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 compiled an impressive 12-5-2-0 all-time record in 19 games played on November 12 heading into their game tonight with the Washington Capitals at the Wells Fargo Center. Philadelphia has won their last four contests played on this date (2005-2013), with the last two coming against the Senators (5-1 at Wachovia Center, 2009, and 5-0 at Canadian Tire Centre, 2013).
Some of the more memorable November 12 moments in franchise history:
1967 — Bernie Parent stopped 37 of 39 shots to pick up his second win as a Flyer and Bill Sutherland scored what would become the game-winning goal late in the second period as the Flyers came away with a 4-2 triumph over the Boston Bruins in their first-ever visit to Boston Garden.
Former-Bruin Joe Watson opened the scoring with his first goal as a Flyer just 1:12 into the game, and despite being outshot 15-5 in the middle stanza, garnered the only two markers of the period when Leon Rochefort and Sutherland each beat Gerry Cheevers to stake the visitors to a 3-0 lead at the second intermission.
Philadelphia was outshot 32-15 over the final 40 minutes, but Parent, also Boston property prior to the 1967 expansion draft, carried a shutout until late in the final frame. Boston rookie defenseman Glen Sather spoiled Parent’s shutout bid with just under five minutes remaining, and Phil Esposito made it a one-goal game at 18:10 before Don Blackburn — another former-Bruin — clinched the outcome with his first NHL goal with Cheevers pulled for an extra attacker in the final minute of the contest.
The win at the Garden would prove to be an extreme rarity, as the Flyers would go 0-18-4 in their next 22 visits to Beantown.
1972 — Bobby Clarke notched two goals and a pair of assists and Doug Favell made 28 saves as the Flyers demolished the California Golden Seals 8-3 at the Spectrum.
Trailing 1-0 in the second period, Clarke knotted the score early in the stanza before rookie Hilliard Graves restored California’s lead just over two minutes later. But Brent Hughes tied it again 53 seconds later, and Philadelphia grabbed a two-goal lead by period’s end on Clarke’s second of the game and Bill Barber tally late in the frame.
The Flyers stormed the Seals’ cage in the final 20 minutes, throwing 15 shots on netminder Marv Edwards and putting the game out of reach on goals by Gary Dornhoefer, Dave Schultz, Simon Nolet, and Ross Lonsberry — who also assisted on three Flyers’ markers in addition to his goal.
1975 — Orest Kindrachuk snapped a 1-1 deadlock with 1:14 remaining in the second period and Wayne Stephenson made 21 saves in a 3-1 defeat of the Buffalo Sabres at Memorial Auditorium in a rematch of the previous season’s Stanley Cup finalists.
After a scoreless first frame, Philadelphia dominated the middle stanza by a 15-4 shot count. Reggie Leach opened the scoring in the first minute of the session, but Buffalo’s Fred Stanfield evened it up late in the period. Kindrachuk’s go-ahead goal came just 1:37 later, and gave Stephenson a one-goal lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
Although the Flyer goaltender saw more shots in the third the only tally came from Don Saleski, as he provided an insurance marker by putting the puck past Gerry Desjardins at 6:05 to close out the scoring.
1977 — Trailing 2-0, the Flyers received goals from Mel Bridgman and Bob Dailey early in the third period to earn a point in a 2-2 deadlock with the New York Islanders at Nassau County Coliseum.
Bernie Parent turned aside 29 of 31 shots, and Billy Smith stopped 25 Flyer offerings in the draw.
1978 — Rookie Paul Evans scored one goal and assisted on another and Bernie Parent recorded his 49th career regular season shutout in a 4-0 blanking of the Vancouver Canucks at Pacific Coliseum.
Don Saleski, Drew Callender, and Bill Barber were also able to beat Vancouver netminder Gary Bromley — who finished the contest with 32 saves — while Parent was only called upon to stop 14 Canucks’ shots in posting his 48th regular season whitewash while wearing the Orange-and-Black.
Barber’s third period goal extended his points streak to six games, in which number 7 recorded five goals and 11 points during the span.
1981 — Paul Holmgren scored a pair of power play goals and Rick St. Croix made 14 saves to lead the Flyers to a 5-3 victory over the Hartford Whalers at the Spectrum.
