The West Michigan Phantoms improved to 4-2 on the season Sunday after surviving a third period Red Devil rally to claim the victory 6-5. The Phantoms entered the final period with a healthy 5-1 lead, but witnessed the Red Devils trim the score to 5-4. A Gordie Anderson five-hole blast with only 6:54 remaining in the period truncated the Red Devil three goal third period rally and increased the Phantom lead back to two goals. Minutes later the Red Devils would knock home their fifth and final goal of the evening to climb back into contention, but with time running out during the contest, their bid to force an overtime shoot-out would fall short. The game would be called with eight seconds remaining in the game as the Red Devils would resort to goon-like tactics as two Devils teamed up to assault Phantom all-star Casey Rosenberg deep inside the Red Devil zone. The head-hunting expedition towards the Phantom leading scorer which had been occurring most of the game, would reach a boiling point and with 8 seconds remaining in the game, the goon assault would see an immediate stoppage of play and on-rink players from both ends as well as both officials would become involved in a pre-Easter dance. Both teams would be separated and the officials decided to avoid any further tension between the clubs and called the game with again only eight seconds remaining. The Phantoms would receive goals from five different marksmen, Andy Roseart (1), Trent Kik (1), Casey Rosenberg (2), Brian Doctor (1) and Gordie Anderson (1) would each tally goals in the Phantom win. For the fourth game in a row, the Phantoms would been outshot. The Red Devils outshot the Phantoms 26-22 during the contest. For the first time this season, the Phantoms did not take a single penalty. The Red Devils on the other hand were ticketed for four penalties for eight minutes. The victory breaks the tie for the sole possession of second place in the Silver Division. The Yellow and Black even the season-series against the Red Devils at 1-1 and improve to 5-1 life-time against the Red Devils. The Defending Champion Phantoms will return to action on April 15th to tangle with the Revolution during the 2:00pm face-off. The team would like to wish everyone a great Easter Holiday. Phantom Hockey...We Are The Phantoms!
