Tuesday, January 25, 2011

This Day in Flyers History

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

January 25, 1986: Flyers 1, St. Louis Blues 0 at St. Louis Arena...Darren Jensen puts together his finest performance as an NHL goaltender, stopping all 48 shots he faced as the Flyers escaped the Gateway City with a narrow victory.

The lone score of the contest was Brad McCrimmon's sixth goal of the season, coming at the 13:12 mark of the opening period. In an era of inflated offense, the 25-year-old rookie netminder stymied such luminaries as Rob Ramage, Brian Sutter, Joe Mullen, Doug Wickenheiser and Ron Flockhart on the night. He made 10 stops in the first, 14 in the second, and completed the masterpiece with 24 saves in the third period.

It proved to be the Flyers' first regular-season road shutout since February 5, 1983 at Los Angeles, when Pelle Lindbergh made 29 saves. Philadelphia played twice in St. Louis that season, and a team that put up 335 total goals managed just two here.

January 25, 1990: Flyers 8, Winnipeg Jets 6 at the Spectrum...The Flyers snap what was then a franchise-record 10-game winless streak thanks to a four-goal third period.

Winless since a December 30 road decision against Los Angeles which saw Tony Horacek register a hat trick, Rick Tocchet provided a nice bookend with six points -- four of those goals that included an empty-net tally with three seconds left to wrap up the victory. Ron Sutter notched the game-winner with 6:11 to play, just 74 seconds after a tying tally from Greg Paslawski, and it was enough to fend off a two-goal, one-assist game from Winnipeg's Paul Fenton.

It proved to be a season-high in goals for Paul Holmgren's squad, who would struggle for the remainder of the season with a roster reshaping that left the club out of the playoffs for the first time since 1971.

January 25, 2003: Bruins 1, Flyers 0 (OT) at Fleet Center...A goaltending duel between Robert Esche and Jeff Hackett concluded with Brian Rolston's winning goal at 31 seconds of the extra session.

Through the end of regulation, Esche made 26 stops and Hackett, in his first appearance with the B's after being acquired from Montreal through San Jose, halted 23. It was one of nine shutouts against the Flyers that season.

January 25, 2011: Flyers?, Canadiens? at Wells Fargo Center...The Flyers have been stuck on 999 home wins in franchise history, and Tuesday night is their last shot to hit four digits prior to the All-Star break. It might be a fitting present to give the Habs, in the final regular-season meeting of four between the teams.

Thanks a million to Flyers History for the stats.

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