The West Michigan Phantoms used a six-goal second period to secure a victory over the Red Devils on Sunday to post another winning record regular season. Of the team's now 26 completed seasons, the 12-4 victory by the Phantoms tonight will go down as the team's 17th season in which the Yellow & Black have posted a winning record during the regular season. Today's contest against the Red Devils witnessed a couple of notables on the scoreboard, as Trent Kik would complete the night with 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points, while Nate Tyler and Sean Wert also factored in the Phantom's big win. As usually happens with Phantom Hockey, it would be opponent who would crack the scoreboard first, as the Red Devils would get on the board just 42 seconds into the contest. Following that strike, the Men of Phantom Nation would combine to net the games next 9 goals beginning with three goals in the final 11:00 of the opening period. Trent Kik would begin the Phantom outburst with a pair of goals 29 seconds apart to put the defending champions on top 2-1. Casey Rosenberg would combine on a Sean Wert pass with 3:53 remaining in the period to secure a 3-1 lead after the opening 16 minutes. In the second period the Phantoms would break open the game. Nate Tyler would strike with a on-rink rocket that would penetrate the Devil net detective 3:02 into the stanza to increase the Phantom lead to 4-1. Brad Zehr would connect on a Sean Wert pass and Chris Benedict would connect on a Sean Wert pass to quickly add two more goals onto the Phantom side of the scoreboard. With 7:40 remaining in the period, Trent Kik would net his third goal of the night, completing the hat-trick, (assisted by Gordie Anderson and Scott Vandonkelaar) to give the Phantoms a 7-2 lead. Minutes later, Casey Rosenberg would notch his second goal of the night (assisted by Trent Kik and Scott Vandonkelaar) to increase the offensive drive to a 8-1 Phantom lead. With 4:19 remaining in the middle stanza, Sean Wert would net his first goal of the game to give the Phantom Boys a 9-1 lead after the second period. In the third period, the Red Devils would capitalize on two Phantom breakdowns (along with a little luck) to narrow the game to 9-3. The Red Devil two-goal drive in the span of 1:42 would be silenced by Chris Benedict netting his second of the night (assisted by Nate Tyler) to deliver the double-digit strike for the Phantoms. Sean Wert would complete his own hat-trick with 6:48 remaining in the period (assisted by Casey Rosenberg and Scott Vandonkelaar) to put 'Double Ones' on the scoreboard. Chris Benedict would become the third Phantom in the game to capture a hat-trick, as the Navy man would be set up by Nate Tyler and Sean Wert at the 11:15 mark of the period to complete the Phantom scoring at 12 goals. The Red Devils would manage to steal their fourth goal of the contest in the final minutes of the period to secure a 4-12 defeat to the defending Silver champions. The Phantoms would play without the services of Matt Zehr and Dave Trahan. On the game, the Phantoms would out shoot the Red Devils 40-28 on the game. On the Nauty's Penalty Minute Board, the slate would be empty as no penalties would be called on either team during the contest. The victory improves the Phantom record to 5-3-0-1 on the season. The team will return to action next Sunday to close out the regular season against the Missiles.
