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 pretty impressive 13-5-3-0 record in 21 contests played on March 29. Included in the March 29 action are a couple of shutouts, a wild brawl with the Buffalo Sabres, and a fight between a Philly fan and a visiting player in the penalty box.
Some of the more memorable moments and brief recaps in Flyers history that took place on March 29:
1973 — Simon Nolet and Bobby Clarke each scored a pair of goals in a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Flames at the Spectrum.
Clarke became the first Flyer — and the first player from any of the post-1967 expansion teams — and just the ninth player in NHL history to record 100 points in a season with his second goal of the contest, a third-period power play marker that staked Philadelphia to a 4-1 lead.
1979 — Reggie Leach scored twice, Bobby Clarke assisted on three Philly markers, and Robbie Moore turned aside all 22 shots he faced as the Flyers posted a 5-0 whitewash of the Vancouver Canucks at the Spectrum.
First period goals from Bill Barber, Bob Dailey, and Leach gave Moore more than enough offensive support, before Leach added a second tally in the middle period and Jimmy Watson closed out the scoring late in the third.
The shutout was the second in three starts for the 5′ 5″, 155-pound netminder, who improved his record to 3-0-1 (he had also gained a tie coming into a game in relief of Wayne Stephenson).
1981 — Paul Holmgren scored twice and rookie defenseman Reid Bailey notched his first NHL goal and added a pair of helpers to lead the Flyers to a 4-1 triumph over the Hartford Whalers at the Hartford Civic Center.
Whalers’ rookie Don Nachbaur gave the home team a lead just 41 seconds after the opening faceoff, but Holmgren tied it up less than four minutes later to send the teams knotted up at 1-apiece at the first intermission.
Tim Kerr gave the Flyers their first lead 2:16 into the middle frame with his 22nd of the year, and it would also prove to be the seventh game-winner of his rookie season before Bailey made it a two-goal lead and Holmgren closed out the scoring with his second of the contest in the final frame.
1986 — Tim Kerr (two goals), and Brian Propp and Dave Poulin (goal, two assists each) combined for four goals and eight points during a four-goal second period that propelled the Flyers to an 8-2 bludgeoning of the New York Rangers at the Spectrum.
Ilkka Sinisalo, Rick Tocchet, Brad McCrimmon, and Ron Sutter also scored for Philly, while the pair of goals gave Kerr 54 for a third consecutive season. The big forward would go on to post a career-high 58, the second-highest total ever by a Flyer in a single season (Reggie Leach, 61 in 1975/76).
1996 — Trent Klatt scored the game-tying goal midway through the third period and Bob Corkum provided the game-winner with 1:10 remaining in overtime to give the Flyers a wild, brawl-filled 6-5 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at Memorial Auditorium.
Both John LeClair and Eric Lindros notched their respective 44th goals of the season in the contest, but what happened during the last minute of a rough middle stanza would be what this one would be remembered for for years to come.
Just seconds after Philadelphia’s Shjon Podein and Buffalo’s Dane Jackson had fought, Shawn Antoski leveled Sabres’ rookie Matthew Barnaby with a cross-check in front of the Flyers’ net. Barnaby — who had been taking liberties with Flyer players the entire contest — lay motionless on the ice, and a trainer came out to attend to the agitator.
Philadelphia netminder Garth Snow — who played for the Cornwall Aces of the AHL during his time in the Quebec Nordiques organization at the same time Barnaby was a member of the Rochester Americans, and had likely seen these types of antics prior from Barnaby — and as Brad May went after Antoski and fights erupted in the corner, the feisty Flyers’ goaltender skated over towards Barnaby. With the trainer continuing to look at the still limp Sabre, Snow poked him in the ribs with his goal stick as kind of an “I’m just checking to see if you’re still alive” type of thing.
It was almost like a scene from “Frankenstein”, with Snow providing the lightning bolt of electricity to bring Barnaby back to the land of the living. He was alive, and suddenly on his skates and throwing lefts and rights at Snow to the point where it appeared as if it were being viewed on video with the fast forward button utilized.
Sabres’ goalie Andrei Trefilov skated the length of the ice to join the festivities and tangled with Snow — who got much the better of the exchange — and the ensuing melee lasted for a good 10 minutes. When all was said and done, Barnaby and May were given game misconducts for Buffalo, as well as Antoski and Rod Brind-Amour for the Flyers.
The situation had gotten so out of hand both teams were sent to their respective locker rooms to cool off, and the remain 24 seconds of the second period were tacked onto the third period.
1997 — Eric Lindros scored twice and John LeClair connected for his 49th of the season in a 5-3 Flyers’ win over the Washington Capitals at U.S. Airways Arena.
1998 — Shjon Podein recorded a goal and an assist and Sean Burke turned away 31 of 32 shots to lift the Flyers to a 3-1 triumph over the Carolina Hurricanes at Greensboro Coliseum.
