An almost-daily 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 recorded an 11-6-0-0 all-time mark in 17 November 25 contests heading into tonight’s matchup with the New York Islanders at Barclays Center. 2013’s 3-1 loss to the Panthers in Florida snapped Philly’s four-game November 25 winning streak (2005-2011), which was their second such unbeaten stretch of four in games played on this date (the first being from 1977-1987).
Some of the more memorable November 25 moments in franchise history:
1967 — Gary Dornhoefer and Bill Sutherland each scored one goal and assisted on another, while Bernie Parent stopped all but one of the 47 shots he faced in a 2-1 triumph over the St. Louis Blues at St. Louis Arena.
Dornhoefer scored the lone first period marker, assisted on Sutherland’s tally in the middle frame, then fought St. Louis’ Ron Stewart late in the second to notch the first-ever Gordie Howe hat trick in franchise history.
Parent was spectacular in net as the Blues heavily outshot Philadelphia, 47-23 — including 28-11 over the final 40 minutes — with future-Flyer Terry Crisp spoiling the netminder’s shutout bid late in the second period.
Captain Lou Angotti assisted on both Philly goals.
1970 — Rookie Bob “The Hound” Kelly celebrated his 20th birthday by scoring the game-winning goal 4:07 into the third period, and Bernie Parent turned aside 25 of 26 shots in a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers at the Spectrum.
New York’s Dave Balon and Philadelphia’s Larry Hillman traded first period goals and after a scoreless second period, Kelly beat Eddie Giacomin for his second NHL tally to give the home team a lead they would not relinquish.
Serge Bernier hit the empty net with Giacomin pulled for an extra attacker with 0:38 remaining to seal the deal for the Orange-and-Black.
1977 — Bobby Clarke posted a pair of goals and an assist and Bernie Parent turned away 26 of 28 shots in a 7-2 drubbing of the Cleveland Barons at the Spectrum.
Reggie Leach added a goal and two helpers, Orest Kindrachuk chipped in with three assists, while Barry Dean and Bob Dailey each recorded a goal and an assist. Tom Bladon and Don Saleski also lit the lamp for Philadelphia, who won for the third time in their last four outings.
1978 — Reggie Leach’s goal with 13 seconds remaining in the second period proved to be the game-winner and Bernie Parent stopped 25 of 26 shots in a 3-1 triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Igloo.
Paul Evans and Paul Holmgren also scored for Philadelphia, who extended their winning streak to four contests.
One of the original Broad Street Bullies, Pittsburgh’s Dave “The Hammer” Schultz, fought his former-teammates twice in the second period, taking on rugged defenders Behn Wilson and Andre “Moose” Dupont during the frame.
1981 — Brian Propp’s late-second period tally proved to be the game-winning goal and Pete Peeters turned aside 31 of 32 shots as the Flyers skated to a 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins at Boston Garden.
The marker gave Propp five goals in his last four contests, and 16 for the season.
Tim Kerr and Bobby Clarke also scored for Philadelphia, while future-Flyer Brad McCrimmon notched the lone Boston tally with 6:24 left in regulation.
1987 — Craig Berube snapped a 2-2 deadlock with his first NHL goal midway through the third period to support Ron Hextall’s 18-save performance in a 5-2 triumph over the Buffalo Sabres at the Spectrum.
Philadelphia took a 2-0 lead after the opening period on goals by Peter Zezel and Scott Mellanby, but the Sabres knotted the game by the second intermission on tallies from Ray Sheppard and Mike Foligno.
The Flyers stormed Tom Barrasso and the Buffalo cage in the final twenty minutes, outshooting the visitors by a 17-4 margin. Following Berube’s go-ahead marker, Dave Poulin gave Philly some breathing room with less than two minutes remaining, then iced the outcome on an empty-netter with Barrasso pulled for an extra skater with 28 seconds left.
1990 — Gord Murphy scored twice and Pete Peeters stopped 25 of 26 shots to lead the Flyers to a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders at the Spectrum.
Rick Tocchet added a goal and an assist for Philadelphia, while Mike Ricci also scored. Pelle Eklund chipped in with a pair of helpers.
