After the Charlotte Checkers literally manhandled the Phantoms at the PPL Center in Game 2 of their division championship series, nobody would have predicted that the Phantoms would go on the road and sweep the next three games to win the series.

The 6-0 drubbing in Game 2 seemed to have sent a message to the Phantoms, who responded by winning three straight — including a historic Game 4 — to head to the Conference Championship against the Toronto Marlies.

With the series tied 1-1, Lehigh Valley came out in Game 3 and beat the Checkers in Charlotte to hand them their first home loss since March 18. Oskar Lindblom paced the attack with two goals while Mike Vecchione, Danick Martel and Chris Conner also tallied goals in the 5-1 win. Goalie Alex Lyon made 34 saves, but would come nowhere near to the performance he would turn in the following night.

Game 4 was a pivotal one for both teams and neither was conceding anything. The teams were tied 1-1 through regulation and would wind up needing five overtimes to decide the game, making it the longest game in the 82-year history of the AHL.

Colin McDonald got the puck to Cole Bardreau behind the net and Bardreau fired a strike to Alex Krushelnyski, who fired a laser on goal and past goalie Alex Nedeljkovic for the game-winner at 1:09 in the morning. Lyon made 94 saves, ironically good enough for just second in Phantoms history, while Lehigh Valley managed a relatively-low 53 shots on goal.

Lyon became an instant media darling, doing interviews on ESPN, the NHL Network and many other outlets to talk about the incredible game.

With a day off between Games 4 and 5, there was no way to tell how either team would respond in Game 5. As it turned out, the Phantoms would come out strong and Lyon would turn away 27 of the 28 shots that Charlotte managed in a 5-1 series-clinching win for Lehigh Valley. Conner, McDonald, Tyrell Goulbourne, Corban Knight and Philippe Myers all scored for Lehigh Valley, setting up a showdown with Toronto for the Eastern Conference Championship.

TORONTO’S PATH ... The Marlies finished as the top team in the Eastern Conference with a 54-18-2-2 record to give them home-ice advantage against Lehigh Valley, who finished second in the conference. Toronto beat Utica, 3-2, in the opening series and then eliminated Syracuse by winning four straight games in their division championship. Toronto took both regular season meetings with the Phantoms, winning 3-2 in Toronto in a shootout, and then 5-1 at the PPL Center.

BALANCING ACT ... For the most part, the Phantoms have had a balanced scoring attack in the Calder Cup playoffs. Chris Conner leads the team with eight points, while Oskar Lindblom, Danick Martel and Greg Carey each have seven. Nineteen different players have tallied at least one point for Lehigh Valley through nine postseason games.

UPCOMING ... The first two games of the best-of-seven series will be in Toronto on Saturday and Sunday. Games 3 and 4 will be in Allentown on Wednesday, May 23 and Friday, May 25. If necessary, Game 5 would be at the PPL Center on May 26 and Games 6 and 7, if necessary, would be back in Toronto on May 28 and 30.