By Canadian Press

Krushelnyski scores in fifth OT, lifts Phantoms over Checkers in record setter

May 10, 2018 | 12:27 AM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Six hours and six minutes after the puck dropped at Bojangles’ Coliseum, there was finally a winner.

Alex Lyon made 94 saves and Alex Krushelnyski ended the longest game in American Hockey League history when he scored 6:48 into the fifth overtime on Wednesday to lift the Lehigh Valley Phantoms over the Charlotte Checkers 2-1 in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series.

Krushelnyski cruised into the slot and took a feed from Cole Bardreau, who was behind the net, before snapping a shot past Charlotte goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to give the Phantoms a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Lehigh Valley, the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, and Charlotte, the Carolina Hurricanes’ minor league team, needed 146:48 minutes to determine a winner, surpassing the old AHL record for longest game by 3:50. Wednesday’s game began at 7:03 p.m. ET and ended at 1:09 a.m. ET.

Lyon stopped the final 79 shots he faced after allowing a goal in the second period, including 44 in extra time. The Checkers had their chances, outshooting Lehigh Valley 27-6 through the second and third overtime periods.

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Charlotte defenceman Haydn Fleury and winger Valentin Zykov led all skaters with nine shots apiece on the 25-year-old Lyon, who made the second most amount of saves in AHL history.

The previous record for the longest AHL game was set on April 24, 2008, when the Philadelphia Phantoms beat the Albany River Rats 3-2 in the fifth overtime, with 142:58 needed to determine an outcome.

Michael Leighton made 98 saves for the River Rats in a marathon that coincidentally also featured the AHL affiliates of the Flyers and the Hurricanes.

Nedeljkovic turned aside 51 of 53 shots in a losing cause.

“I got 50 shots or whatever it was tonight, but unfortunately I couldn’t make that extra save,” said Nedeljkovic. “It is what it is, and (Game 5) is do or die now.”

Danick Martel opened the scoring at 16:24 of the first for Lehigh Valley before Charlotte’s Patrick Brown tied the game at 6:52 of the second.

The teams will get a much-needed two days off before returning to the ice for Game 5 Saturday in Charlotte.

The Canadian Press