Spectrum Memories: The Russians Came and We Sent Them Home Again

by Bob Herpen

Phanatic Hockey Editor

The Philadelphia Flyers’ longest string of success during their final season calling the Spectrum home arrived in mid-to-late November and a sliver of December. 

An eight-game win streak, well timed with the return of team captain Eric Lindros from his third knee injury in less than four seasons, pulled the club out of the doldrums and set them on an ascending path toward defending their Atlantic Division title.

Six of those wins came on home ice, with only one against an opponent who ended the season with a superior record: the Detroit Red Wings.

At the time of the Black Friday matinee, however, the Wings were only just starting to motor through their appointed rounds. The defending Western Conference champions – who were mired in sludge during a shocking four-game sweep in the Stanley Cup Finals against the New Jersey Devils only five months prior – began the season stuck in the mud, going 5-5-2. 

All that began to change on Oct. 27, 1995, when Detroit GM Jimmy Devellano pulled off a puzzling deal which saw former 50-goal scorer Ray Whitney exiled to San Jose in exchange for winger Igor Larionov. 

Here’s the catch: the Wings already had four former Soviet-era players on its roster – forwards Sergei Fedorov and Slava Kozlov, along with defensemen Vladimir Konstantinov and Slava Fetisov. The acquisition of Larionov paved the way for the creation of the Russian Five. 

The pentaverate made their debut later that day to fuel a 3-0 victory in Calgary over the Flames. They’d drop the next two tilts on the road, but, starting with a 6-5 overtime decision in Boston on Nov. 2, embarked on a 7-game win streak which propelled them atop the Central Division. 

Owing to that sputtering start, the Red Wings came into Philly on Nov. 24 one point up on Toronto for the division lead but four points behind the Orange and Black, who sat second in the Atlantic to the surging Florida Panthers.

The Flyers, meanwhile, were fresh off a waxing of the LA Kings, who dropped a 5-2 decision to their ungracious hosts on Thanksgiving Eve Eve in what would end up being Wayne Gretzky’s final visit to Philadelphia while wearing the Black and Silver. That put them 4-0-0 since Lindros’ triumphant return. 

Head coach Terry Murray decided to up the ante a bit by starting erstwhile backup Garth Snow for the second consecutive game as head man Ron Hextall remained out with a pulled muscle. Snow, who by this time was quickly cementing his place on the depth chart ahead of one-time starter Dominic Roussel, made 25 stops in turning back the Kings and improving his record to 4-2-1. He wasn’t fully unaware of the impact these internationally trained speedster have on the pace of play.

Scotty Bowman countered with veteran Cup winner Mike Vernon, who had been responsible for 3 of Detroit’s 5 losses to that point. Bowman, ever cagey and aloof, staked Vernon and counterpart Chris Osgood in a battle for net-bound supremacy for the whole season in what could be best termed as a 1A/1B goaltending rotation. The former saw an end to his week-long rest following a 5-4 win in Edmonton earned with 25 saves.

With visions of Russians leaving the ice in a huff dancing in their heads, a full capacity sellout crowd of 17,380 were in attendance.

The end result was a 4-1 loss despite the Red Wings looking a half-step quicker and outshooting the Flyers, 37-26. Lindros lit the lamp twice for his third multi-score game of the year, picking up a point in the 16th of the 17 games for which he’d skated. Eric Desjardins chipped in two assists, Rob DiMaio and John LeClair each netted one.

The 36 saves were, by a wide margin, a career high for Snow. The product of the legendary high-school program at Mount Saint Charles High School in Woonsocket, Rhode Island turned in a pair of 32-save efforts previously (a 6-5 loss for Quebec at Montreal on Apr. 5, 1995; a 3-2 loss for the Nords in Philadelphia on Dec. 16, 1993).

A statement victory at a crucial time if there ever was one.

In the next day’s Daily News, usual boxing beat writer Bernard Fernandez subbed for Les Bowen and quoted Snow – who played for the USA at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer – as saying: “The Olympic experience probably prepared me more than anything for the way that Russian line plays. You have to do things a little differently as a goalie when those guys are out there.”

The final tally for the Russian Five: 

Fedorov: 8 shots on goal, 1 assist, minus-2

Fetisov:   2 SOG, no points, minus-1

Konstantinov: 1 SOG, minus-1

Kozlov:  1 SOG, minus-1

Larionov: 1 goal, 2 SOG, minus-2

As for Murray, he chose to praise both his goaltender and his opponents.

“Garth Snow was outstanding today,” he said. “They’re a creative hockey club. They’re going to force you, defensively, to make a lot of decisions. And Snowie was right on top of his game.”

“(The Russians) are schooled the same way,” Murray continued. “Their train of thought coming up as young players is the same. They play extremely well together, reading off of each other and creating offensive opportunities.”

Eleven days later, at Joe Louis Arena, the Red Wings gained their revenge. Looking a step-and-a-half faster than the Flyers from the opening drop, the hosts raced out to a 4-0 lead which could have easily been 8-0, then hung on for a 5-3 decision which quashed the visitors’ eventual season-best 8-game winning run. 

That win occurred only 3 days after their legendary 11-1 waxing of the Canadiens at the Forum. (You know the one, where Patrick Roy was left in for 9 goals, made a routine save then raised his arms in mock victory at the crowd’s sarcastic cheers, was finally pulled from the game, told Habs president Ronald Corey he’d never play another game in Montreal, was immediately suspended, then traded to Colorado and proceeded to beat Detroit en route to his third Stanley Cup win).

The Russians were responsible for the game’s opening and closing scores, and while the five-man unit only picked up 4 points on the night, were a major driver in the puck possession game which kept Philly on their heels throughout. 

Still, Murray was not at all hyperbolic in looking ahead after the success of the first test heading into the holiday stretch.

“To come up big against Detroit … I think, is a good indication of where we’re going and the type of team that we’re becoming,” he noted. “We’re coming off the most difficult part of our schedule for the whole season (16 games in 28 days. To finish it strong, with a lot of jump and good decision-making, feels very good.”