Behn Wilson staked Philadelphia to a 1-0 lead after one, but Hartford’s Doug Sulliman beat St. Criox just 11 ticks into the middle frame to even it up. The deadlock would last only 56 seconds before Holmgren’s first of the contest with former-Flyer Jack McIlhargey in the sin bin, and the rugged winger gave the Flyers a two-goal lead with Randy MacGregor off for a hooking minor just under 10 minutes later.
MacGregor would cut the lead in half early in the final stanza, but Jim Watson and Kenny Linseman (shorthanded) each beat Whalers’ goalie Greg Millen to give Philly a 5-2 lead late in regulation.
1983 — Tim Kerr scored twice and Doug Crossman provided the game-winning goal midway through the middle session to lead the Flyers to a 5-3 victory over former-Philadelphia goaltender Rick St. Croix and the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens.
The ice was tilted towards St. Croix’s end for much of the game, with the visitors outshooting the Leafs, 41-19, but Toronto still managed to get on the board first when Bill Derlago beat Bob Froese with the man advantage early in the opening frame. Mark Howe evened things up midway through the period before Kerr’s pair gave Philly a two-goal lead at the first intermission.
The Maple Leafs struck twice via the power play in the middle stanza, book-ended around a Doug Crossman goal for the Flyers, to make it a 4-3 Philadelphia lead entering the third period.
Instead of retreating into a defensive shell the Flyers attacked hard in the last 20 minutes — outshooting Toronto 17-6 — with Rich Sutter managing Philly’s lone power play marker of the contest midway through the third to close out the scoring.
Froese finished with 16 saves to improve his record to 4-1-0 for the season, and 21-5-2 at this point in his two seasons with the Flyers.
1987 — Mark Howe scored a goal and assisted on two others and Ron Hextall turned away 25 of 27 shots as the Flyers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 at the Spectrum.
Howe, Murray Craven, and Derrick Smith each put the puck behind Pittsburgh starter Steve Guenette during the opening 20 minutes, while J.J. Daigneault and Dave Poulin lit the lamp in the second period.
The victory was just the second for Hextall, who improved his record to 2-6-2 for the season in breaking a five-game winless skid (0-4-1).
1988 — Tim Kerr recorded his 15th career regular season hat trick, but Steve Yzerman also scored three times as the Detroit Red Wings were able to come away with a 5-4 win at the Spectrum.
Kerr struck twice in the opening period, but Detroit took a two-goal lead to the locker room at the first intermission on the strength of two goals from Yzerman and one each from Paul MacLean and Adam Oates.
Yzerman completed his hat trick early in the middle stanza to make it a 5-2 Red Wings’ lead, while Kerr turned the trick in the last minute of the period to bring Philadelphia back to within two goals heading into the third.
Scott Mellanby made it a one-goal game when he beat Glen Hanlon 4:21 into the final frame, but the home team could not come up with the tying marker.
The hat trick gave Kerr 13 goals in 18 contests for the season and six in his last four outings, as he continued his remarkable comeback from multiple shoulder surgeries that cost the four-time 50+ goal-scorer all but eight games of the previous campaign.
Ron Hextall did manage to make 27 saves, but suffered his fifth-consecutive loss — in which he yielded five goals or more on three occasions.
1992 — Mark Recchi led the way with a pair of goals and six points as the Crazy Eights Line accounted for five goals and 14 points, and Kevin Dineen posted a Gordie Howe hat trick to lead the Flyers to an 8-5 defeat of the New York Islanders at the Spectrum.
In addition to Recchi’s big night, rookie Eric Lindros also scored twice and added an assist, while linemate Brent Fedyk scored once and added a trio of helpers. It was the second big output for the line after being re-united by head coach Bill Dineen, as they registered three goals and six points in a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues five days earlier.
Bill Dineen’s son, Kevin, fought Isles’ defender Jeff Norton in the second period, assisted on Rod Brind’Amour’s eventual game-winning shorthanded tally midway through the third, and provided an insurance marker less than six minutes later to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick.
