Stats, facts, and the biggest Game 7s in Flyers history
The Flyers blew a 3-0 series lead to the Islanders in 1975. But then Bobby Clarke and the fellas hashed out their problems over some cold beers and rolled to a win in Game 7.
Robert Hagg said it’s what every kid dreams of, whether you’re playing on the streets of Uppsala, Sweden, or the frozen ponds of Sherwood Park, Alberta.
Scott Laughton, a native of Oakville, Ontario, recalled Toronto beating Ottawa in Game 7 in 2002 and 2004. In 2003, when the Leafs lost to the Flyers, in a fascinating seven-game series, Laughton was 8 years old, going on 9.
Saturday against the New York Islanders will be the first Game 7 of his career.
“I think you get a little bit of pit in your stomach before games, and get a little nervous,” Laughton said. “A good nervous excitement, I guess. Really excited to go out there and have one game to try and go to Edmonton [for the final two rounds].”
The only thing better than playing in Game 7 is winning Game 7. Here are some odds, ends and other triviality ahead of the Flyers-Islanders series finale (7:30 p.m., NBC).
Ten current Flyers have played in at least one Game 7, including Matt Niskanen, who will be participating in his eighth. He’s 2-5. Two of his losses came against the Rangers when Alain Vigneault was New York’s head coach.
Notable Flyers players making their Game 7 debut are Nic Aube-Kubel, Derek Grant, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom, Phil Myers, Tyler Pitlick, Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, and Carter Hart.
Hart’s goalie counterpart, Semyon Varlamov, will play in his fifth Game 7 but his first in six years. He’s 1-3 with a 3.51 goals against average.
There are 16 other Islanders who’ve played in Game 7. Remarkably, they’ve combined to score only one goal in 35 man-games among the skaters, and that was former Bruin Johnny Boychuk, who’s been scratched this series.
Among the notable Islanders who’ve never played in a Game 7 are Anthony Beauvillier, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, and Devon Toews.
Of the 180 Game 7s entering tonight’s Flyers-Islanders game, the team that scored first won 134 (74.4%).
Alain Vigneault is 5-2 in Game 7, including a win over Barry Trotz in 2015 when Vigneault was with the Rangers, and Trotz was in Washington. Derek Stepan scored the game-winner in overtime as New York rallied from a 3-1 series deficit.
The Flyers are 9-7 all-time in Game 7, the most recent in 2014 when they were stifled by Vigneault’s Rangers, 2-1, at Madison Square Garden. Jason Akeson scored the Flyers only goal that night. Akeson, who played in 22 NHL games in his career, was last seen playing in the German League.
Just about one out of every four Game 7s all-time needed overtime, including two involving the Flyers. Both were in Washington. Dale Hunter ended the 1988 Division Semifinals in the Capitals’ favor. Twenty years later, Joffrey Lupul won it for the Flyers with a power-play tally.
The Flyers Game 7 record ...
By team captain: Lou Angotti (0-1), Bobby Clarke (3-0), Mel Bridgman (0-1), Dave Poulin (2-2), Eric Desjardins (0-1), Keith Primeau (1-1), Jason Smith (1-0), Mike Richards (2-0), Claude Giroux (0-1).
By starting goaltender: Bernie Parent (3-1), Rick St. Croix (0-1), Ron Hextall (1-2), Ken Wregget (1-0), Brian Boucher (1-1), Roman Cechmanek (1-0), Robert Esche (0-1), Martin Biron (1-0), Michael Leighton (1-0), Steve Mason (0-1).
By head coach: Keith Allen (0-1), Fred Shero (3-0), Pat Quinn (0-1), Mike Keenan (1-2), Paul Holmgren (1-0), Roger Neilson (0-1), Ken Hitchcock (1-1), John Stevens (1-0), Peter Laviolette (2-0), Craig Berube (0-1).
Flyers’ Game 7 game-winning goals
Gary Dornhoefer, May 5, 1974 vs. N.Y. Rangers: Dornhoefer scored twice in a game remembered more for what Dave Schultz did to Dale Rolfe.
Rick MacLeish, May 13, 1975 vs. N.Y. Islanders: The Flyers had blown a 3-0 series lead, but were bailed out by MacLeish’s hat trick. A team meeting at the Stouffer Valley Forge the night before helped the boys release some steam. “You can talk about mistakes [more easily] after a few beers,” Bobby Clarke said.
Mel Bridgman, April 25, 1976 vs. Toronto: The rookie Bridgman scored twice in 16 seconds as the Flyers rolled to a 7-3 win.
Brian Propp, May 2, 1987 vs. N.Y. Islanders: New York forced a Game 7 after being down, 3-1, but the Flyers took care of business with a 5-1 win in what turned out to be the team’s final Game 7 win at the Spectrum.
Dave Poulin, April 29, 1989, at Pittsburgh: The Flyers responded to a five-goal explosion by Mario Lemieux in Game 5 by outscoring the Penguins, 10-3, in Games 6 and 7. Ken Wregget replaced the injured Ron Hextall and was the hero of Game 7 with 39 saves.
Justin Williams, April 22, 2003, vs. Toronto: The last Flyers series to have three overtime games. Fortunately for weary fans, Game 7 was a 6-1 romp.
Joffrey Lupul, April 22, 2008, at Washington: The only overtime Game 7 in Flyers history helped the Flyers avoid blowing a 3-1 series lead. Said Lupul: “When you are a kid playing in the back yard or the outdoor rink, that’s always what it is: Game 7 of overtime.”
Simon Gagne, May 14, 2010, at Boston: It wasn’t overtime, but it arguably was more dramatic as the Flyers erased a 3-0 series deficit and a 3-0 Game 7 deficit with a 4-3 victory. The Bruins, to their credit, swept the Flyers the following season and won the Stanley Cup.
James van Riemsdyk, April 26, 2011, vs. Buffalo: The Flyers scored the first four goals and cruised.