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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 lost their last two November 29th outings, but have still managed to put together a 12-6-4-1 overall record -- including a mediocre 4-4-1-1 mark at home -- over the course of franchise history. Philadelphia has scored 79 goals while giving up 66 to their opponents in the 23 contests.
Some of the more memorable moments and brief recaps in Flyers history that took place on November 29th:
1970: Andre Lacroix had a hand in all four Flyers goals -- including a hat trick -- and Bernie Parent made 19 saves to lead Philadelphia to a 4-2 triumph over the Vancouver Canucks at the Spectrum.
Lacroix opened the scoring early in the first period, then snapped a 1-1 tie by scoring two power play goals midway through the second stanza. Jean-Guy Gendron closed out the scoring with a third period man advantage marker, with Lacroix drawing an assist.
Barry Ashbee and BIll Lesuk each added a pair of helpers for Philly.
1973: Bill Barber beat Ed Giacomin with 3:06 to play to salvage a hard-earned point as the Flyers and New York Rangers skated to a 2-2 deadlock.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the final period, Philadelphia turned up the pressure on Giacomin, carrying play and outshooting the Rangers by a 21-6 margin in the third.
Terry Crisp also scored for the Flyers, and Bernie Parent made 24 saves in the draw.
1977: Bernie Parent stopped all 25 shots he faced for his third shutout of the year and 42nd regular season blanking in a Flyers uniform as Philadelphia beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-0, at Pacific Coliseum.
Bill Barber would provide Parent with all the offensive support he would need when he beat Caesar Maniago just 49 seconds into the second period. Rick MacLeish added another goal later in the frame, and Don Saleski put the game out of reach midway through the third.
It was the third win in a row and second shutout in three outings for Parent, who also extended his undefeated streak to nine games (6-0-3).
1979: Rick MacLeish scored a pair of goals and Reggie Leach's shorthanded effort early in the third period proved to be the game-winner as the Flyers came back from an early deficit to defeat the Minnesota North Stars, 6-4, at the Spectrum. The victory raised the total number of games without a loss to 19 (16-0-3) as 'The Streak' continued to roll along.
Trailing 3-1 early in the second period, Paul Holmgren and MacLeish each scored goals 1:43 apart to knot the score heading into the third.
Kenny Linseman gave Philadelphia the lead for good 4:23 into the frame, and Leach's shorthander -- his 18th goal in the just 19th game he played in 1979-80 -- gave the Flyers a 5-3 lead just 1:51 later.
Bill Barber sealed the win with 5:23 remaining in regulation time.
Barber, Holmgren, and Norm Barnes each added two assists apiece.
Pete Peeters made 26 saves to garner the victory as the netminder remained unbeaten in all 10 appearances for the campaign (9-0-1), while Gilles Meloche made 34 saves in the loss.
As the Flyers schedule closed for November, Philly stood at the top of the NHL heap with an amazing 17-1-3 record for the year.
1983: Tim Kerr posted two goals and four points and Brian Propp added two markers and an assist as the Flyers an early deficit to extinguish the Calgary Flames, 8-5, at the Saddledome.
Trailing 3-2 after the opening period, head coach Bob McCammon pulled starter Pelle Lindbergh in favor of Bob Froese to start the second. 'Frosty' would stop 22 of 24 Flames offerings the rest of the way to pick up the win.
Propp and Rich Sutter scored goals 21 seconds apart early in the middle stanza to take back the lead at 4-3, but Dave Hindmarch knotted the game less than two minutes later.
Philadelphia gathered the lead for good midway through the second off the stick of defenseman Miroslav Dvorak, and Rick MacLeish made it 6-4 at the second intermission. Kerr and Ron Sutter (shorthanded) broke the game wide open early in the final session.
Rejean Lemelin made 35 saves in the defeat for Calgary.
1985: Ilkka Sinisalo scored a pair of goals and Bob Froese made 24 saves to lead the Flyers to their third straight win with a 4-1 triumph over the Minnesota North Stars at the Met Center in Bloomington, MN.
Dave Brown and Derrick Smith also lit the lamp for Philadelphia, while Dirk Graham's shorthanded goal was the only shot to get past Froese.
1986: Rick Tocchet scored his second goal of the game with 32 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Flyers to a 6-5 victory over the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.
Tim Kerr also scored twice -- giving the big forward 20 goals in 23 games for the year -- and Murray Craven and Scott Mellanby each added one. Mark Howe added three helpers for Philly.
Ron Hextall made 28 saves -- and added a pair of assists while accumulating 12 penalty minutes in the fight-filled affair -- to record his fifth consecutive win and leave the rookie unbeaten in the his last eight appearances (7-0-1).
