Kingsford freshman goaltender Alex Hemgren makes a glove save during the second period against Manistique Monday evening at Mountain View Ice Arena. Hemgren finished with 24 saves in the Flivvers 4-1 victory. (Ron Deuter photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Kingsford’s rough 2-6 start to the hockey season has suddenly become a distant memory.

The Flivvers returned to home ice Monday evening and toppled Manistique 4-1, collecting a third straight win and moving within one game of the .500 mark at 9-10-0 on the season.

The victory gave the Flivvers their first three-game win streak since the 2022-23 season, and by keeping Manistique off the scoreboard until late in the third period, Kingsford posted eight plus periods in a row without allowing a goal.

“I was super happy with our backcheck,” Flivvers head coach Greg Wadge said. “The boys worked hard coming back, so that was huge.”

Much like their two wins over the weekend, the Flivvers maintained a decisive advantage in puck possession, firing 47 shots to the Emeralds 25.

“Shot selection wise, we’re doing a good job of keeping them outside,” Wadge said. “Our second and third periods were really good tonight. I thought we moved the puck very well.”

Kingsford cashed in on three power plays against Manistique. The first came just 1:12 into the game when senior Evan Moyer connected for a 1-0 Flivver lead, assists coming from seniors Gavin Moore and Jake Crockford.

Senior Jaxon Buckley made it 2-0 at 9:27 of the second period, coming in on a breakaway and going top shelf on the far side of the net. Sophomores Jonah Doenier and Seth Greenleaf helped set up the breakaway chance for Buckley.

A coast-to-coast solo effort by Moore on a power play put Kingsford ahead 3-0 just 47 seconds in the third period, and Crockford buried the fourth goal, also on a power play, at 6:47 of the third. Buckley and Moore had assists.

Senior Carter LaVigne notched Manistique’s only goal at 12:38 of the third. Kingsford freshman goalie Alex Hemgren made the initial stop on the rush, but LaVigne had a wide open look to knock in the rebound.

Hemgren finished with 24 saves for the victory. Junior goaltender Jackson Goudreau did what he could to keep the Emeralds in the game, finishing with 43 stops of what was a relentless Flivver attack. The Emeralds dropped to 5-12-2 on the season.

Flirting with the .500 mark this late in the season is somewhat uncharted territory for the Flivvers in recent history. The last Flivver squad to finish a regular season .500 or better was the 2019-20 team that went 11-11-0. You have to go back to the 2017-18 season to find the last winning season for Kingsford when the Flivvers went 16-7-1.

The Flivvers travel to face Lakeland tonight, a team they dumped 7-3 back in December. On Thursday Kingsford heads to Negaunee to complete a stretch of five games in less than a week. Negaunee and Kingsford meet for a third time this season. The Miners edged Kingsford 6-5 back in early December when Kingsford was stuck in a five-game skid. Kingsford had a 4-1 win over Negaunee on Nov. 21.

“Definitely winnable games for us if we play the right way,” Wadge said. “The last seven or eight games have been really good for us. It’s nice to have this momentum going at this point in the season.”

The Flivvers held their annual “Pink the Rink” event in conjunction with Monday’s game. The rink and fans were all decked out in pink. The Flivvers had special jerseys with pink in the logo, while Manistique players wore pink socks. The “Pink the Rink” offers an opportunity for the community to come together in support of the fight against cancer. Proceeds from the fundraiser go to the Dickinson County Cancer Loan Closet.