November 8th In Philadelphia Flyers History: 'Fridge's 1st NHL Goal, Ragnarsson & Pitkanen OT GWGs

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 7-9-2-1 overall record on November 8th -- including a miserable 1-5-1-0 mark at home -- over the course of franchise history. Philadelphia has scored 51 goals in the 19 contests (an average of 2.68 GPG), while allowing 62 to their opponents (3.26 GAA).

Some of the more memorable moments and brief game recaps in Flyers history that took place in contests on November 8th:

1967: Bernie Parent turned aside 41 shots and Les Binkley made 33 saves as the two engaged in a classic goaltender's battle that ended in a 1-1 deadlock between the Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins at Civic Arena.

Bill Sutherland had given Philadelphia a 1-0 lead early in the second period, but Ab McDonald beat Parent for a power play tally with less than five minutes remaining in the third period to force the draw.

1970: Wayne Hillman scored just 28 seconds into the third period to break a 1-1 tie as the Flyers went on to record a 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at Memorial Auditorium.

After Gilbert Perreault staked the home team to a 1-0 lead at 5:40 of the opening period, Jim Johnson beat Roger Crozier with 1:31 left in the second stanza to knot the score heading into the final period.

Following Hillman's go-ahead marker, Bob Kelly notched an insurance goal widway through the third to close out the scoring.

In addition to their goals both Hillman and Kelly added an assist, and Bobby Clarke assisted on both third period tallies.

Doug Favell made 19 saves to register the win, while Crozier finished up with 33 saves in the losing effort.

1978: Blake Dunlop scored twice, Bill Barber added a goal and two assists, and Bernie Parent stopped 22 shots to lead the Flyers to a 5-3 triumph over the Los Angeles Kings at the Forum.

Reggie Leach also scored as Philadelphia built a 4-1 lead at the second intermission, but Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor struck in the first 4:51 of the final session to draw the Kings to within a goal at 4-3. Rick Lapointe beat Mario Lessard less than a minute later to give the visitors a two-goal cushion and set the final score.

Lessard made 34 saves in defeat.

1980: Reggie Leach scored midway through the third period to snap a 4-4 tie and propel the Flyers to a 5-4 win over the Hartford Whalers at the Civic Center.

Rick MacLeish, Bill Barber, Yves Preston, and Blake Wesley all tallied for Philadelphia, and Bobby Clarke assisted on two of the markers.

Future-Flyer Mark Howe added helpers on three of the Whaler goals.

Phil Myre stopped 33 of 37 shots for the win, while Mike Veisor made 29 saves in a losing cause.

1987: Doug Crossman and Ilkka Sinisalo each scored late first period power play goals to erase a 3-1 deficit and Ron Hextall made 39 saves to enable the Flyers to a 3-3 deadlock with the New Jersey Devils at the Spectrum.

Alain Chevrier came up with 28 saves for the visitors.

1997: John Druce, John LeClair, Chris Gratton, and Shjon Podein scored to stake the Flyers to a 4-1 lead after two periods, and they were able to hold on for a 4-3 triumph at ScotiaBank Place.

Eric Desjardins and Daniel Lacroix each assisted on a pair of goals.

Garth Snow made 23 saves in the winning cause, while Damian Rhodes stopped 28 Flyer shots in being saddled with the loss.

2000: Todd Fedoruk's first NHL goal was one of the lone bright spots for the Flyers in a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Civic Arena. Alexei Kovalev netted a hat trick and Jean-Sebastien Aubin made 29 saves for the winning Pens.

Simon Gagne scored the other Flyers goal while the club was skating with a man advantage early in the third period.

It was Fedoruk's fourth NHL contest and in addition to his goal, also picked up his second fighting major -- this one against Pittsburgh's Matthew Barnaby in the first period after taking on Buffalo's Rob Ray in the Flyers' previous game.

Brian Boucher was torched for four goals on 24 shots before being replaced by Roman Cechmanek, who finished the game by making 12 saves on 13 Penguin shots.

2001: Ruslan Fedetenko and Tomas Divisek scored goals and Brian Boucher stopped 22 shots to lead the Flyers to a 2-1 victory over the Lightning in Tampa Bay.

The game-winning marker was Divisek's lone NHL goal in his fourth game and earned him First Star honors for the game. He would appear in just one more game before being sent back to the Phantoms, triggering a return to the Czech Republic for the club's seventh round draft choice in 1998.

Pavel Kubina's goal midway through the third period was the only blemish on the Boucher's night, which included having to kill off Chris Therien and Paul Ranheim minor penalties late in the third to preserve the win.

2003: Tony Amonte scored a power play goal early in the third period to tie the game, then set up defenseman Marcus Ragnarsson for the game-winner at 1:01 of overtime to give the Flyers a 2-1 triumph over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

The goal extended Amonte's point-scoring streak to eight games, in which he had six goals and 12 points.

Jeremy Roenick assisted on both Flyer goals to give him five-straight games with at least one point (three goals, seven points).

Jeff Hackett made 21 saves to snap a personal three-game winless skid (0-2-1), while Mike Dunham made 30 saves for New York in the loss.

2005: Joni Pitkanen scored with 23,4 seconds remaining in regulation to knot the contest, then scored again at 1:55 of overtime to give the Flyers a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins at the Wachovia Center.

It was Philadelphia's fourth consecutive triumph, and seventh straight win at home. It is also the lone win on home ice in a November 8th game in franchise history.

Joe Thornton had given Boston a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 lead with less than five minutes left in the third, but Simon Gagne connected for his league-leading 16th goal of the year at 16:25 to bring Philadelphia to within 3-2. It gave Gagne goals in four games in a row and points in six straight contests (nine goals, 13 points).

Mike Knuble also scored for the Flyers, redirecting a Kim Johnsson shot past Hannu Toivonen for a power play goal just 55 seconds into the opening period.

Peter Forsberg assisted on Philly's first three tallies, giving him an NHL-best 24 helpers.

Robert Esche made 27 saves to record the victory, while Toivonen came up with 32 in the defeat.

November 8th Flyers Birthday:

Keith Jones was born on this day in 1968. The 1988 seventh-round (141st overall) draft pick of the Washington Capitals played a gritty, robust style, but wear and tear of the grind took its toll on his body.

After splitting six seasons between the Caps and Colorado Avalanche, Jones came to Philadelphia via the trade route from the Avs in exchange for Shjon Podein on November 12th, 1998. The Brantford, Ontario-native posted 18 goals, 49 points, and 78 penalty minutes in 66 games the rest of the way.

Jones had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in September of 1999 and missed 24 contests as a result. He appeared in 57 games, scoring nine goals, assisting on 16 more, and recording 82 PIMs. That year Jones was given the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as the Flyers 'Class Guy' as voted on at season's end by local media.

In 2000-01, Jones failed to register a point and played in just eight contests due to a concussion and eventually retired because of recurring problems with his left knee. He finished his stay in Philly with 27 goals, 74 points, and 164 PIMs in 131 games.

Jones became part of Flyers telecasts prior to the 2006-07 campaign and has been an integral part of the broadcast team ever since, blending a unique view as color commentator with an excellent knowledge of the game.

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 NHL and NHLPA talked again Tuesday, reportedly discussing core issues. That's great news, but it mystifies as to why it took nearly two months of the ongoing lockout to make any kind of significant strides.

It now looks as though there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the league, and for a change it isn't the headlight of an oncoming train.