2001 — The Flyers dropped a 2-1 decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the First Union Center, but the big news was what happened early in the third period and Leafs enforcer Tie Domi in the penalty box serving an unsportsmanlike conduct minor:
Domi had some fun explaining the situation afterwards, laughing through parts of the interview.
“They threw stuff at me. Once was enough. After the second one, I told the guy in the penalty box that after one more I was going to squirt water. So I squirted water. I mean, I didn’t plan on fighting anybody.”
“Hey that’s old time hockey, it was perfect. (laughing) Hey, he comes into my territory, that’s what happens.”
2003 — Jeremy Roenick and Marty Murray each scored one goal and set up another, while Roman Cechmanek stopped 20 shots to post his fifth shutout of the year in a 3-0 blanking of the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Wachovia Center.
2008 — Mike Richards scored the game-tying goal late in regulation and Danny Briere managed the lone goal in the tie-breaking skills competition as the Flyers skated out of Nassau Coliseum with a 4-3 shootout victory over the New York Islanders.
Philly poured 54 shots on Isles’ netminder Wade Dubliewicz through regulation and overtime, and nearly came away with one of those extremely frustrating losses as they were forced to play catch-up for most of the tilt.
Goals from former-Flyer Richard Park and Blake Comeau staked the home squad to a 2-0 lead that lasted late into a middle stanza that saw Philly throw 23 shots on the Islanders cage, before Briere was finally able to break through on a power play to cut the deficit in half heading into the third period.
Joffrey Lupul was able to tie things up early in the session, but Frans Nielsen restored New York’s lead just past the midway point of the period before Richards’ tying strike with 4:22 remaining.
Antero Niittymaki — who made 27 saves through overtime — was perfect in the shootout, thwarting Nielsen, Kyle Okposo, and Park in succession.Dubliewicz had turned shootout away attempts from Richards and Jeff Carter prior to Briere sealing the win.
It was the third straight Flyers contest to go past regulation time, and the fourth in the last five outings.
2011 — Claude Giroux snapped a 2-2 tie late in the second period, and Ville Leino scored twice in the third as the Flyers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 to improve to their record to 3-0-0 at CONSOL Energy Center.
The victory was their 25th on the road, setting a franchise record for most wins away from home in a regular season.
Trailing 2-1 late in the middle stanza, Scott Hartnell tied it up via the power play, and Giroux gave Philly their first lead of the game — one they would not relinquish — with a wrist shot from the slot just 47 seconds later.
Rookie Sergei Bobrovsky outplayed Marc-Andre Fleury, turning aside 25 Penguins’ shots to improve his record to 28-11-7 for the year.
2012 — Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds each scored twice and Daniel Briere assisted on four Flyer goals as they bombarded the Toronto Maple Leafs by a 7-1 count at Air Canada Centre.
With Schenn’s pair of markers and one apiece from Matt Read (his 23rd of the year, shorthanded), and another from Eric Wellwood, the Flyers ran their total of goals from rookies for the season to an NHL-best 59. Jakub Voracek notched the other Philadelphia goal, making it all seven tallies coming from players who were not on the club’s roster the previous year.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 16 saves to pick up the win, while Toronto left Jussi Rynnas in for all seven goals (on 30 shots) in his first NHL start.
March 29 Flyers’ birthday
Brad McCrimmon was born in Dodsland, Saskatchewan on this day in 1959. A first-round selection (15th-overall) of the Boston Bruins in the historic 1979 NHL Entry Draft, the tough-as-nails defenseman had played three seasons for the Bruins before being sent to the Flyers on June 9, 1982 in exchange for goaltender Pete Peeters. While the trade looked one-sided for Boston initially after Peeters won the Vezina Trophy the next season, McCrimmon was paired with Mark Howe to form perhaps the best defensive duo in franchise history. During the 1985/86 season, Howe was a +85 and McCrimmon a +83. Just as “Beast” was an integral part of the club’s pair of runs to the Stanley Cup Final during his five years with the Flyers in the 1980’s, so too was his subtraction from the lineup over a contract dispute after the 1987 Final an important part of their downward spiral. McCrimmon was traded to the Calgary Flames, where he would help along a young defender named Gary Suter and would go on to win a Stanley Cup in 1989. He would also play with the Detroit Red Wings in the early 90’s, and was the first full-time partner of a youngster named Nicklas Lidstrom. He then went to Hartford where he tutored a rookie named Chris Pronger with the Whalers. After appearing in 1,222 contests over 18 seasons in six different NHL cities, McCrimmon retired after the 1996/97 campaign. He had turned down an offer to take over as the Atlanta Thrashers head coach in 2008, and moved on to serve as an assistant under Mike Babcock with the Red Wings for three seasons before accepting the head coaching job with the KHL’s Yaroslavl Lokomotiv and was one of the 43 people to tragically lose their lives when the team’s plane crashed on a flight to Minsk for the opening game of the regular season on September 7, 2011. McCrimmon was 52 years old.
