SUNDAY FEATURE: An Oral History Of The AHL's Longest Game - Three Years Later

Editor's Note: With some help from the hero of the longest game, Alex Krushelnyski, as well as the Phantoms' assistant equipment manager for that game, Sean Mueller, InsideAHLHockey.com is taking a look back at what turned out to be the longest game in American Hockey League (AHL) history.

InsideAHLHockey.com's Phantoms reporter Tony Androckitis was live on-scene for the infamous 5OT game, and links to our exclusive 1-on-1 post-game interviews from that game are included in this re-telling of a history-making playoff classic in the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs.

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Written by: Tony Androckitis, with help from Alex Krushelnyski and Sean Mueller

Following a big 5-1 win in Game 3, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms were back at it the next night on May 9th, 2018 at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina for Game 4 of the Atlantic Division Finals looking to take a stranglehold 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

With their top defenseman Travis Sanheim and top center Phil Varone both injured, and prospect Nicolas Aube-Kubel serving a three-game suspension from a hit earlier in the series, the Phantoms had managed to take two of the first three games of the series - splitting Games 1 and 2 in Allentown before the Phantoms started the first of three scheduled games in Charlotte with a big 5-1 win in Game 3 on Tuesday May 8th.

Alex Krushelnyski (AK): "I don't remember anything being too out of the ordinary. We knew it was 2-1 at that time. It was just okay. Regardless of 5OT or not - and obviously nobody knew it was going to be that way - everybody was looking at that game like it was a must [win] because it would have put us up 3-1, which it did. Everybody was conscious of that. You're going into Charlotte with three games, that could have been a huge swing. I think it was just business as usual."*

Lehigh Valley was able to a 1-0 lead late in the first period after Danick Martel banged home the rebound of a T.J. Brennan shot to give the Phantoms a 1-0 lead heading to the middle frame. Defenseman Sam Morin tore his ACL in the first period, leaving Lehigh Valley with just five defensemen - Phil Myers, Mark Friedman, T.J. Brennan, Reece Willcox and Max Lamarche

Charlotte dominated the second period and was able to the game at 1-1, which remained the score as the horn sounded on the third period.

That could only mean the best three words in sports was next.

Playoff. Hockey. Overtime.

At 9:45 p.m. ET, the first overtime began. The game was tied 1-1 and the shots were 41-24 in favor of the Checkers.

Krushelnyski, along with his linemates Cole Bardreau and Colin McDonald, started the first overtime on the ice and despite being the "fourth line" played an important role in keeping Charlotte's top offensive weapons chasing the puck in their own end.

AK: I honestly feel like as the playoffs had gone on, our line was starting to feel more and [dominant]. We knew what our job and we were starting to feel ... a swagger. And I think that's something that really developed on that line. Obviously Mac is so reliable. You knew exactly what he would do every night, and then Bards' was ALWAYS doing his thing. And obviously this was a new experience for me, and I was just trying to elevate my game. I was excited, man. It was finally a time for me to prove that I belonged there.

The game almost ended in the opening 75 seconds of extra play. My, what a different series it could have been?

The Checkers had a 3-on-2 rush after they caught the Phantoms on a line change, and thought they scored on a shot attempt to the net. To this day, this is the first of many saves Alex Lyon would make that just made you wonder.

Charlotte had a 4-1 edge in shots in the opening five minutes of OT1, but it turned out to be a pretty evenly played 20 minutes. Of note in the period, Oskar Lindblom's skate blade broke off and needed tending to but head equipment manager at the time (and current Philadelphia Flyers equipment guy) Andy Rannells made the proper fix quickly and Lindblom didn't miss a shift.

As the first OT period was nearing its end, the fatigue factor was already becoming pretty noticeable. Little did they know they were in for an entire extra game's worth of overtime and then some.

AK on the fatigue factor: I think honestly, it was probably the second or the third OT. I was like man this is nuts. The first OT I was like okay cool, this is fun. The second one i was like okay this fun, I'm getting a little tired. The third one... I was like okay....

Charlotte really started dominating the offensive chances in the second and third overtimes, where they out shot the Phantoms a combined 27-6 in those 40 minutes.

How the Phantoms survived that 40-minute onslaught hinged largely on Alex Lyon's dominating performance, but in looking back on the marathon of a hockey game that it turned out to be there might have been a secret weapon involved.

Krushelnyski couldn't stomach it, however, and didn't partake.

AK: Some of the funniest stories were I think we ate all of the brownie before the game ended. I think it started pretty quickly in like the second [OT intermission]. It sounded awful to me. I saw them eating it and like dude I can't stomach that. Other guys could do it. Some guys are different. That's why it was cool. Everyone was just doing what worked for them and dealing with it in their own way. Some of the guys were having fun and some of the guys you could tell were a little bit more serious. It was a good mix. Everyone enjoyed it and it was like running a marathon.  Everyone strapped their shoes on and got in it for the long haul.

In various interviews in the days following the history-making event, various players referenced eating brownies and drinking sodas - anything they could get their hands on to consume and get energy from.

As the overtimes began piling on, the equipment staff handling the Phantoms' locker room were quite busy in keeping things going as smoothly as possible during the nearly endless 15-minute overtime intermissions.

Sean Mueller, 2018 Phantoms' assistant equipment manager: Little known fact about that game, we had 2 jerseys for the players as some guys would always want a dry jersey to start a period. By the second overtime, due to the heat in NC and how long the game had gone on, we were swapping jerseys for every player in the room during the intermissions. I would then be alternating them on about 4-5 fans and the glove dryers to dry them during each overtime period.

Mueller added it got to the point where some of the guys decided it wasn't worth the effort required to remove their jersey to get a dry one.

It might have happened two years ago, which might seem like a lifetime ago due to what's currently going on in the world, but Krushelnyski still remembers the golden goal to this day and his recollection is a carbon copy if you match it up with the replay.

The goal that ended the longest game in AHL history came 6:48 into the fifth overtime, scored at 1:09 a.m. ET just over six hours after the game began.

AK: No I do [remember]. It was a pretty quick shift for me. I literally just hopped off the bench. I was the last guy to change. It started with a long pass coming up to Mac to gain the zone and he took a weird shot at the goalie that I think caught him off guard a little bit like up near the head and Bards caught it and came around  and there was a one second lapse in coverage because I was coming off the bench. It was like a foot off the ice. Far side. I'm not going to sit here and say it was a perfect shot. By that time it's a numbers game, no shot is a bad shot. One of them is bound to go in. Luckily, it was that one.

I never did write a post-game story of the infamous five overtime game. Krushelnyski's goal was scored at 1:09 a.m. and I had a 6:00 a.m. flight out of town. By the time I got downstairs to the locker room and conducted three quick video interviews it was nearly 2 a.m.

I was staying with my cousin near downtown Charlotte, and he had attended the game and waited for me to get the post-game content before driving us back to his place where I quickly packed up my things. He dropped me off at the airport as the TSA security checkpoints were opening and I made it in time for my flight.

Here are the exclusive reactions of that historic game caught in 1-on-1 interviews by InsideAHLHockey.com.