1998 — John LeClair tied the game at 2-2 midway through the third period, but Bryan Berard beat John Vanbiesbrouck for the game-winner just over three and a half minutes later as the Flyers outshot their opponents, 46-14, but suffered a frustrating 4-2 loss to Tommy Salo and the New York Islanders at the First Union Center.
2005 — Peter Forsberg notched a pair of goals and an assist in the first two periods before leaving the game with a groin pull, and Antero Niittymaki made 25 saves in a 5-3 victory over the Boston Bruins at Fleet Center.
Forsberg’s linemate Simon Gagne added a goal and three points, with the goal giving him 21 in the club’s first 21 games of the season.
Eric Desjardins and Michal Handzus also scored for Philadelphia, who won for just the second time in the last six outings (2-2-2) following a previous six-game winning streak.
2006 — Simon Gagne posted two goals and an assist and Antero Niittymaki turned away 29 of 31 shots to lead the Flyers to a 4-2 triumph over David Aebischer and the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Center.
Alexei Kovalev gave the Habs a 1-0 lead at the first intermission, but goals from Sami Kapanen, Mike Knuble, and Gagne in the middle frame staked Niittymaki to a two-goal lead heading into the third period.
Saku Koivu drew the home team to within a goal with a man advantage tally early in the stanza, but Gagne beat Aebischer for a shorthanded marker with 2:08 remaining to clinch the win.
Niittymaki had to be especially sharp in the third period, as Montreal carried play and outshot Philadelphia by a 10-3 margin over the final twenty minutes.
2009 — Scott Hartnell snapped a 1-1 tie with 5:27 left in regulation and Brian Boucher made 28 saves in a 2-1 triumph over former-Flyer Martin Biron and the New York Islanders at Nassau County Coliseum.
Hartnell took Jeff Carter’s pass in the slot and rifled a quick shot over Biron’s shoulder for the game-winner.
It appeared as if Trent Hunter’s first period goal would stand as the lone tally through two periods, but Mike Richards knotted the contest with a power play marker with just 0:24 left in the middle stanza.
The Isles had outshot Philly, 28-17, through the first forty minutes, but Boucher held his team in the game before they turned things around in the third, outshooting N.Y. by an 11-1 count.
2011 — Claude Giroux scored twice and Jakub Voracek added a goal and an assist during a three-goal Flyers’ second period, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all but one of the 24 shots he faced in a 3-1 win over Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens in the club’s annual Black Friday contest at the Wells Fargo Center.
Petteri Nokelainen had given the visitors a 1-0 lead late in the opening frame with his first in a Habs’ uniform, but Philadelphia dominated the middle session by outshooting Montreal, 18-5.
Giroux finally broke through 13:11 into the period, sending a shot from the goal line off the netminder’s left side and into the net to tie it at 1-1. Voracek then took a gorgeous feed from Kimmo Timonen from behind the net and blew a shot past Price to the stick side for the go-ahead goal with 2:15 left in the period.
Giroux notched an insurance marker with just 5.9 ticks of the clock left before the second intermission, ripping the rebound of a Braydon Coburn point shot past a diving Price — again from a nearly impossible angle but this time on the opposite side of the net — to make it a two-goal game heading into the third.
“He’s awesome,” Price said of Giroux after the game. “You can’t give him time right there. It doesn’t take much time for him to put the puck in the net.”November 25 Flyers’ Birthday
Bob Kelly was born in Oakville, Ontario on this day in 1950. At 5′ 10″, 200 pounds, “The Hound” was the quintessential definiteion of an ‘energy guy’; throwing his weight around on big hits, fighting when necessary, and chipping in with timely goals. A member of the Broad Street Bullies teams of the 1970’s, Kelly was part of the club’s two Stanley Cup championship teams, and the 1979/80 “Streak” club that went 35 games without a loss. In 741 regular season contests, he posted 128 goals — which included 24 game-winners — 296 points, and 1,285 PIMs. In 101 postseason tilts, the tough-as-nails left winger registered nine goals, 23 points, and 172 PIMs. His lone game-winning goal in the playoffs was a big one, scoring the Cup-clinching tally early in the third period of Game 6 in the 1975 Final in Buffalo to secure Cup number two for the Flyers.
