Flyers flashback recap: Counting down the top 10 playoff wins in franchise history
As NHL training camps opened this week in preparation for the 2019-20 season to resume, here’s a recap of the 10 best postseason wins of all-time.
Flyers beat reporter Sam Carchidi recapped the most memorable playoff wins in franchise history in a 10-part series to help readers power through the NHL shutdown. As training camps opened this week in preparation for the 2019-20 season to resume, here’s a recap of the 10 best postseason wins of all-time.
10. Reggie Leach’s NHL-record 5 goals in 1976 win over Boston Bruins almost didn’t happen
Leach was almost benched in a 1976 playoff game, but his best friend, Bobby Clarke, talked coach Fred Shero into playing him.
9. Keith Primeau’s goal ends 5-overtime epic win over Pittsburgh Penguins
Top-seeded in the East that season, the Flyers went on to win the series in six by taking the final two games of the series.
8. J.J. Daigneault’s goal in Game 6 of 1987 Finals shook the Spectrum like never before
Daigneault’s goal snapped a 2-2 tie with 5:32 left in regulation, tying the Finals at three games apiece. He had missed most of the playoffs because of a sprained ankle, but returned in the Finals.
7. Simon Gagne’s goal completes historic series comeback over Boston Bruins
The Flyers were dead in the water after losing the first three games in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals. But in one of the amazing comebacks in NHL history, they won four straight and overcame a 3-0 deficit in Game 7 in Boston.
6. Islanders can’t deny Rick MacLeish or Kate Smith
In Game 7 of the 1975 Stanley Cup semifinals at the Spectrum, the Islanders were trying to win consecutive series after losing the first three games. After meeting with the Flyers’ good-luck charm, Kate Smith, and trying to get some of her magic, the Isles never had a chance.
5. Bill Barber’s late ‘Hail Mary’ goal put stranglehold on stunning ’74 Finals
With the score 2-2 late In Game 4, Flyers winger Bill Barber said he threw a “Hail Mary” shot at the net. It got past Boston goalie Gilles Gilbert and gave the Flyers a stranglehold in the stunning series.
4. Dave Schultz’s famous fight helped propel team into its first Stanley Cup Final
The Flyers winger downplayed the importance of his fight in Game 7 in the 1974 Stanley Cup semifinals, but coach Fred Shero called it the turning point in his team’s 4-3 win over the Rangers. It was the first time an expansion team had ever defeated an Original Six squad in a playoff series.
3. Bobby Clarke’s overtime goal changed the ’74 Stanley Cup Final
In Game 2 of the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals against the favored Bruins, Clarke put away the overtime winner that is arguably the most important goal in Flyers history.
2. Bob ‘Hound’ Kelly gets to fill up his Corvette after his Cup-clinching goal
Bob Kelly, a bottom-six forward known for creating a spark, scored one of the most memorable goals in the Flyers’ history in Game 6 of the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals. He broke a scoreless tie in the third period, triggering a Cup-clinching 2-0 victory in Buffalo.
1. Bernie Parent’s late mom, Fred Shero’s odd strategy, Rick MacLeish’s goal produce a Stanley Cup for the ages
The Flyers weren’t supposed to be ready to beat the might Boston Bruins in the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals. But in just their seventh year of existence, they stunned the hockey world.