Kingsford senior goalie Nate Scullon makes a save as senior Will Murvich (13) and sophomore Trinton Paynter (10) defend during the second period of Thursday’s game against Negaunee at Mountain View Ice Arena. Scullon, in his first game back after suffering a hamstring injury a couple weeks ago, had 22 saves in the win. (Ron Deuter photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN – Behind a pair of goals from sophomore Casey Clisch and the return of senior goaltender Nate Scullon, Kingsford finally found the win column Thursday evening at Mountain View Ice Arena, holding off Negaunee 2-1 in a Great Lakes Hockey Conference action.

“It was good to get a win for sure,” said Flivvers head coach Greg Wadge, his team snapping a six-game losing skid with the win. “Speed wise, I thought we were good. We were good through the neutral zone. Casey, J.D. (senior Jake Deuter) and Murv (senior Will Murvich) all had good games. I thought the tempo was good, the pace was good. All three of those guys worked super hard.”

With the Flivvers and Miners both clad in pink in support of “Pink of the Rink”, and annual fundraiser for the Dickinson County Cancer Loan Closet, Clisch put the Flivvers out to a 1-0 lead with 5:25 to play in the first period with an unassisted shorthanded goal. He carried the puck across the blue line into the Negaunee zone and dumped the puck on net, and it slid right past Negaunee netminder Miles Ketola.

Clicsh’s second tally, which was his team-leading 16th goal of the season came down low in traffic with 4:33 to go in the second. It put Kingsford back in front after Negaunee had tied the contest 1-1 a few minutes earlier with a goal by senior Nolan O’Dovero. Senior Cam Stratton assisted on Clisch’s go-ahead marker.

The Flivvers held a 28-23 advantage in shots, but had to lean on their penalty kill big time in the third as the Miners outshot Kingsford 10-3 in the final stanza. A major penalty for a check from behind near the end of the second gave the Miners about four and half minutes of power play as the third period opened, but Scullon and the Flivvers’ penalty kill were up to the task. Negaunee pulled its goalie with two minutes to play in the game, and the Flivvers again were able to come through despite being a man down.

“The PK was good,” Wadge said. “All eight of those guys played really well. Scully was solid between the pipes. I thought he played well.”

In his first game back since suffering a hamstring strain a few weeks ago, Scullon showed no ill effects from the injury, stopping 22 shots for his sixth win against four losses this season.

A hard-hitting game both ways, there were nine total penalties called in the game. Kingsford, however, wasn’t able to get their power play in gear.

“Our power play is still awful, and we spent good time on it in practice,” Wadge said. “We just need to settle down and move the puck to where it’s supposed to go. We just look tentative and scramble around and whatever else, but yeah, it was good to get the win for sure.”

On Friday. Kingsford fell 3-2 in the final minute of overtime against Northland Pines tp bring their record to 9-11 for the season. That full recap will be in Monday’s Daily News. Kingsford heads to Houghton to face Jeffers on Tuesday.