:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/3411259/133202206.0.jpg)
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 compiled a 7-4-4-0 overall record in November 17th games -- which includes four consecutive ties from 1973 through 1983 -- over the course of franchise history.
Philadelphia has scored 45 goals in the 15 contests (an average of 3.00 GPG), while yielding 41 to their opponents (2.73 GAA).
Some of the more memorable moments and brief recaps in Flyers history that took place in November 17th games:
1968: Jim Johnson scored with 3:01 remaining in the third period and Bernie Parent made 30 saves as the Flyers defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1, at the Spectum.
After two scoreless periods defenseman Larry Hale scored his first NHL goal to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead 2:39 into the final session. Los Angeles' Bob Wall tied it up with a shorthanded goal at the 7:00 mark, but Johnson connected for his sixth marker of the season and Britt Selby clinched the victory into an empty net with Kings goalie Gerry Desjardins pulled for an extra attacker with 1:22 left.
Parent had to be especially sharp in the second period, when L.A. outshot the Flyers, 12-4.
1977: Bryan Trottier's shot beat Bernie Parent with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to derail a furious Flyers comeback and give the Islanders a 4-4 tie at the Spectrum.
Trailing 3-0 entering the final frame on a pair of goals by Mike Bossy and one from Trottier, Philadelphia stormed Isles netminder Glenn "Chico" Resch -- who finished the night with 37 saves -- and outshot New York by a 16-5 margin in the third.
Goals from Reggie Leach (2:46), Ross Lonsberry (5:35), Bobby Clarke (15:29), and Bill Barber actually gave the home team a 4-3 lead with 3:20 left on the clock before Trottier's last second tally.
In addition to his go-ahead goal, Barber added a pair of assists, and Rick MacLeish also set up two of the third period markers.
1979: Blair Chapman scored his second goal of the game with 2:32 remaining in the game to earn the St. Louis Blues a 3-3 deadlock with the Flyers at the Checkerdome. By virtue of the tie Philadelphia extended their undefeated streak to 14 games, with a 12-0-2 record during that span.
Much like the November 17th contest two years earlier against the Islanders, the Flyers spotted their opponent a multiple-goal lead heading into the third period, rallied to grab a lead of their own, only to have a game-tying marker scored against them late in the regulation time.
First period power play tallies by Chapman and Brian Sutter staked the home team to a 2-0 lead that stretched into the third period, a frame in which Philadelphia would outshoot the Blues, 16-3.
Defenseman Norm Barnes put the Flyers on the comeback trail, notching his third of the season 4:42 into the stanza. Bill Barber struck 2:11 later while Philly was skating shorthanded to knot the score at 2-2, and Reggie Leach beat St. Louis goalkeeper Mike Liut to give the Flyers their first lead of the contest with 7:49 remaining.
The marker gave Leach a point in all 14 games he had played for the season, totalling 14 goals and 23 points in all.
1983: Brian Bellows beat Pelle Lindbergh with 20 seconds left in regulation to give the Minnesota North Stars a come-from-behind 5-5 tie with the Flyers at the Spectrum.
Philadelphia built a three-goal lead on tallies from Tim Kerr, Rich Sutter, Ilkka Sinisalo, Brad Marsh, and Dave Poulin's shorthanded marker at 1:08 of the third period. But Al MacAdam (4:14) and Brad Maxwell (15:52) struck to make it a 5-4 game before Bellows' game-tying goal.
In addition to his goal, Poulin finished with three points for the Flyers, who outshot Minnesota by a 51-27 count for the contest.
1984: Derrick Smith scored 6:20 into the third period to snap a 3-3 tie and Pelle Lindbergh made 29 saves to lead the Flyers to their fifth straight win with a 5-3 triumph over the Bruins at Boston Garden.
After Rick Middleton gave the home team a 1-0 lead midway through the opening stanza, Rich Sutter and Tim Kerr scored late in the period and Mark Howe connected to give Philadelphia a 3-1 lead just 51 seconds into the third.
But Tom Fergus and Charlie Simmer scored 1:45 apart to knot the score at 3-3 before Smith's go-ahead strike. Murray Craven added an insurance goal with 7:15 remaining.
Recording a goal and an assist in the game, it was the fifth straight contest in which Kerr posted multiple points -- a stretch that saw him register eight goals and 14 points and gave Kerr 18 goals and 31 points in 16 games for the season.
