Three periods of regulation and an overtime session were not enough to settle matters as Decatur Blaze defeated Detroit Fighting Irish in a shootout 6-5 (2-1 SO).

The shootout lasted for 12 attempts between the teams. Detroit Fighting Irish's shootout goal was scored by Eric Long. In addition to the clincher, Decatur Blaze got a shootout goal from Luka Znidarsic.

Decatur Blaze came back from a two-goal deficit to capture the victory. Decatur Blaze was down 5-3 after a goal by Detroit Fighting Irish's Chase Tackett at 17:00 in the second period. Decatur Blaze knotted things up at 5-5 on a power play goal by John Urmetz at 4:32 in the third period.

Ryan Redpath and Micah Young provided the spark for Decatur Blaze, combining for three goals and three assists. Redpath registered two goals and one assist and Young also notched one goal and two assists.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 16:37 into the third period. Four fighting penalties were dished out along with four game misconducts.

Decatur Blaze was often in penalty trouble, totaling 10 minors and two majors for 60 minutes in penalty time. Decatur Blaze surpassed its season average of 20.0 penalty minutes per game. Decatur Blaze forced Detroit Fighting Irish's goalies to work in net, finishing with 49 shots and forcing 43 saves. George Hill made 26 stops and Kory Dombrowski made 17. Decatur Blaze surpassed its usual scoring output this season. This season, Decatur Blaze averages 3.6 goals per contest.

Decatur Blaze also got points from Young, who also had one goal and two assists to lead the team in points. Duncan Irvine also scored for Decatur Blaze. More assists for Decatur Blaze came via Brandon Adler, Znidarsic, and Dylan Farmer, who each chipped in one.

Detroit Fighting Irish forced its penalty killing units to work especially hard during the game, picking up 10 minors and three majors for 65 minutes in penalty time. Detroit Fighting Irish had been averaging 24.0 minutes in penalties per game. Detroit Fighting Irish forced Decatur Blaze's goaltenders to work between the pipes, launching 38 shots and forcing 33 saves. Brandon Macak made four stops and Paul Stomper made 29.

Detroit Fighting Irish was helped by Jacob Hernandez, who grabbed two goals. Hernandez scored the first of his two goals at 8:15 into the second period to make the score 3-3. Chuck Hicks assisted on the tally. Hernandez's next tally made the score 4-3 Detroit Fighting Irish with 4:44 left in the second period. Cody Dombrowski provided the assist. Detroit Fighting Irish additionally got points from Dombrowski, who also tallied one goal and two assists to lead the team in points. Detroit Fighting Irish also got a goal from Steven Sewell as well. In addition, Detroit Fighting Irish received assists from Richard Pinkowski, Christian Ramage, and Jacob Hayes, who contributed one each.

Decatur Blaze registered two goals on eight power play opportunities. Team's Urmetz and Richard Mischak were slapped with misconducts and ejected from the game. Detroit Fighting Irish registered one goal on five power play opportunities. For Detroit Fighting Irish, Hernandez and James Smith were ejected from the contest.