With playoff hockey previously slated to start today, PSN has decided to take you back to when playoff hockey was fun in Philadelphia. We’re going to take you back to a couple of first-day playoff games where the Flyers came out victorious. In this article, we are going to flashback to 1974 to see how the Flyers performed en route to the first of their back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships.
1974- Flyers vs. Atlanta Flames
For the 1973-1974 season, the Flyers leaped to an at-the-time franchise-high 50 win season, going 50-16-12. Freddy Shero was behind the bench for the Broad Street Bullies. After finishing atop the West division, the Flyers were now ready to leap into their first-round matchup against the Atlanta Flames on April 9, 1974.
First Period:
The first period would be fairly quiet on both sides. Gary Dornhoefer would open up the scoring in the Flyers’ favor with a shorthanded goal with five seconds remaining in the period. As the Broad Street Bullies lived up to their name, there were a total of three penalties called in the first period alone, two against Philly.
Second Period:
Again, the period started slow for both teams. Not much action was occurring, and each team was playing simplified hockey.
This was until Flames’ forward Larry Romanchych got called for tripping with about eight minutes left in the period. During the ensuing powerplay, the lone goal scorer of the game, Dornhoefer, did not take a liking to a Bryan Hextall hit. A giant fight broke out, which was the mantra for the rest of the series.
During that same powerplay, Tom Bladen would tap home a goal to put the Flyers up 2-0. The game was suddenly in the Flyers’ control, both on the scoreboard and with momentum.
Third Period:
The Flyers kept the momentum going, and ultimately sealed the game with about 11 minutes remaining. Orest Kindrachuk snuck one by Flames’ goaltender Phil Myre to make it a 3-0 game. The Flames would get one back after Bob Murray scored on his lone shot of the night. This Flyers quickly retaliated, as Kindrachuk would score his second of the period a mere three minutes later.
The Flyers would wind up taking game one of the series, 4-1. Orest Kindrachuk (PHI), Gary Dornhoefer (PHI), and Randy Manery (ATLF) would take home the three stars awards, in that order.
What’s Up Next
The Flyers would carry their momentum from game one for the rest of the series. After scoring four goals in game one, they would score at least four in the remaining three games of the series. This brought them the honors of a clean sweep of Atlanta, and brought them to the semi-finals. There, they defeated the New York Rangers in seven games.
We all know what happened after that. The Flyers would hoist the cup for the first time in franchise history, and the first of two in as many years, after beating the Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr led Boston Bruins in six games.
Mandatory Credit – Associated Press
