Alex Lyon Cut for OT

A Timeline: Relive the Longest Game in AHL History

One year ago today, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms faced off against the Charlotte Checkers in game four of the Atlantic Division Final.  The game, which took place inside of Bojangles’ Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, would require five overtime periods and over six hours to complete as it became the longest game in AHL history.  Lehigh Valley would go on to triumph 2-1 and take a 3-1 series lead over the Checkers.

Phantoms forward Alex Krushelnyski scored the game-winning goal at the 6:48 mark of the fifth overtime period while goaltender Alex Lyon contributed a Herculean effort, turning aside 94 of the 95 shots he faced, to backstop the team to victory.

Below, you will find a timeline of events that was, and still remains, the longest game in AHL history.

7:03 p.m.

Puck Drop for Game 4 of the Atlantic Division Final between the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Charlotte Checkers inside of Bojangles’ Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.

7:18 p.m.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms earn their first power play of the game with 11:42 remaining in the first period of play as Charlotte’s Clark Bishop sits for interference.

7:27 p.m.

Sam Morin takes a spill near the boards and leaves the game with an apparent injury, from that point on the Phantoms would need to finish the game with just five defensemen in the lineup.

7:32 p.m.

Danick Martel scores to give the Phantoms a 1-0 lead over the Checkers.  Martel fires home a rebound off the end boards from a T.J. Brennan shot for his fourth goal of the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs.

7:40 p.m.

At the end of the first period, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms take a 1-0 lead over the Charlotte Checkers into the locker room.

https://twitter.com/LVPhantoms/status/994361681252896770

7:56 p.m.

The puck drops for the second period between the Phantoms and Checkers.

8:09 p.m.

Charlotte scores to tie the game up at 1-1 with 13:08 remaining in the second period of play. Checkers’ captain Patrick Brown scores his first of the playoffs as he shoots in a rebound off the end boards in nearly identical fashion from that of Danick Martel’s first-period goal.

8:36 p.m.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Charlotte Checkers head into their respective locker rooms for the second intermission tied at one goal apiece. At the time, shots are 24-14 in favor of the Checkers.

8:40 p.m.

A large group of Phantoms fans are locked into the game during a watch party held inside of Chickie’s & Pete’s at PPL Center back in Allentown.

8:56 p.m.

A faceoff at center ice begins the third period inside of Bojangles’ Coliseum.

9:03 p.m.

Charlotte surpasses 30 shots on the evening with under 15 minutes to play in the third period. Phantoms goaltender Alex Lyon has now turned aside 29 of those 30 shots to keep the game locked in a 1-1 tie.

9:22 p.m.

With just around five minutes left to play in the third period, Charlotte reaches the 40 shot mark.

9:31 p.m.

The horn sounds and regulation ends.  The Phantoms and Checkers would need overtime to decide Game 4 of the Atlantic Division Final.  At the end of the third period, shots are 41-24 in favor of the Checkers.

9:36 p.m.

A dollar beer night promotion in Charlotte, as well as overtime, provide the perfect opportunity for some fans to build some pretty interesting creations.

9:47 p.m.

The puck drops for the first overtime period of Game 4 between Lehigh Valley and Charlotte.  This would mark the second time that the Phantoms headed into overtime during the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs in which they held a 1-0 record.

10:22 p.m.

After some back-and-forth action, overtime period one comes to an end.  The game remains tied as both teams head into the locker rooms.  Alex Lyon has now made a total of 51 saves in the contest as shots at the end of the first OT are 52-34 for Charlotte.

10:38 p.m.

The second overtime period between the Phantoms and Checkers begins.

10:41 p.m.

The last of two Western Conference Calder Cup Playoff games, which both began roughly an hour after puck drop between the Phantoms and Checkers, have now ended.

11:08 p.m.

Alex Lyon surpasses the 60-save mark on the evening.

11:12 p.m.

Goaltender Alex Lyon turns aside his 66th shot of the game, setting a new Phantoms franchise record for saves in a single game.  The previous record was held by Philadelphia/Adirondack Phantoms goaltender Scott Munroe with 65 in a single game.

11:14 p.m.

Two overtime periods are now in the books, the Phantoms and Checkers remain locked at 1-1.  Shots in the game to this point are 67-39 for the Checkers.

11:16 p.m.

After two additional periods of hockey, the Phantoms need some advice on what to eat to keep their energy up for the next period of play.

https://twitter.com/LVPhantoms/status/994415802953748485

11:26 p.m.

Back in Allentown, at Chickie’s & Pete’s inside of PPL Center, a few diehard fans remain at the watch party to help cheer on the Phantoms as they approached the third overtime period of the game.  By this point the watch party has been going on for nearly five hours.

11:28 p.m.

Inside of the Phantoms locker room at Bojangles’ Coliseum, the team tries to keep their energy up by eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and drinking Coca-Cola.

11:30 p.m.

The third overtime period begins in Charlotte.

11:37 p.m.

The Phantoms earn a power play for the first time in four hours and 19 minutes as the Checkers are called for having too many men on the ice.  Fans inside Bojangles’ Coliseum are beginning to become restless and just want SOMEONE to score.

11:41 p.m.

The Phantoms recall the time when the Western Conference games started after the Phantoms and finished before…

11:43 p.m.

The Phantoms see two power-play opportunities killed off by the Checkers leading to more even-strength play.  With under nine minutes to play in the third overtime period, the Phantoms and Checkers remain tied.  Shots in the game to this point are 72-40 in favor of Charlotte.

11:50 p.m.

Hockey fans from all around begin to tune into the game as a buzz begins to surround the game.  The Phantoms toss out a thanks to all the OG fans that have been listening throughout the game.

11:53 p.m.

