The defending silver champions held off a player ejection and numerous penalties on Sunday to defeat the Red Devils by the final of 6-4. Despite trailing 1-0 after the opening stanza, the West Michigan Phantoms erupted with four goals in the middle stanza to put the Phantom Brigade on top and rounded out two goals in the final period to preserve the victory. In doing so, the Phantoms improved to 4-1 against the Devils dating back to last season. During the most recent five-game-set against the Red Devils, both teams have not been shy to partake in extra circular activities. In those five games, both teams have combined for a total of 155 penalty minutes. During that span both teams have been citied for 26 penalties, however the Phantoms hold the advantage in minutes 89-66. That is a stat that makes Nauty's proud! As for Sunday's game, the Red Devil's Bryan White would make Phantom netminder Kevin Wootton look like a traffic cone in net in the opening period, as White skated in and dueked out Wootton to put the Red Devils on top 5:43 into the contest. The Red Devils would complete the opening period with a 1-0 lead over the Phantoms, out shooting the Phantoms 11-9. In the second period, the Phantoms would knock home the equalizer on a Chris Benedict (unassisted) goal 3:30 into the period. The Red Devils would respond minutes later as the Red Devils jumped back into the lead at 2-1. However, the Phantom's unlettered captain Chris Benedict would answer right back just 21 seconds into a Phantom powerplay (assisted by Casey Rosenberg and Brad Zehr) to again deadlock the contest at 2-2. The Red Devils would have a glorious opportunity to regain the lead as a very questionable tripping penalty would be assessed to the Phantoms. The penalty would result in a penalty shot for the Red Devils. However, the goaltending acrobatics of the Phantom netminder Kevin Wootton would be equal to the task as the goaltender denied the Red Devils their opportunity. The Phantoms would march into their first lead of the night late in the second period. The Phantom's Trent Kik (assisted by Nate Tyler) would give the go-ahead goal to the Phantoms with just 2:38 remaining. The Phantoms would not be done in the second. Chris Benedict would complete the three-goal hat-trick just 30 seconds following the Kik goal to launch the Phantoms into a 4-2 lead after the opening 32 minutes. In the third period, the Red Devils would narrow the contest to a single goal just 1:30 into the period as the Red Devils would capitalize on their 4-2 powerplay advantage. The Phantoms would again restore their two-goal grip over the Red Devils with 9:09 remaining in the game. Chris Benedict would tally his fourth of the night (assisted by Brad Zehr) to expand the Phantom lead to 5-3. The Men of Phantom Nation would add some insurance with another Chris Benedict strike, his fifth of the night (assisted by Gordie Anderson), with 5:59 remaining in the game to jump into a commanding 6-3 lead. With time expiring on the clock, the Red Devils would muster enough energy to capture their fourth of the night to close out the contest falling to the Phantoms 6-4. On the game, the Phantoms out shot the Red Devils 31-25. On the Nauty's penalty minute clock, the Phantoms would be ticketed with 7 penalties for 16 minutes, including enduring an unsuccessful Red Devil penalty shot. For the Devils, they would be ticketed for 4 minors for 8 minutes on the night. Phantom firefighter Casey Rosenberg would be banished late in the second period on three penalties on the night. The victory improves the team's record to 2-1 on the season. Currently, the Phantoms, Howie's and the Red Devils all reside in a a tie for the overall Silver lead. The Phantoms will return to action next Sunday to tangle with the winless Missiles.