WELLS — The Escanaba Eskymos enjoyed their first taste of victory this season here Wednesday night as they held off the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils 5-4 a non-conference hockey game.

Esky (1-3) took a 4-3 lead on junior forward Ayden Mylander’s shot from the point-blank range with five minutes, 44 seconds left in the contest.

Junior forward Karson Krutina scored from the doorstep 72 seconds later for an insurmountable two-goal cushion.

Sault senior defenseman Alex French’s shot from the right point, which deflected off a defender’s skate, concluded the scoring with .77 second left to play.

“It was close through the whole game,” said Esky coach Matt Hughes. “Our guys did everything they were supposed to do. We did a lot of good things. We moved the puck well and were able to generate some offense. This is a very big boost for the guys. We had a goofy start with the season getting delayed (due to Covid-19) and the schedule getting re-arranged. I thought we got a little better as last week went on.”

Esky netted a pair of power-play goals in the second, with sophomore forward Jayger LaMarch going top shelf from point-blank range for a 2-1 lead at 1:19.

Senior forward Nick Kolich then scored Esky’s third goal during a scramble in front of the net at 6:40.

The Blue Devils responded 16 seconds later as senior forward Jack Swan’s tally from the doorstep pulled them within 3-2.

Swan then tied the score at 3 with an unassisted goal at 8:49.

“We felt if we tightened our defense, we’d be okay,” said Sault coach Rick Mackie. “We lost some key faceoffs in our defensive zone, and our power play didn’t capitalize as much as we thought it would. We were missing four key guys, but that’s just one of those things. The guys didn’t quit. We’re pleased with the effort.”

Esky outshot Sault 12-8 in the third frame.

“Our fourth goal was a big one, especially after we went up 3-1, and they came back and tied the score,” said Hughes. “Then, we had the momentum going up 5-3. Hopefully, we can carry that into this weekend.”

“We had the momentum after going up 5-3,” said Hughes.

The Eskymos got on the board first when Kolich re-directed senior defenseman Kadon Hayes’ shot from the right point 7:23 into the contest.

Sault tied the score on a power play 13:19 into the second stanza on senior forward Nick Gerrie’s tally from the doorstep.

Esky collected a season-high 27 shots on goal and Sault had 20. Junior goaltender Dylan Ziemke had 16 saves for the Eskymos. Sault freshman Camden Labadie stopped 22 shots.

The Eskymos travel to Hancock Friday and Calumet Saturday. The Blue Devils visit Big Rapids Saturday.

Sault Ste. Marie 0 1 3 — 4

Escanaba 1 0 4 — 5

First period

E — Kolich (Hayes), 7:23

Second period

S — Gerrie (Swan and Kogan), power play, 13:19

Third period

E — LaMarch (Boudreau), power play, 1:19

E — Kolich (Mylander and Krutina), 6:40

S — Swan (Gerrie), 6:56

S — Swan (unassisted), 8:49

E — Mylander (LaMarch), 11:16

E — Krutina (Kolich), 12:49

S — French (Hominga), 16:59

Shots on goal: Escanaba 27, Sault Ste. Marie 20

Power plays: Escanaba 2-2, Sault Ste. Marie 1-4

Goaltender saves: Escanaba (Ziemke 16), Sault Ste. Marie (Labadie 22).