1985: Murray Craven scored with 1:08 left in overtime to cap a big comeback and give the Flyers a franchise record 13th consecutive victory with a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders at the Spectrum.
Having been through one of the most emotionally-wrenching weeks of their young lives following the loss of Pelle Lindbergh, Philadelphia had to dig deep to keep their winning streak alive. The club pulled together to rally from a 3-0 deficit early in the second period and 4-2 at the second intermission to send the game to the extra session. Pelle Eklund scored midway through the third frame to get the Flyers back to within a goal at 4-3, then captain Dave Poulin tied it up with 3:25 remaining in regulation.
Tim Kerr scored twice to extend his point-scoring streak to 13 games, which just so happened to coincide with the length of Philly's winning ways. The big forward recorded 16 goals and 21 points over the 13-contest stretch, giving him 18 goals and 25 points in 17 regular season games.
Daren Jensen made 29 saves to record his third consecutive win after his recall from the Hershey Bears.
1997: Following a career in which he broadcast over 2,000 NHL games and six Stanley Cup Finals, "The Voice of the Flyers", Gene Hart, is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Hart will forever be remembered for his signature :Good night, good hockey" sign after each game, as well as his call in the closing seconds on May 19th, 1974:
"Ladies and gentlemen...the Flyers are going to win the Stanley Cup! The Flyers win the Stanley Cup! The Flyers win the Stanley Cup! The Flyers have won the Stanley Cup!"
1998: Rod Brind'Amour scored midway through the third period to break a 1-1 deadlock and John Vanbiesbrouck stopped 25 of 26 shots as the Flyers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1, at Civic Arena.
Goals by Keith Jones and Robert Lang made it a 1-1 contest before Brind'Amour's go-ahead tally, while markers from Eric Desjardins and John LeClair put the game out of reach.
2000: Dan McGillis beat Milan Hnilicka 1:01 into overtime, Mark Recchi firgured in on all three Flyers goals, and Roman Cechmanek made 25 saves to lead Philadelphia to a 3-2 victory over the Thrashers in Atlanta.
Goals by Recchi (shorthanded) and Simon Gagne gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead but Atlanta's Donald Audette scored with 1:00 remaining in regulation to send the game to the extra period.
2001: Simon Gagne's goal 41 seconds into the third period proved to be the game-winner and Roman Cechmanek made 33 saves to lead the Flyers to a 3-1 victory over the Devils in New Jersey.
Goals by Philly's Jan Hlavac and New Jersey's Bobby Holik knotted the contest after two periods, and although the Devils outshot the visitors, 13-7, in the third, shots by Gagne and Ruslan Fedetenko were the only two to find their mark in the decisive stanza.
Martin Brodeur stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced in a losing effort.
2011: Matt Read poked home a pass from Maxime Talbot with 18.6 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Flyers to a thrilling 2-1 triumph over the Phoenix Coyotes at the Wells Fargo Center.
It appeared as if James van Riemsdyk's tally in the latter half of the second period would stand up, but Mikkel Boedker's rebound goal at 3:38 of the third knotted the score at 1-1.
The victory was especially satisfying for Ilya Bryzgalov, as he made 30 saves against his former-teammates -- some of whom leading up to the meeting had some not-so-nice things to say about their ex-goaltender, who left for greener pastures in Philadelphia during the summer -- to record the win.
The win was costly, however, as defenseman and captain Chris Pronger went head-first into the end boards on a check from behind from Phoenix's Martin Hanzal with just under three minutes left in regulation. Unbeknownst to the Flyers and Pronger -- who was in just his fourth game back after sustaining an eye injury against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 24th -- was that he suffered a severe concussion from the blow. He would suit up for the next game in Winnipeg against the Jets on November 19th before a diagnosis was made and the vital cog in Philadelphia's blue line success shut it down for the rest of the season.
As For The Present:
With the lockout now more than 60 days old and games 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
Many Flyers are currently playing as the lockout drags on -- now past the 60-day mark -- scattered throughout different leagues in Europe.
After seemingly making a bit of progress on some of the issues last week, the NHL and NHLPA have abandoned negotiations for the time being and have instead resumed the staring contest that was so prevelant during the initial days of the stoppage.
With games having been canceled through the end of November and the calendar creeping past the middle portion of the month, it's likely more games will fall by the wayside if no significant movement is not made soon.
While there is still hope that sanity will somehow prevail and there can still be something to salvage of a 2012-13 NHL season, it is unfortunately looking more-and-more like the sides may just be content to self-destruct.