An almost-daily column that takes a look back at how the Philadelphia Flyers have fared on this day, recalling some of the more memorable moments, achievements, and events that shaped the organization throughout the club’s storied history
The Flyers have put together a 4-4 record in eight postseason contests played on May 1, including a 1-2 mark in three games that required overtime, one of which eliminated Philadelphia from the playoffs (1998).
Some of the more memorable moments and brief recaps in Flyers history that took place on May 1:
1975 — Bobby Clarke beat Billy Smith 2:56 into overtime to lift the Flyers to a 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders at the Spectrum, giving Philadelphia a 2-0 Semifinal series lead.
Bill Barber’s goal in the first minute of the third period staked Wayne Stephenson to a seemingly safe 4-2 lead, but the home team seemed to relax and the pesky Isles did not quit. They controlled play in the third to the tune of a 14-6 shots on goal advantage, and struck twice within a 14-second span late in regulation, with Denis Potvin’s second of the game tying it up at 4-apiece with 6:00 remaining to set up Clarke’s extra time heroics.
Gary Dornhoefer, Reggie Leach, and Tom Bladon also scored for the Flyers, while Rick MacLeish assisted on three of the Philly tallies.
Potvin figured in on all four Islander markers — scoring two and dishing out a pair of helpers — as the second-year blue liner continued on the path to becoming one of the best in the game.
1980 — Defenseman Bob Daily recorded a goal and four assists and Phil Myre stopped all 27 shots he faced to register his only shutout in a Flyers’ uniform in a 7-0 drubbing of the Minnesota North Stars at the Spectrum, evening their Semifinal series at 1-1.
Stunned in a 6-5 series-opening loss in front of the home fans two days earlier, Philadelphia was determined to head to Minnesota on even terms.
They wasted no time in doing so, courtesy of a Paul Holmgren power play marker 2:09 into the contest and a Bill Barber shorthanded tally 1:11 later to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
The Flyers took control of the game in the middle session, outshooting the North Stars by a 20-9 count and scoring the only three goals of the period, all via the man advantage. Bobby Clarke, Daily, and Brian Propp all lit the lamp for Philly to make it a 5-0 laugher heading into the final frame.
Philadelphia’s special teams accounted for five goals, going 4-4 on the power play in addition to Barber’s shorty.
Al Hill and Reggie Leach closed out the scoring on Stars beleaguered netminder Gary Edwards, who finished with 33 saves on 40 Flyers’ shots.
1989 — Ilkka Sinisalo’s shorthanded goal late in the third period proved to be the game-winner to back Ken Wregget’s 24-save performance as the Flyers skated to a 3-1 victory over Patrick Roy and the Montreal Canadiens at the Forum in the Wales Conference series opener.
The loss was the first at home for Roy in 35 consecutive decisions, snapping an unbelievable 30-0-4 run that had stretched more than a calendar year since his last defeat in Montreal on April 26, 1988.
Philadelphia built a 2-0 lead on a pair of shorthanded breakaways, one in the first by Derrick Smith and Sinisalo’s with 8:31 remaining in regulation time, just 14 seconds after Ron Sutter was sent to the penalty box for hooking.
The Canadiens were able to cut the deficit in half 35 seconds after Sinisalo’s shorthander, when Shayne Corson beat Wregget while the Habs were still on the man advantage to spoil the goaltender’s shutout bid and make it a 2-1 nail biter.
Rick Tocchet gave Wregget and the Flyers some breathing room just over a minute later, swatting an Al Secord offering past Roy to restore the two-goal lead and close out the scoring.
Wregget — who had appeared in only three regular season games with Philly since being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs nearly two months earlier — won his second straight start when pressed into duty after Ron Hextall suffered a hyper-extended right knee late in the Patrick Division Final series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. His first start was in Game 7 against Mario Lemieux and company, where he came up huge by stopping 39 of the 40 shots he faced in a 4-1 triumph.
The Flyers suffered a major loss midway through regulation when Habs defenseman Chris Chelios hit Brian Propp with a flying elbow to the side of the head along the wall, crushing the winger’s head against a stanchion. The violent impact immediately knocked Propp unconscious, and he fell helplessly to the ice where he landed on the back of his head.
Propp was bloodied to the back of the head and taken to Montreal General with a concussion and bruising, while Chelios somehow went unpenalized. This chain of events would have lasting consequences on the remainder of the series. The Philadelphia offensive attack suffered throughout and while the league didn’t feel the need to dole out punishment for Chelios’ actions, some vigilante justice would be coming his way later on.
1998 — Rear guard Dave Babych beat Dominik Hasek late in the third period to send the game to overtime, but Michal Grosek put the puck past Sean Burke 5:40 into extra time to give the Buffalo Sabres a 3-2 win at the CoreStates Center and close out the Flyers in five games in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.
2003 — Michal Handzus scored the game’s lone goal and Roman Cechmanek stopped 28 shots for his second shutout of the series in a 1-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators at the First Union Center to even their Eastern Conference Semifinal series at 2-2.
Handzus provided the only offense Cechmanek would need late in the opening stanza. He won a faceoff back to defenseman Chris Therien, who sent a wrist shot from just inside the blue line towards the net. Handzus had two Senators’ blanketing him, but somehow got the blade of his stick on the shot and deflected it over the shoulder of Patrick Lalime and into the top corner at the 17:06 mark.
As per the usual for Cechmanek in the postseason against Ottawa, his second series shutout was the Flyers second win. It seemed if he didn’t blank the Sens, Philly would lose the game.
This was the case for two consecutive springs when the teams squared off against one another, as Cechmanek posted three shutouts but managed a 3-8 record in a pair of series defeats. His lone win the previous year came in a 1-0 overtime decision, during a series in which Philadelphia set a record for playoff goal-scoring futility by managing to score just two goals in five games, with only one coming in regulation play.
2010 — The Flyers rallied from a late third period two-goal deficit to tie and send the game to overtime, but the Bruins dominated the extra session before Marc Savard provided the game-winner to give Boston a 5-4 victory in the Eastern Conference Semifinal opener at TD Garden.
Savard — playing in his first game since suffering a grade 2 concussion nearly two months earlier — took full advantage of a failed Flyers clear and a delayed penalty as they scrambled to recover and blasted a shot over Brian Boucher’s glove hand and under the crossbar to put a storybook ending on his return.
“He put it in a great spot. But that’s why they’re glad to have him back.” — Boucher said after the game
Though he allowed five goals Boucher had been spectacular throughout, finishing the contest with 41 saves. “Boosh” had held his team in during a nervous overtime, in which they were outshot by a whopping 15-4 count in just under 14 minutes of play when Savard ended it.
Trailing 4-2 late in regulation, Mike Richards and Daniel Briere each beat Tuukka Rask to knot the game up and force the extra period. Briere’s was a spectacular individual effort, splitting the defense and putting home his own rebound with 3:22 remaining in the third.
Ryan Parent and Chris Pronger also scored for the Flyers, while Richards added a pair of assists.
Philadelphia had one excellent chance to win it in overtime, but Rask stoned Daniel Carcillo on a breakaway.
