November 18th In Philadelphia Flyers History: Beranek GWG And Gordie Howe Hat Trick, Wild Loss To TB

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 mediocre 6-6-4-2 overall record in November 18th games over the course of franchise history, losing three of their last four outings (1-2-0-1). Philadelphia has scored 52 goals in the 18 contests, while yielding 62 to their opponents..

Some of the more memorable moments and brief recaps in Flyers history that took place in November 18th games:

1971: Bruce Gamble stopped all 32 shots he faced to post his first shutout in a Philadelphia uniform and Simon Nolet provided the only offense he'd need early in the second period as the Flyers blanked the Los Angeles Kings, 2-0, at the Spectrum. Nolet's tally was his 12th goal in 15 games played.

Jean-Guy Gendron sealed the outcome with a goal with 5:05 remaining in the third period.

1982: Ron Flockhart notched his 10th goal of the season 4:53 into the third period to snap a 2-2 tie and lead the Flyers to a come-from-behind 3-2 triumph over the Calgary Flames at the Spectrum.

Trailing 2-0 in the latter half of the opening frame, Philadelphia got goals from Bill Barber and Lindsay Carson to knot the game before the first intermission.

Pelle Lindbergh made 24 saves -- including 20 over the final two stanzas and stopping Lanny MacDonald on a penalty shot -- to pick up the win.

1984: Pat LaFontaine scored the game-tying goal with 2:42 left in regulation to help the New York Islanders earn a point in a 3-3 tie at the Spectrum.

All three Flyers goal-scorers -- Ray Allison, Doug Crossman, and Dave Brown -- notched their first goals of the season, and the Isles Kelly Hrudey stopped Ron Sutter on a penalty shot.

Pelle Lindbergh made 37 saves in garnering First Star honors.

1989: Doug Smail scored at 1:32 of overtime for the game's only goal as the Winnipeg Jets snuck past the Flyers 1-0 at the Spectrum.

Daniel "Bandit" Berthiaume stopped all 31 Philadelphia shots for the victory, while the Flyers Ken Wregget made 23 saves in the OT loss.

1993: Josef Beranek broke a 3-3 tie midway through the second period and finished the night with a Gordie Howe hat trick, Mark Recchi scored twice and notched three points as the Flyers went on to a 6-3 triumph over the Hartford Whalers at the Spectrum.

The goal and assist on the night gave Beranek 17 goals and 26 points for the season in just his 20th contest as he experienced his most productive stretch during his time in Philadelphia.

Pelle Eklund and Yves Racine each added a pair of assists, and Dominic Roussel ended up with 26 saves in recording the win.

1995: Defenseman Karl Dykhuis scored a pair of goals and Rod Brind'Amour assisted on three Flyers markers as Philadelphia skated to a 4-2 victory over he Hartford Whalers at the Hartford Civic Center.

Shjon Podein and Eric Lindros also scored for the Orange-and-Black. Lindros' goal was his 14th of the season in his 14th game played, and sixth consecutive contest he appeared in with at least one goal. Lindros had posted at least one point in all but one game for the year, totaling 14 goals and 22 points.

Garth Snow made 21 saves as the winning goaltender.

1999: John Vanbiesbrouck fell just short of recording a shutout as Mike Modano beat him with 31 seconds remaining in regulation to force a 1-1 deadlock with the Flyers at the First Union Center.

Daymond Langkow accounted for the lone Philadelphia tally at 4:56 of the opening period, and Vanbiesbrouck finished the night with 24 saves.

2000: Justin Williams scored a pair of second period goals, Simon Gagne tallied twice in the third, and Keith Primeau notched a goal and two assists as the Flyers beat the Washington Capitals by a 5-3 score at the First Union Center.

Goaltender Brian Boucher stopped 35 of 38 Washington shots, yielding a hat trick to Steve Konawalchuk, who scored a goal in each of the three periods.

2009: James van Riemsdyk's power play goal early in the third period proved to be the game-winning goal and Brian Boucher made 37 saves as the visiting Flyers defeated the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center.

The goal was the third straight game-winner for van Riemsdyk, tying an NHL record for consecutive game-winning goals by a rookie.

Trailing 1-0 nearing the midpoint of regulation Mika Pyorala -- who had not scored in his first 17 games -- garnered a rebound in front of Jonathan Quick and flipped a backhander past the goaltender for his first NHL goal and tie the contest at 1-1.

Mike Richards gave Philadelphia their first lead of the night with 1:05 remaining in the middle stanza, one-timing the puck past Quick off a pass from behind the net from Claude Giroux.

The Flyers were outshot by a 39-20 count for the night -- including a whopping 21-5 margin in the third period -- but Boucher was the difference.

2010: Steven Stamkos recorded a hat trick and four points, Martin St. Louis assisted on five Bolts goals and Nate Thompson scored the lone goal of the third period to break a 7-7 deadlock as the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning pulled out one of the wildest contests in recent Philadelphia history with an 8-7 decision at the Wells Fargo Center.

Following a first period that saw the Flyers leading 5-4 in which Tampa starter Dan Ellis was yanked after allowing his fourth goal on just 10 shots at 15:34 and Philly starter Sergei Bobrovsky was replaced by Brian Boucher after the first intermission after stopping just seven of 11 Lightning offerings, Tampa outscored the Flyers 3-2 in the second to make it a 7-7 contest heading into the final frame.

Thompson knocked home a rebound of a Dana Tyrell shot at 5:19 of the third in a stanza where the goaltending suddenly got stingy.

Nikolay Zherdev led the offensive charge for Philadelphia -- scoring twice and adding an assist -- and Andrej Meszaros scored his first goal in a Flyers uniform. Only three Philadelphia players of the 18 skaters dressed for the game failed to register a point -- (amazingly) leading point scorer Claude Giroux, Kimmo Timonen, and Jody Shelley.

Both Tampa Bay's Mike Smith and the Flyers Boucher faced 22 shots in relief of their respective starters, with Smith making 19 saves to register the victory and Boucher managing one save less in being collared with the loss.

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.

There was a report in one of the major area newspapers that Philadelphia owner Ed Snider was tiring of waiting for the lockout to come to an end and was going to work on swaying the opinions of the other owners to bring a quick ending to the work stoppage. Snider disputed the story publicly Saturday and said he remains firmly in support of the NHL's bargaining position.

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.