People seem to forget that the Philadelphia Flyers had to win in a shootout against the New York Rangers on the final day of the regular season just to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In that decisive final game, the Flyers trailed by one heading into the final period, and their season was on the brink of elimination. After advancing into the playoffs, almost nobody picked the Flyers to defeat the second-seeded New Jersey Devils, who had earned 103 points in the regular season, in the first round of the playoffs. The Devils, for one, had Martin Brodeur, arguably one of the greatest goaltenders ever, and they even had best scoring defense in the league. The Flyers, on the other hand, faced a slew of injuries, including ones to center Jeff Carter and to left wing Simon Gagne.
Nonetheless, Philadelphia goaltender Brian Boucher, substituting for injured goaltenders Michael Leighton and Ray Emery, played a phenomenal series against the Devils. Though it appeared on paper that Brodeur would have a significant edge in goaltending, Boucher outplayed Brodeur throughout the series, as the Flyers got stronger as the series progressed. After an overtime win in game 3 to jump ahead to a 2-1 series lead, the Flyers won the final two games of the series by three goals each, as Claude Giroux, Danny Briere, and Jeff Carter each had two goals in Games 5 and 6.
Following a five game romp over the Devils, the Flyers next had to face the Boston Bruins in the second round. After Marc Savard’s triumphant return from his concussion injury he suffered in the regular season, the Bruins cruised to win the first three games of the series, and it appeared the Flyers were down and out. After all, only two teams in NHL history, the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders, have ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series. However, Simon Gagne returned to the Flyers lineup in Game 4, and he brought life and energy back into his team. He scored the game-winning overtime goal in Game 4 to send the series back to Boston. Philadelphia continued the momentum in Game 5, shutting out the Bruins 4-0 in Boston. But, Game 5 was a costly win, as the Flyers lost Brian Boucher to a sprained MCL, jeopardizing his status for the remainder of the series.
The Flyers, though, had come this far and were determined to keep fighting in spite of the loss of Boucher. Few people had expected them to beat the Devils and certainly no one felt that they could come back from this insurmountable deficit to the Bruins. In Game 6, Michael Leighton admirably played in place of Boucher, as he held the Bruins scoreless for the first 59 minutes of the game. The Flyers won Game 6 2-1 behind a tremendous overall defensive performance and a power play goal by Danny Briere in the second period. The Flyers, now, had all the momentum heading into Game 7, as the Bruins lost David Krejci and Marco Sturm to injuries. The only thing Boston had going for them heading into Game 7 was home ice. They certainly fed off that home crowd early in Game 7, as the Bruins quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead 15 minutes into the game. However, as they have done all postseason, the Flyers never gave up and stormed all the way back to tie the game at the end of the second period. Then, Simon Gagne scored the game-winning power play goal midway through the third period to give the Flyers an improbable 4-3 Game 7 win AND a 4-3 series win. These two different 3-0 comebacks symbolized the grit, toughness, and resilience of this Flyers team.
After a tough seven-game series against Boston, the Flyers had to quickly bounce back and face the Montreal Canadiens in the conference finals. There was only a one day rest period between Game 7 of the Boston series and Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Flyers did not have time to scout or prepare for Montreal, so they had to ride out the momentum they had established in the final four games of the Boston series. They did just that, as they scored the first nine goals of the series in Games 1 and 2, and the Flyers shutout the Canadiens in the first two games of the series. The Flyers were firing on all cylinders, as Michael Leighton progressively improved, the top three lines of offense overpowered Montreal’s defense, and the Philadelphia defense led by Chris Pronger did an outstanding job of disrupting the rhythm of the Montreal forwards. After a hiccup in Game 3, the Flyers shut out the Canadiens again in Game 4 3-0 and won the clinching Game 5 4-2 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals as a seven seed. Remember, this is the same Flyers team that came a period away from missing out on the playoffs.
In the Stanley Cup Finals, the Flyers had to face the heavily favored Chicago Blackhawks, who had just swept the top-seeded San Jose Sharks in four games. In Game 1, the Flyers lost 6-5 in a high-scoring affair, as Chicago forward Tomas Kopecky scored the game-winning goal eight minutes into the third period. Game 2 was a more physical grind for both teams, and the Blackhawks led 2-0 after two periods. However, like they have done all postseason, the Flyers never quit, as they outshot the Blackhawks 15-4 in the third period and scored a goal five minutes into the third period to pull within one goal. However, despite accumulating multiple scoring chances, they were unable to score the equalizer and fell behind in the series 2-0. Nonetheless, the Flyers established a rhythm during the third period of Game 2 and carried the momentum into their home ice. Left wing Ville Leino scored the game-tying goal in the third period before Claude Giroux scored the game-winner in overtime to give the Flyers a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 3 that cut the series deficit to 2-1. Then, in Game 4, the Flyers jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead and never looked back. Philadelphia won Game 4 5-3 and tied the series at two. After losing Game 5 7-4, the Flyers once again faced the possibility of elimination in their home building. They were down 3-2 in the third period of Game 6, and the season once again appeared on the brink of elimination. Then, like they have done throughout the postseason, found the extra gear of energy. Philadelphia left wing Scott Hartnell scored the equalizer late in the third period and sent the game into overtime. Though the Blackhawks would score the game-winner in overtime and win the Stanley Cup, the Flyers once again exhibited throughout this series that they would fight until the very end.
Despite facing tremendous adversity throughout this postseason, the Philadelphia Flyers continued to persevere and fight until the very end. They overcame injuries, deficits, and a heavy schedule to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. In the first round, the Flyers completely outfought and outhustled the Devils. In the second round, they never seemed to panic after falling 3-0 in the series and 3-0 in Game 7 to the Bruins. In the conference finals, they simply overpowered the Canadiens. In the Stanley Cup Finals, they fought until the very end of every game, as the Blackhawks needed three game-winning goals to defeat the Flyers. Although the Flyers were not the best or most talented team of this year’s playoffs, they certainly were the toughest and most resilient.
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