Recap: Checkers Lose in Quintuple OT

CHARLOTTE - The Checkers and Phantoms played the longest AHL playoff game in history. The teams were tied at one after 60 minutes of regulation then went on to play and additional 86:48 of overtime to set the record.
Alex Krushelnyski netted the game winner for the Phantoms 6:48 into the FIFTH overtime period to give Lehigh Valley the 2-1 victory. Charlotte put 95 shots on goalie Alex Lyon who turned away all but Patrick Brown's shot in the second period.
The Checkers now trail the best of seven second round series 3-1.
Here are five takeaways from Game 4.

1. For the history books
After almost two-and-a-half hours of play, the Checkers and the Phantoms officially hold the title for the longest game in AHL history. By the fourth overtime, fatigue set in for both teams and Checkers head coach Mike Vellucci gave credit to his team for playing as hard as they could for 146:48 of playoff hockey.
"That was pretty crazy, right?" Vellucci said. "We out-shot them 2-1 and out-chanced them 2-1, so what are you going to do? You give it all you've got ... Guys were gassed, you saw it. … They gave it all they had, so that's all you could ask."
Vellucci, who had never been a part of a game so long, said being able to keep up goes back to the effort put in during the year.
"It's just survival of the fittest," Vellucci said. "We talk about why you work so hard all year long and all summer long, just to be in the best shape you can be in to play these kinds of games."
Patrick Brown who had the Checkers' lone goal knew his teammates gave a maximum effort.
"Obviously the outcome wasn't what we wanted, but we had a lot of fun," Brown said. "We worked really hard and Ned played awesome. I'm proud of every single guy in that locker room right now. We battled until the very end. We had a lot of chances, and credit to their goalie and their team because they stuck with it."

Brown said the game was grueling, but to be in a game like this is what playing is all about.
"[We were] pretty exhausted, but we were having a great time. Guys were laughing on the bench, keeping it light, trying to keep talking, singing, dancing, whatever you could do to stay focused. Having the time of your life."

This game went 3 minutes and 50 seconds longer than the previous longest game in AHL history, which oddly enough featured the affiliates of the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers back in 2008.
2. Trust in Ned
Vellucci said after the 5-1 Game 3 loss that he had no doubt Alex Nedeljkovic would bounce back, and Ned did, turning away 51 Phantom shots.
"Everybody wrote him off last year like he wasn't a good goalie as a rookie, but he's proven everyone wrong again this year," Vellucci said. "He's a heck of a goaltender and heck of a prospect, and he played outstanding for us tonight."
Nedeljkovic said that focusing on the next game is all that matters after a setback.
"Same thing that has gotten me to this point so far in the playoffs, same thing that has gotten all of us to this point in the playoffs, just moving on. Moving on from yesterday, it's over with and getting ready for today."
While it was a goaltenders duel, Nedeljkovic does not look at it like a one on one battle with Alex Lyon.
"I don't worry about what he's doing on the other side," Ned said. "His game doesn't affect mine because I'm not shooting on him and he's not shooting on me. I got 50 shots or whatever it was tonight, but, unfortunately, I couldn't make that extra save. It is what it is, and Saturday night is do or die now."
3. Phantoms re-Lyon on their goalie
Alex Lyon has only allowed two goals in the last 130 Checkers shots he has faced and is the reason why Lehigh Valley is a win away from eliminating the Checkers.
What has made Lyon so tough this series?
"He's in the zone, and we've just got to get more traffic," Vellucci said after the game. "He made some incredible saves where everybody on the bench had their arms up. That's hockey. A goalie gets hot one night so we've just got to find a way to get that tough one on him."
Patrick Brown gave Lyon credit and offered insight to what has made him so steady.
"He is a good goalie, he stays square, he's athletic. Good goalies are hard to beat but we are going to have to find a way."
Lyon's 94 saves were just short of the league record of 98 saves set by former Checkers goaltender Michael Leighton in that 2008 game.
4. Harness in the good
Despite trailing in the series 3-1, the Checkers have had the better play for the majority of the series. The team knows they are a few bounces away from being tied.
"It's a learning experience really, that's the best thing I can say for all these young guys," Vellucci said. "In 25 years of coaching I've never went this long. I don't think I ever went past the second overtime]. They gave everything they had, and they should be proud of themselves."
"It's hard, but that's playoff hockey," Nedeljkovic said. "You're going to have some of those games that seem like they never end. You think it could come down to a funny bounce and a break one way or another. It's a tough pill to swallow, but we've got to move on. We've put ourselves in a little bit of a hole now but we've got to dig ourselves out of it."
Brown said the Checkers played eight periods of solid offense and defense.
"Maybe a little bit more traffic would be nice, but I thought we played a really solid game there."
**5. Backs to the wall**
The Checkers and Phantoms do not play again until Saturday, and both teams can use the rest. But as Vellucci notes, the series is not over.
"Again, you've got to win four games, they've only got three and we've got to win the next one."
Brown said he will try to get his 10-hour nap in between now and game time at 6 p.m. Saturday night at Bojangles Coliseum.
[Tweet from @CheckersHockey: We made @theahl history last night, and our unbelievable fans stayed past 1 a.m. to count it down for us. Listen to this: pic.twitter.com/zSf0vyyHIP