November 3rd in Philadelphia Flyers History: Kerr Hat Trick, Talbot Penalty Shot Goal

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 a 8-7-2-1 record -- including a 6-5-0-1 mark at home -- on November 3rd over the course of franchise history. Philadelphia has scored 61 goals in the 18 contests (an average of 3.38 GPG), while yielding 50 to their opponents (2.77 GAA).

Some of the more notable moments in Flyers history that took place in contests on November 3rd:

1968: Jim Johnson snapped a 2-2 tie midway through the third period to cap a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Spectrum. After Montreal's Henri Richard and Philadelphia's Andre Lacroix traded first period goals, Jean Beliveau gave the Flying Frenchmen a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.

Simon Nolet tied the game early in the final stanza before Johnson's GWG.

Philly's Bernie Parent stopped 33 shots to pick up the win, while Rogie Vachon made 29 saves in a losing cause.

1974: Jimmy Watson scored two goals and Bernie Parent stopped 28 shots to lead the Flyers to their fourth consecutive victory with a 3-1 triumph over the visiting New York Islanders at the Spectrum. After falling behind early in the opening frame on a Bob Bourne tally, Gary Dornhoefer evened the score just under 10 minutes later.

Watson notched his first of the night -- and eventual game-winner -- midway through regulation before adding another late in the third to seal the deal for Philadelphia.

Billy Smith made 27 saves for the Isles.

1977: Bill Barber scored a goal and assisted on another as the Flyers dominated the Washington Capitals, 4-1, at the Spectrum. Philly held a 26-5 shots lead heading into the third -- including a whopping 17-1 margin in the second -- and goals by Bob Kelly and Barber in the first and Mel Bridgman in the middle stanza staked Philadelphia to a 3-0 stronghold after two periods.

Bill Riley got the Caps on the board early in the third, but Joe Watson tallied with 7:31 remaining to close out the scoring.

Washington's Bernie Wolfe was swarmed with 36 Flyers shots, while Bernie Parent had light duty in making 15 saves on just 16 shots.

1979: Trailing the mighty Montreal Canadiens, 2-1, after two periods, the Flyers scored four times to secure their fourth consecutive win and run their unbeaten streak to eight games (7-0-1) with a 5-3 triumph over the Habs at the Forum.

Defenseman Norm Barnes knotted the score at 2-2 early in the final frame, then Al Hill gave Philadelphia its second lead of the night at the 4:39 mark. Mark Napier drew Montreal even on the man advantage less than two minutes later, before Bill Barber beat Michel "Bunny" Larocque for the game-winner 1:29 later.

Reggie Leach added an insurance marker with less than two minutes left in regulation to set the find score.

Phil Myre posted 24 saves to earn his fourth straight victory.

1984: Tim Kerr scored two power play goals and added two assists and Pelle Lindbergh stopped 23 of 24 shots -- including a Scott Bjugstad penalty shot attempt -- to lead the Flyers to a 5-1 victory over the Minnesota North Stars at the Spectrum.

Peter Zezel, Ron Sutter, and Thomas Eriksson also lit the lamp to help the Orange-and-Black to a 5-0 lead, while Brent Ashton snapped Lindbergh's shutout bid with less than seven minutes remaining in the third period.

1985: Tim Kerr recorded a hat trick while both Ilkka Sinisalo and Peter Zezel scored once and added a pair of assists to propel the Flyers to their seventh win in a row and ninth in 10 contests with a 7-4 win over the Los Angeles Kings at the Spectrum.

The game was chippy from the opening faceoff and featured 181 penalty minutes, including 13 majors, one misconduct, and six game misconducts. Philadelphia finished the night with four power play goals.

Following a 2-2 first period, Los Angeles actually took a 3-2 lead early in the second on a goal from Jay Wells. But that lead would be wiped away under the crush of five straight Flyers goals to storm out to an insurmountable 7-3 lead.

Pelle Lindbergh made 18 saves in the triumph, while Bob Janecyk yielded all seven goals on 37 Philly shots.

1997: Eric Lindros scored twice and the Flyers beat Grant Fuhr four times in the first period en route to a 5-1 victory over the Blues in St. Louis. Former-Blue Rod Brind'Amour, Dainius Zubrus, and John LeClair also tallied for Philadelphia, and Garth Snow stopped 27 of 28 St. Louis offerings in the win.

1999: John LeClair scored on the power play for his second goal of the game with five seconds remaining in the second period to left the Flyers to a 3-3 tie with the Mighty Ducks in Anaheim. All six goals were scored in the wild middle stanza, with Anaheim taking a 3-1 lead powered by a goal and assist each from Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne. But Eric Desjardins scored with 2:46 left in the session before LeClair added the equalizer.

Eric Lindros picked up assists on all three Philadelphia goals.

John Vanbiesbrouck made 18 saves, while former-Flyer Dominic Roussel stopped 3- of 33 Philly shots.

2005: Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, and Jon Sim each scored a pair of goals as the Flyers overcame an early 1-0 deficit to blast the visiting Washington Capitals by an 8-1 score at the Wachovia Center. Peter Forsberg and Mike Knuble each notched a goal and two assists, while Joni Pitkanen and Mike Rathje assisted on three goals apiece.

Robert Esche made 29 saves in the win, while the Flyers torched Brent Johnson for all eight goals on 43 shots.

2011: Zach Parise and career Flyer-killer Patrik Elias beat Sergei Bobrovsky in the shootout to lift the New Jersey Devils to a 4-3 triumph over Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center. Maxime Talbot had staked the home team to a 3-2 lead early in the third period on a penalty shot goal (after being hauled down from behind on a breakaway by Devils defender Mark Fayne), but David Clarkson tied the game after a Matt Carle giveaway with 6:35 left in regulation.

New Jersey outshot the Flyers, 39-23, including 21-9 in the second period.

Philly rookie Zac Rinaldo and Devils first-year forward Adam Henrique each potted their first-career NHL goals in the contest.

Johan Hedberg made 20 saves and stopped two of three Philadelphia skaters in the shootout to earn the victory.

As For The Present:

With games currently 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

The Winter Classic -- scheduled for Ann Arbor in the nearly-105,000 seat stadium at the University of Michigan on January 1st, 2013 -- was canceled Friday. Why wipe it from the schedule on Friday, November 2nd, 2012? Because the NHL had the first of four installment payments due to Michigan U Friday, this one the smallest of the four in the amount of $250,000.

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