Austin Hemmingson/Escanaba Daily Press ESCANABA’S KARSON KRUTINA (right) and Kingsford’s David Juul chase after the puck during Tuesday’s game at Wells.

WELLS — Close wasn’t quite enough for the Escanaba Eskymos here Tuesday night as they dropped a 3-2 overtime hockey decision to the Kingsford Flivvers.

Esky outshot the Flivvers 35-34 in this Great Lakes Conference match-up at the Hannahville Ice & Turf Complex.

It was senior defenseman Brennan Phillips who provided the game-winner, however, on a one-timer from beyond the right faceoff circle five minutes, 11 seconds into the overtime, helping the Flivvers (5-7) snap a three-game losing streak.

“It looked like we ran some screens,” said Kingsford coach Greg Wadge. “I’m not sure their goaltender saw the puck. It was a great game. Momentum went back and forth the whole game. You can always expect a tough game from Esky. This is a big boost for us. We’re constantly getting better. This gives us a little reassurance we’re heading in the right direction.”

The victory enabled Kingsford to gain a split in the season series with the Eskymos (7-4), who won the season-opener 4-1 at Iron Mountain Nov. 21.

Esky scored first on senior forward Kyle Krutina’s shot from inside the left circle 1:34 into the contest.

Kingsford senior forward Reece Fortner tied the score from the slot off a faceoff at 10:38 of the first.

“I don’t think they did anything different from the first game,” said Esky coach Matt Hughes. “We missed an assignment on the faceoff, which shows how important faceoffs are. We told the kids they worked hard the whole game and had nothing to hang their heads about. We also told them to accept it as a learning experience. We just have to go back to work.”

Junior forward Tyler Bengston gave Kingsford a 2-1 lead on a shot from in front of the left circle 14:12 into the second stanza.

Senior defensemen Braden Bourdeau evened the score with his first varsity goal 74 seconds later.

“That was a nice goal for him,” said Hughes. “He got the puck at the blue line, took a couple steps and took the shot. It was important for us to respond. I was glad to see our guys didn’t let down. Any time you can score late in the period, it’s a big goal. I thought we had momentum going into the third.”

Kingsford stormed the net with less than four minutes left in regulation, but sophomore goaltender Dylan Ziemke was able to stop three quick shots from point-blank range.

Esky missed a couple scoring chances while leading in the opening frame.

“We put a lot of pressure on them, but didn’t capitalize,” said Hughes. “Especially with us being up 1-0, if we put that one into the net it changes the dynamics of the game a little bit. Both goalies played well and both teams played hard. Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end of it.”

Kingsford senior net-minder Evan Hedtke collected 33 saves and Ziemke stopped 32 shots.

The Flivvers didn’t have any penalties.

“We’ve been struggling to stay out of the box,” said Wadge. “Staying out of the box enabled us to keep our chemistry together.”

KHS heads to a showcase at Traverse City where it will meet Alpena Friday at 4 p.m. (EST).