clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

This Date In Philadelphia Flyers History: 11 Wins And A Goalie 'Lost In The Woods'

Nineteen October 27th Flyers contests include 11 Philadelphia wins, Parent and Esche shutouts, a huge blowout loss in Montreal, a goaltender 'lost in the woods', and current day labor insanity.

Paul Bereswill

This is a daily column that will run during the duration of the NHL lockout. It is not meant to depress hockey fans, but is rather intended to provide a reminder of some of the more memorable moments in Philadelphia Flyers' history, and act as a much-needed distraction from the ongoing negativity surrounding the lockout for hockey fans. What must not be forgotten during the labor strife is just how great of a game we have been blessed with to enjoy throughout the years.

The Flyers have managed a stellar 11-7-1-0 record (6-3-0 at home) on October 27th over the course of franchise history. Philadelphia has scored 69 goals in the 19 contests (an average of 3.63 GPG), while allowing 63 to their opponents (3.31 GAA). The Flyers are currently on a two-game losing streak (2009 and 2011), and have have won five consecutive (1998-2007) and three straight (1983-1985) October 27th battles (1983-1985). Philadelphia netminders have posted two shutouts and the Flyers have been blanked twice in October 27th games.

Some of the more notable moments in Flyers history in contests that took place on October 27th:

1973: Bobby Clarke scored twice and added an assist and Bernie Parent stopped 23 shots to record a shutout as the Flyers blasted the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-0, at Civic Arena. Rick MacLeish and defenseman Tom Bladon each recorded a goal and an assist, while Don Saleski and Simon Nolet scored for Philadelphia. Bill Flett and Andre Dupont both chipped in with two helpers.

1981: The Montreal Canadiens ripped Philadelphia goaltending for six first period goals en route to an 11-2 drubbing of the Flyers at the Forum. Led by Keith Acton's hat trick, the home team scored three more times in the second and two more in the third.

Flyers starter Pete Peeters managed to stop just two of the six shots he faced in the game's opening 11:!0 before being yanked in favor of Rick St. Croix, who allowed seven goals on 37 shots the rest of the way. The Habs Denis Herron stopped 23 of 25 Philadelphia shots in the victory.

1983: Dave Poulin's goal late in the third period proved to be the game-winner as the Flyers held off the visiting Quebec Nordiques, 4-3, at the Spectrum. Tim Kerr, Rich Sutter, and Mark Howe also scored for Philadelphia, and Rick MacLeish and Bill Barber each added a couple of assists.

Pelle Lindbergh made 21 saves for the win, while Clint Malarchuk stopped 32 of 36 Flyers shots in the losing effort.

1984: Trailing the New Jersey Devils by a 2-1 score after two periods, the Flyers got goals from Brian Propp, Derrick Smith, and Mark Howe to pull out the win, 4-2, at Brendan Byrne Arena. Defenseman Thomas Eriksson scored for Philadelphia in the second period, while Tim Kerr and Murray Craven both assisted on two goals.

Goaltender Pelle Lindbergh wrangled First Star honors with a 28-save performance, outplaying Devils Glenn Resch, who allowed four goals on 23 shots.

1985: Ilkka Sinisalo and Murray Craven each scored twice and Brian Propp added a goal and an assist as the Flyers downed the Vancouver Canucks, 7-4, at the Spectrum. Dave Poulin and Lindsay Carson also scored, while Peter Zezel and Doug Crossman both added a pair of helpers.

Bob Froese stopped 20 Canucks shots to register the victory, while Richard Brodeur yielded five goals on 28 shots before being pulled after the second period. Frank Caprice finished out the contest, giving up two goals on the 16 shots he faced in the final stanza.

1988: Brian Propp scored once and assisted on a pair of goals and Ron Hextall stopped 30 of 32 shots as the Flyers defeated the New York Islanders, 5-2, at the Spectrum. Ron Sutter scored a shorthanded goal midway through the second period, and the marker would end up being the game-winning goal. Pat LaFontaine struck twice for both Islanders goals, while Kelly Hrudey made 24 saves in the loss..

1993: Rod Brind'Amour scored two goals -- including what proved to be the game-winner early in the middle frame -- and Philadelphia also got goals and an assist from Eric Lindros and Mark Recchi as the visiting Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-2. Pelle Eklund added two assists.

Tommy Soderstrom made 19 saves to record the win, but was relieved by Dominic Roussel to begin the third period after yielding two late second period Senator goals. Roussel was a perfect 10 for 10 in the final stanza. Craig Billington took the loss for Ottawa.

1998: John Vanbiesbrouck stopped all but one of the 30 shots he faced as the Flyers came up with a 2-1 victory over the visiting St. Louis Blues. After Pierre Turgeon staked St. Louis to an early first period lead, Philadelphia got a power play goal from Rod Brind'Amour late in the frame, then took the lead for good on a Colin Forbes tally in the first half minute of the second to close out the scoring. Jamie McLennan made 18 saves in being dealt the loss.

2001: The Flyers got contributions from five separate goal scorers -- Kim Johnsson, Jan Hlavac, Mark Recchi, Ruslan Fedetenko, and Marty Murray -- as Philadelphia routed the Canadiens, 5-1, in Montreal. Todd Fedoruk assisted on two of the Philly goals.

Brian Boucher stopped 27 of 28 Habs shots for the win, while Mathieu Garon made 30 saves in the loss.