T.J. Brennan is whistled for holding at the 16:08 mark of the third overtime period, putting the Phantoms on the penalty kill for the first time since the second period.  That penalty kill in the second period, at this point, was three hours and 50 minutes ago.

11:55 p.m.

The Phantoms come through with a huge penalty kill to keep the game tied with just 1:52 remaining in the third overtime period.

11:58 p.m.

Overtime number three comes to a close with the game still knotted up at 1-1.  The Phantoms and Checkers have now played the equivalent of two regulation games and essentially turned their seven-game series into an eight-game series.

Shots to this point were 79-40 for the Checkers.

Additionally, the game between the Phantoms and Checkers has now become the 7th longest game in AHL history with 60 additional minutes of time played after regulation.

12:00 a.m.

It’s now May 10.

12:10 a.m.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms forward Mike Vecchione’s aunt, who is in attendance in Charlotte, brought her specialty, homemade brownies down to the Phantoms locker room prior to the fourth overtime period.  The team promptly consumes them to gain some energy before heading back out to the ice for OT4.

12:14 a.m.

The puck drops for the fourth overtime period in Charlotte.

12:18 a.m.

What looks to be an icing call on the Phantoms is negated by forward Chris Conner.  Having literally played two games at this point, some congratulations are in order.

12:22 a.m.

The game between Lehigh Valley and Charlotte becomes the fourth longest game in AHL history.

12:26 a.m.

Charlotte Checkers staff members begin to pass out popcorn to fans that have stayed through all of the overtime action inside of Bojangles’ Coliseum.

12:34 a.m.

It has become more and more evident that Alex Lyon has become an actual wall as the Checkers approach 90 shots.

12:45 a.m.

The fourth overtime period comes to a close. The game between the Phantoms and Checkers remains tied at 1-1 and shots are now 89-47 for Charlotte.  As the two teams head into the locker room for another intermission, the game becomes just the second game in AHL history to make it to the fifth overtime period of play.

12:46 a.m.

It’s at this point that a lot of the game coverage felt like it was just yesterday…

12:49 a.m.

The league wonders how everyone is doing before the fifth overtime…

12:55 a.m.

As the two teams head into territory that isn’t seen very often, the Phantoms try to enlist the help of two guys that have scored some big 5OT goals before.

1:01 a.m.

The fifth overtime period begins in Charlotte.

1:03 a.m.

Game 4 of the Atlantic Division Finals between the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Charlotte Checkers has now become the longest game in American Hockey League history.  It surpassed the previous game from April 24, 2008, between the Philadelphia Phantoms and Albany River Rats that required five overtime periods and 82:58 of additional time.  Oddly enough, that game was also played between the AHL Affiliates of the Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes.

As the clock continues to tick, the game has now reached six hours in elapsed time.

1:09 a.m.

Alex Krushelnyski fires home a Cole Bardreau centering feed that came from behind the net to give the Phantoms a 2-1 victory in the AHL’s longest game in history.  The win gives the Phantoms a 3-1 series lead over the Checkers in the best-of-seven series.

Phantoms goaltender Alex Lyon turned aside the last 79 shots he faced during the contest, shutting the Checkers out over the final 119:56 of the game.  In total, Lyon made 94 saves which is just four shots shy of tying the record held by former Phantoms and Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton who made 98 saves in 2008 for the Albany River Rats.

The game lasted a total of six hours and six minutes.

1:10 a.m.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms rush down the ice to congratulate Alex Krushelnyski for putting an end to the longest game in AHL history.

1:17 a.m.

The three stars of the game are announced as follows: third star Alex Krushelnyski, second star Alex Nedeljkovic and first star Alex Lyon.

  • Krushelnyski scored the game-winning goal for the Phantoms.
  • Nedeljkovic made 51 saves on 53 shots for the Checkers in 146:24 in net.
  • Lyon made an incredible 94 saves on 95 shots in 146:48 in net.

https://twitter.com/LVPhantoms/status/994446380520402944

2:46 a.m.

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https://twitter.com/LVPhantoms/status/994468780205060096

9:00 a.m.

Later that morning it became abundantly clear that there were two sides you could be on.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms

or the Charlotte Checkers

Either way, the game felt like something out of a movie and continues to be one of the most interesting pieces of sports history.

For those that aren’t aware, the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley/Philadelphia Phantoms currently hold the records for the three longest games in hockey in the modern era.

Keith Primeau netted the game-winning goal with 7:59 remaining in the fifth overtime period as Philadelphia scored a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on May 4 during the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Back in 2008, Ryan Potulny “dented the onion bag” to give the Philadelphia Phantoms a 3-2 victory over the Albany River Rats in the now second-longest game in AHL history on April 24.

And finally, on May 9, 2018, Alex Krushelnyski scored the game-winner in the AHL’s longest game as he converted a centering feed to give the Phantoms a 2-1 victory.

As part of the one year anniversary of the AHL’s longest game Phantoms fans can tune into replays of the game, in its entirety, via the Phantoms365 App on Thursday, May 9.  The first play through of the game will begin at 12:00 p.m. (12:03 p.m. puck drop/11:23 a.m. pregame show) while a second replay will begin at 7:00 p.m. (7:03 p.m. puck drop/6:23 p.m. pregame show) just as the actual game did a year ago.

Don’t have the Phantoms365 App?  Download it for free for both Apple and Android devices by clicking HERE.

Season tickets offering a wide range of benefits as well as 21-Game and 13-Game plans are available by calling the Phantoms at 610-224-GOAL (4625).

And for the latest Phantoms news, visit www.phantomshockey.com or follow the team on Facebook, Twitter (@lvphantoms) and Instagram (@lehighvalleyphantoms).