Kingsford's Colin Watkins plays the puck as Ashland's Tanner Nelson defends on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, in Iron Mountain, Mich. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Reece Fortner redeemed a third period slashing penalty with the winning goal to help Kingsford beat Ashland 4-3 on Saturday.

Fortner was whistled for a slash nearly seven minutes into the third of a tie game. About 30 seconds after leaving the box, he drifted into the slot for a loose puck and put a shot on Ashland goaltender Zach Morris, who stopped the initial shot. The puck squirted off to the side, where Fortner unleashed another shot to beat Morris for the goal.

“Redeemed himself. He came off the ice and I said ‘Reece.’ He just smiled,” Kingsford head coach Dennis Murvich said. “I said we’re even, right? He nodded his head, ‘Yep.’ I thought he and Trey Bociek and Carter Kreski were a real nice line today. I thought they did a real good job.”

Kingsford (3-1) overcame five penalties to get the win, leaving a taste of disappointment in Oredockers head coach Darryl Penner.

“Our power-play probably wasn’t as sharp as it needed to be today,” he said. “We had those couple chances to get us the goal to maybe get the lead. Sometimes you get those bounces but today wasn’t one of them. We’ll get better at it for the future.”

But Ashland (0-3) overcame a 3-1 deficit, culminating in a steal at the point by Mazdak Salavati, who beat Kingsford’s defense through the neutral zone in a sprint for the puck. Salavati got behind the defense and then beat Kingsford goaltender Trevor Anderson on a breakaway for the tying goal just 14 seconds into the third period. It was the quintessential play underscoring Kingsford’s defensive breakdown throughout the game.

“Defensively we weren’t good today, top to bottom,” Murvich said. “I thought our forwards did a really nice job today of maintaining possession. We had a lot of quality scoring chances. I think we could’ve easily put three, four more in today. We’re definitely going to have to tighten up defensively, for sure.”

The chasm between the Flivvers’ shaky defense and stronger offense is where Ashland was able to weather the storm and eventually tie the game.

Bociek scored on an assist from Fortner to give Kingsford a lead early in the first. Eamonn Weed broke along the right side early in the second period to notch an unassisted goal on his 18th birthday.

Five minutes later, Ashland’s Scott Gregor got the Oredockers on the board with an assist by Salavati.

Bociek scored again for Kingsford with an unassisted power-play goal to give the Flivvers a 3-1 lead with about six minutes to go in the second. Gregor scored again for Ashland with eight seconds left in the period, breaking Kingsford’s momentum.

Salavati’s goal to tie the game in the third gave the Oredockers a big energy boost and controlled the puck more in Kingsford’s defensive zone.

The Flivvers took three penalties in the third, continuing to reel in the defensive zone as Ashland desperately sought the go-ahead goal.

After Fortner left the box and gave Kingsford the go-ahead goal, the Flivvers played more for possession, limiting Ashland’s shots to secure the win.

Anderson made 13 saves for the Flivvers. Morris faced 35 shots, making 31 saves.

Murvich said Anderson told him after the second period that he wanted Ashland’s second goal back.

“We had two guys go to the puck, nobody played the body. He slid it across,” Murvich said. “Dave Juul went down to block the pass and they buried it. That’s a tough play for Trev, but he said he had it and it snuck through between his arm and his jersey.”

Penner, a relative of former NHL left wing and two-time Stanley Cup winner Dustin Penner, said Morris’ performance in net has been key so far this season.

“Our goalie has had a strong start to the year. He’s made a lot of tough saves for us,” Penner said. “We got some younger players and spent some time in our own zone, but we’ve been battling hard and trying to be physical and help support our goalie. I think we did a pretty good job of it today.”

Kingsford hosts Houghton on Tuesday.

Ashland 0 2 1 — 3

Kingsford 1 2 1 — 4

First Period

K — Bociek (R. Fortner), 4:11

Second Period

K — Weed (unassisted), 2:33

A — Gregor (Salavati), 7:25

K — Bociek (unassisted), power-play, 10:38

A — Gregor (Kolencik, Stegman), 16:52

Penalties

K — R. Fortner (holding), 2:11

A — Santini (slashing), 4:59

A — Stegman (holding), 8:43

A — Watland (unsportsmanlike), 8:43

K — Fox (slashing), 13:55

Third Period

A — Salavati (unassisted), 0:14

K — R. Fortner (unassisted), 9:14

Penalties

K — R. Fortner (slashing), 6:42

K — Kreski (cross-checking), 3:36

A — Santini (cross-checking), 13:26

K — Andrews (slashing), 13:26