Staff photo / Brian Yauger. Phantoms forward Matti Butkovskiy tries to steal the puck from Chicago’s Callum Croskery during Sunday’s game.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Phantoms closed out the weekend with another much-needed point, but were on the wrong end of a shootout, falling 4-3 to Chicago.

“Three (games) in three (nights), I thought they battled hard,” Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said. “Obviously kind of unlucky on that first goal there, but I thought our guys played well with a pretty significant disparity in how the game was called. I thought our guys did a good job sticking with it. That was a huge point, and Muskegon lost tonight, so obviously we’re in the driver’s seat.

“We’ll shift our focus here next weekend onto getting the job done and playing in important games this time of year, so I thought our guys did a good job.”

A funny bounce put the Phantoms behind to start Sunday’s game. Chicago’s Noah LaPointe whipped the puck up the ice from the neutral zone, and bounced past the shoulder of Phantoms’ goaltender Melvin Strahl and into the net.

The Phantoms responded late in the opening period with Jakub Hes finding the back of the net. They’d take their only lead of the afternoon in the second period with Brecken Smith finding Matti Butkovskiy for his sixth goal of the season.

Chicago forwards Tobias Ohman and Aidan Dyer scored just a minute apart to tie and then retake the lead, however.

Three minutes into the final frame, Jack Willson frantically tapped his stick calling for a pass, and when Sluys made the pass, Willson delivered. The blueliner caught Chicago’s Louka Cloutier out of position and fired a slapshot into the near-open net for the game-tying score.

After surrendering that goal however, Cloutier locked down, stifling multiple Phantom opportunities throughout the remainder of the game.

Ohman scored the only goal from either team in three shootout rounds to clinch the win for the Steel.

Phantoms forward Ryan Rucinski played in his 100th USHL game on Sunday.

With just two games left in the regular season, the Phantoms are in prime position to earn a bye in the first round.

Sitting at 82 points after the shootout loss to Chicago, Youngstown is currently in first place in the Eastern Conference.

Madison and Dubuque, who are tied for second place with 81 points, play each other this week. With the Capitols and Fighting Saints potentially cannibalizing points from each other, and the Phantoms a point ahead in the standings, Youngstown is in the driver’s seat to take the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The easiest path for the Phantoms to clinch first place and earn one of those coveted first-round byes is the exact way they’d want to. Win.

Youngstown has a home-and-home with the US National Team Development Program U17s on Friday and Saturday. Win both of those, and first place is theirs.

Friday’s game is in Plymouth, Mich., with the regular season finale on Saturday at the Covelli Centre.

With the chance to have home ice all the way through the postseason, the Phantoms look to close the regular season out right.

“We obviously have some business to take care of here next weekend, but we love playing at home,” Ward said. “We love being here and hopefully we have a nice long spring.”