The West Michigan Phantoms ended the teams two-game winning streak on Sunday as the Yellow Shirts fell to Howie's by the final of 10-5. The Phantoms showed very little skill on the defensive end as Howie's capitalized on numerous back-door opportunities deep in the Phantom zone. The Phantoms were also handcuffed on the offensive side as Chris Benedict would be one of the few Phantom players to show any desire to compete. The defeat by the Phantoms marks the third defeat to Howie's this season. One season prior, the Phantoms were able to garnish two victories against Howie's, both by way of the overtime victories, to conclude the season-series 2-4. Presently, the Phantoms will have at least one more guaranteed game against their Silver Division foes in the team's quest to avoid the series sweep. On Sunday, Howies managed to waste only 1:22 before they put a goal on the board. The Phantoms quickly answered back 1:17 later as Brad Zehr lifted the Phantoms into a 1-1 tie. During the balance of the opening period, the troubled Phantom defense would allow Howies to capitalize on three opportunities, including two goals in the final 48 seconds to conclude the opening period with Howies on top 4-1. In the second period, the Phantoms would appear to bounce back 14 seconds into the period as Casey Rosenberg would set up Chris Benedict to narrow the contest to a 4-2 Howies lead. However, the Phantoms bounce would end abruptly following the Benedict strike as Howies would again manage to strike with two goals in under a minute to explode into a 6-2 lead. Chris Benedict would manage to increase his Phantom team lead in goals to 22 with 5:48 remaining in the period as he would connect on a Brad Zehr pass to narrow the game to a 6-3 Howies lead. In the third period, Howies would continue their pounding 27 seconds into the third as Chris Pasma would complete the hat-trick with three goals to increase the Howie lead to 7-3. Roughly three minutes later the Calvin Kids would continue their dominance, as Emery Louvse would put the Calvin Kids on top 8-3. The Phantom's Chris Benedict would check off his own hat-trick accomplishment with 10:01 remaining in the period as 'Benny' would again be set up by Brad Zehr. Chris Benedict would again manage to light the lamp nearly two minutes later as Brad Zehr and Sean Wert would set up the Phantom captain for his fourth goal of the night, trimming the Howie lead to 8-5. However, three goals is as close as the defending champions would come as Howies' Chris Pasma would net his fourth of the night to expand Howies lead to 9-5. With 1:46 remaining in the period, Howies would conclude the scoring with their 10th goal of the night to lock in the 10-5 final. The victory improves Howies to 7-1 on the season, while the Phantom fall to 4-3-0-1. On the game, Howies out shot the Phantoms 29-25. On the Nauty's Penalty Minute Board, Howies was ticketed for two minors for four minutes, while the Phantoms completed the game without a single infraction. The Phantoms skated without the service of Gordie Anderson and Dave Trahan.