Rookie defenseman Ryan McGill recorded his first NHL goal early in the four-goal Flyers’ third stanza, while Stephane Beauregard posted his second straight victory after dropping his first three decisions in Philly.
2005 — Mike Knuble ripped a shorthanded slap shot past Jamie McLennan with 3.2 seconds remaining in the third period to lift the Flyers to their sixth consecutive win in a 5-4 thriller over the Florida Panthers at the Wachovia Center.
It was the second goal of the game for Knuble, who had just jumped onto the ice for a shift change before launching the game-winner with Joni Pitkanen in the penalty box for hooking. Philadelphia had appeared to take a lead just prior to Pitkanen’s minor, but the officials had lost sight of the puck and blew the play dead just before the shot trickled over the goal line.
Knuble’s was also the second Flyers’ shorthanded marker of the contest, with rookie Jeff Carter having notched his second goal while his club was skating a man down in the last five outings.
Philly also received goals from Pitkanen and Simon Gagne, who posted his 10th in the last eight games to tie him with the New York Rangers‘ Jaromir Jagr for the league-lead at 17 in the team’s first 15 games. Peter Forsberg assisted on Knuble’s first tally to give the newcomer 25 assists in 15 contests, which was the NHL-high at the time.
Robert Esche made 26 saves to improve his record to 8-3-0 for the season, while McLennan suffered the loss despite stopping 34 Philadelphia shots.
The win gave the Flyers an 11-3-1 mark, and was their ninth consecutive victory on home ice.
2007 — Scottie Upshall scored twice, Mike Richards‘ shorthanded goal snapped a 2-2 tie early in the third period, and Martin Biron stopped 24 of 26 shots to lift the Flyers to a 3-2 triumph over the New York Islanders at the Wachovia Center.
The victory gave Philadelphia a perfect 6-0-0 record at home, after finishing with just 10 wins in their own building during the entire previous season.
2009 — Danny Briere scored a pair of goals and Ray Emery stopped 22 of 23 shots in his first start against his former team to defeat the Ottawa Senators 5-1 at the Wachovia Center.
Following a scoreless opening frame, Philadelphia got second period tallies from Blair Betts (first as a Flyer) and James van Riemsdyk to take a 2-1 lead into the third stanza. Ottawa goaltender Pascal LeClaire was beaten three times in the third — twice by Briere and once by Darroll Powe — as Philly won going away.
It was the fifth win in a row and seventh in eight outings for Emery, who improved to 10-3-0 on the year. ‘Razor’ had played his first five NHL seasons in Ottawa, and led the Senators to the 2007 Stanley Cup Final before heading to the KHL for the 2008/09 campaign.
Jeff Carter, Chris Pronger, and Kimmo Timonen each chipped in with two assists apiece in the winning effort.
2013 — Jakub Voracek scored a pair of goals and Steve Mason turned aside all 24 shots he faced to lead the Flyers to a 5-0 triumph over the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
The shutout was the 20th of Mason’s career, and his first in 20 appearances as a Flyer.
Matt Read supplied all of the offense Mason would need late in the first period, when he beat Ottawa netminder Craig Anderson late in the first period.
Voracek doubled that lead just 0:28 into the middle frame — with Claude Giroux picking up his 300th career point with a helper — then got his second of the period just over 10 minutes later to make it a 3-0 game heading into the final frame.
Vincent Lecavalier and Brayden Schenn added third period markers, and Mason nearly lost his shutout bid shortly after Schenn’s tally had made it 5-0.Chris Neal deflected a shot that beat the netminder, but video replay clearly showed the stick of the Senators’ winger was well above the cross bar when he made contact with the puck, and it was correctly waved off.
The blanking was Mason’s first since Mach 1, 2012 when he tended goal for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and he was more than happy to share the credit following the victory.
“There are nights when goaltenders earn a shutout and they do a lot of the work, but tonight was a complete team effort. The guys really worked hard for this win.” — Mason praising his teammates after the game
November 12 Flyers Trade
Keith Jones, who is currently one of the leading NHL in-game analysts with the Flyers and the NBC Sports Network, was acquired on this day in 1998 in a deal with the Colorado Avalanche for winger Shjon Podein.
