford 7-7-14–28.

Power-play opportunities — Jeffers 2 of 5. Kingsford 0 of 2.

Goalies — Jeffers, N. Nettell and Pietila (28 shots-24 saves). Kingsford, T. Anderson (30-27).

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