1988: Rick Tocchet scored two first period goals -- one shorthanded and the other with the man advantage -- and Ron Hextall made 19 saves as the Flyers skated to a 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins at the Spectrum.
Philadelphia also got a goal from Terry Carkner in the opening frame and markers from Mike Bullard and Tim Kerr early in the third as they torched Andy Moog for five goals on 21 shots.
Kerr's goal was his 22nd in Philly's 27th contest of the season as he continued an astonishing comeback from a series of five shoulder operations in which limited him to just eight games the previous year.
1995: Brent Fedyk scored the tying goal early in the third period and Kevin Haller beat John Vanbiesbrouck for the game-winner with 30 seconds remaining in overtime as the Flyers pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Panthers in South Florida.
Ron Hextall stopped 27 of 28 shots for the win.
1998: John LeClair scored four goals and Eric Lindros assisted on five Philly tallies and Ron Hextall made 20 saves as the Flyers overcame a 2-1 third period deficit and blew out the Vancouver Canucks by a 6-2 score at the First Union Center.
Trailing 2-1 early in the final frame, LeClair put his second of the game past Vancouver's Garth Snow just 50 seconds into the stanza. 'Johnny Vermont' then completed the hat trick and gave Philadelphia their first lead of the contest with 5:07 remaining and following a Keith Jones tally, struck for his fourth with 1:04 left on the clock.
The struggling Chris Gratton -- who hadn't scored a goal in the previous 21 regular season games that year -- finally dented the twine with 34 seconds remaining for what would be his last goal for the Flyers before being dealt back to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
2000: Mark Recchi scored twice in the third period -- including the game-winner with just 59 seconds remaining in regulation -- to lead the Flyers to a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
Philadelphia trailed 3-1 late in the second period before Keith Primeau made it a one-goal game with 2:50 left before the second intermission.
Ruslan Fedetenko assisted on both of Recchi's third period markers, and Brian Boucher made 23 saves to record the win.
2003: John LeClair scored a goal and assisted on another as the Flyers exploded for five second period goals on the way to a 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.
The win made it a November without a single loss for Philadelphia, as the Orange-and-Black went 10-0-2-0 in their first undefeated month since December of 1996.
Trailing 1-0 early in the second period on a goal by former-Flyer defenseman Janne Niinimaa, Philadelphia received markers from LeClair, Mark Recchi, Donald Brashear, Simon Gagne, and Justin Williams to chase Isles starter Rick DiPietro following the second period.
Jeff Hackett made 16 saves for the victory and ran his personal unbeaten streak to six contests (5-0-1-0).
2005: Simon Gagne scored his league-leading 22nd and 23rd goals of the season to lift the Flyers to a come-from-behind 4-3 triumph over the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. Trailing 3-2 late in the second period, Gagne connected with 1:14 remaining before the second intermission to tie, then notched the game-winner with 7:13 left in regulation.
Philadelphia trailed 2-0 midway through the second period until Patrick Sharp got the Flyers on the board and back to within one goal at 9:51, but Mark Parrish beat Robert Esche for a power play goal 1:40 later to restore N.Y.'s two-goal lead at 3-1.
Joni Pitkanen connected for his eighth of the season for a man advantage marker to make it a 3-2 Isles lead before Gagne's outburst.
Esche finished the night with 20 saves, while ex-Flyer Garth Snow stopped 31 shots in a losing cause.
Other Notable November 29th Moments:
1991: Kevin Stevens recorded four goals and five points and Mario Lemieux scored a pair of goals and added an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins demolished the Flyers by a 9-3 score at the Spectrum.
One of the lone bright spots for the Flyers in the nightmarish 60 minutes was Rod Brind'Amour's pair of goals (within an 18-second span) and three points, all netted in the third period with Philadelphia trailing 6-0 at the time. Dan Quinn scored once and assisted on both of Brind'Amour's tallies, and Kevin Dineen added two helpers.
2002: The Flyers roll out their new all-orange alternate jersey but fall 3-0 to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the First Union Center.
As For The Present:
With the lockout now well into its third month and games canceled through December 14th, the official count of games the team has lost all-time due to lockout is now at 147 -- 36 in the shortened 1994/05, the entirety of the 82-game schedule in 2004/05, and 29 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
December 1 FLYERS @ Florida Panthers
December 4 FLYERS @ Tampa Bay Lightning
December 6 San Jose Sharks @ FLYERS
December 8 FLYERS @ New York Islanders
December 9 New York Islanders @ FLYERS
December 11 New Jersey Devils @ FLYERS
December 13 FLYERS @ Washington Capitals
Many Flyers are currently playing as the lockout drags on -- now past the 70-day mark -- scattered throughout different leagues in Europe.
U.S. federal mediators began their involvement in attempting to help the sides come to some type of common ground on Wednesday. Negotiations will resume again Thursday.
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.