2003: John LeClair, Simon Gagne, Michal Handzus, and Marcus Ragnarsson all posted a goal and an assist and Robert Esche stopped all 20 shots he faced to help the Flyers to a 5-0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens. Tony Amonte also scored for Philadelphia. Jose Theodore made 34 saves to suffer the loss,

2005: Peter Forsberg tied the game with his first goal of the season with just 50 seconds remaining in regulation time, then Joni Pitkanen won the contest 1:13 into overtime as the Flyers came back to record a 5-4 victory over the Florida Panthers. Trailing 4-2 early in the third period, Simon Gagne scored his second goal of the game to set up Forsberg's tying goal.

Forsberg, who also had two assists on the night, had an earlier chance to score when he was awarded a penalty shot, but was stopped by Panthers' netminder Roberto Luongo.

Nathan Horton posted a goal and assist for Florida.

Robert Esche made 30 saves while Luongo -- who was very good in making 34 stops -- suffered the loss.

2007: Martin Biron made 40 saves and Mike Richards recorded a goal and assist as the Flyers tied the Boston Bruins, 2-2, in Boston. Biron was especially tough in a scoreless third period, as he was called upon to make 16 saves.

After Richards scored an unassisted shorthanded goal, Joffrey Lupul tallied on the power play to give Philadelphia the lead at 2-1. But Phil Kessel knotted the game in the latter stages of the second, beating Biron on a penally shot.

2011: Andrew Ladd scored with 1:06 remaining in regulation to give the Winnipeg Jets a wild 9-8 victory over the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center. Philadelphia trailed, 6-2, midway through regulation but stormed back on goals from Danny Briere and Maxime Talbot to cut the deficit to 6-4 heading into the third period.

The Flyers briefly took a 7-6 lead on goals by Briere, Matt Read, and James van Riemsdyk in the first 3:02 of the session, but Ilya Bryzgalov -- who relieved starter Sergei Bobrovsky earlier -- allowed two Jets markers within 1:01 as the visitors reclaimed the lead, 8-7.

Philly tied it again on van Riemsdyk's goal with 3:39 left before Ladd's game-winner.

This was when Bryzgalov's infamous "Lost in the woods" were made, when the goalie was inconsolable and believed he couldn't stop anything. The first-year Flyer yielded four goals on just 10 shots in suffering the defeat.

Briere (two goals, two assists) and Kimmo Timonen (four assists) each amassed four points, and van Riemsdyk recorded three (two goals, an assist) in the loss.

Led by van Riemsdyk's nine, the Flyers threw 48 shots at Jets goalies Ondrej Pavelec (36 saves on 43 shots) and Chris Mason (four saves on five shots). Mason played less than eight and a half minutes to pick up the victory.

October 27th Flyers Birthdays:

Mike Ricci, Philadelphia's first round draft pick (fourth-overall) in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, was born on this day in 1971.

As an 18-year-old rookie, Ricci suffered a broken finger in his first game with the Flyers. The gritty centerman missed 11 contests, but scored his first NHL goal / point in his first game back on November 1, 1990 in a 6-3 victory over the Minnesota North Stars. Ricci recorded 21 goals and 41 points in 68 games that season, and along the way showed the type of tireless two-way play and leadership that not only caused Philly to draft him, but made him such a valuable commodity to clubs throughout his career.

In his second campaign in Philadelphia, Ricci scored 20 goals and posted 56 points. But that would end up being his last with the organization, as Ricci was included as part of the package that was dealt to the Quebec Nordiques for one of the most anticipated players ever to come into the NHL, Eric Lindros.

The Scarborough, Ontario-native finished his time with the Flyers with 41 goals, 97 points, and 157 penalty minutes in 146 contests, but never skated in a playoff tilt with the club.

Ricci would go on to win a Stanley Cup with his new franchise, even though it occurred in Colorado after the Nordiques moved there following the 1994/95 season.

As For The Present...

With Friday's announcement that games are now canceled through November 30, the official count of games the team has lost all-time due to lockout is now at 140 -- 36 in the shortened 1994-05, the entirety of the 82-game schedule in 2004-05, and 22 thus far this season:

October 11 Boston Bruins @ FLYERS
October 13 FLYERS @ NY Islanders
October 18 Pittsburgh Penguins @ FLYERS
October 20 Winnipeg Jets @ FLYERS
October 25 FLYERS @ Montreal Canadiens
October 27 Toronto Maple Leafs @ FLYERS
October 28 FLYERS @ Buffalo Sabres
October 30 Dallas Stars @ FLYERS
November 1 New Jersey Devils @ FLYERS
November 3 Anaheim Ducks @ FLYERS
November 4 FLYERS @ NY Rangers
November 6 Buffalo Sabres @ FLYERS
November 8 FLYERS @ Carolina Hurricanes
November 10 Carolina Hurricanes @ FLYERS
November 13 Minnesota Wild @ FLYERS
November 16 FLYERS @ Buffalo Sabres
November 17 Buffalo Sabres @ FLYERS
November 21 Ottawa Senators @ FLYERS
November 23 Winnipeg Jets @ FLYERS
November 24 FLYERS @ NY Rangers
November 28 FLYERS @ Toronto Maple Leafs
November 29 FLYERS @ NY Islanders

There are no further talks scheduled at this time and it's unclear if and when the sides will resume negotiations as the players remain locked out since September 15th.

While there is still hope that sanity will somehow eventually prevail and there will be a full 2012-13 NHL season, it's looking more-and-more like the sides are content with the current 'self-destruct' mode.