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
Heading into tonight’s contest against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena, the Flyers have compiled a stellar 14-6-2-0 all-time record in 22 games played on November 2.
Philly went 7-1-1 in their first nine played on this day — which included five consecutive wins from 1968-1975 — and have won the last three (2009-2013) and four of the last five November 2 tilts.
Some of the more memorable November 2 moments in franchise history:
1968 — Journeyman winger Jean-Guy Gendron scored his first two goals as a Flyer — including the game-winner with 3:47 remaining in the third — and Bernie Parent stopped 32 of 34 shots to lift Philadelphia to a 3-2 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Captain Ed Van Impe also scored for Philly, and Andre Lacroix assisted on all three Flyers’ goals.
1969 — Gary Dornhoefer and Lew Morrison each notched a pair of goals and Reg Fleming posted a Gordie Howe hat trick as the Flyers defeated the Minnesota North Stars by a 6-2 count at the Spectrum.
Leading 2-1 at the first intermission, both Morrison and Dornhoefer scored in the second and third periods to put the contest out of reach.
Fleming scored a goal in the first, engaged in a fight in the second, and added an assist in the final period to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick.
Jean-Guy Gendron also scored for Philadelphia, Bobby Clarke added three helpers, and Bernie Parent made 27 saves to pick up just his second win in eight starts (2-2-4).
1972 — Bill Clement snapped a 2-2 tie with a shorthanded marker late in the second period and Doug Favell stopped 37 of 39 shots as the Flyers doubled up the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 at the Spectrum.
Ross Lonsberry, Gary Dornhoefer, and Bobby Clarke also beat Jim Rutherford in the win.
1974 — Bernie Parent blanked the vaunted ‘Flying Frenchmen’, turning in a tremendous 34-save performance in a 3-0 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens at the Forum.
Defenseman Tom Bladon provided Parent with all of the offense he would need in the latter half of the first period, before Gary Dornhoefer and Rick MacLeish clinched the outcome by beating Ken Dryden just over four minutes apart late in the final stanza.
It was Parent’s first shutout of the regular season, and first since whitewashing the Boston Bruins 1-0 in the clinching game of the Stanley Cup Final the previous May.
1975 — Bobby Clarke, Orest Kindrachuk, and Mel Bridgman each scored twice and Wayne Stephenson stopped all 19 shots he faced to record his second regular season shutout with the Flyers in a 10-0 obliteration of the Kansas City Scouts at the Spectrum.
Ross Lonsberry, Dave Schultz, Terry Crisp, and Gary Dornhoefer all joined the goal parade during a six-goal middle frame, in which Philadelphia outshot Kansas City by a 23-5 margin.
It was the second 10-0 demolition of the Scouts in 11 months, as Philadelphia had posted an identical 10-0 score against Kansas City in December of 1974.
Beleaguered Scouts’ netminder Bill McKenzie managed to stop 41 of the 51 shots the Flyers sent his way in the lopsided affair.
Having blown out the Boston Bruins 8-1 a day prior, Philadelphia outscored their opposition by an 18-1 margin in a weekend of dominating their opponents.
1978 — Goals by Bill Barber, Rick MacLeish, and Reggie Leach staked the Flyers to a 3-1 lead early in the third period, but the Buffalo Sabres answered with markers from Jerry “King Kong” Korab and future Philadelphia head coach Craig Ramsey midway through the stanza as the game ended in a 3-3 tie at the Spectrum.
Bernie Parent made 26 saves in the deadlock, while Buffalo netminder Don Edwards turned away 39 of 42 Philadelphia offerings.
1980 — Rick MacLeish scored twice and defenseman Blake Wesley snapped a 2-2 deadlock late in the second period with his first NHL goal as the Flyers skated to a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins at the Spectrum.
Bobby Clarke also scored for Philadelphia, while Pete Peeters made 22 saves to improve his season record to 6-1-0.
The win was also the 500th regular season triumph in franchise history. At the time, no other 1967 expansion team had won even 400 games.
1985 — Ilkka Sinisalo and Lindsay Carson scored two goals apiece and Pelle Lindbergh made 22 saves to lead the visiting Flyers to a 5-3 triumph over the Quebec Nordiques at Le Colisee.
Philadelphia stormed the Nords from the opening faceoff, throwing 17 shots on Mario “Goose” Gosselin in a four-goal Flyers’ first period.
Tim Kerr also scored for the red-hot Flyers, who recorded their sixth consecutive victory.
1993 — Kevin Dineen snapped a 2-2 tie with a shorthanded goal early in the second period, and Dominic Roussel made 27 saves as the Flyers skated to a 4-3 victory in the inaugural meeting with the Florida Panthers at Miami Arena.
Trailing 2-0 at the first intermission, goals from Josef Beranek and Rod Brind’Amour 27 seconds apart early in the middle frame knotted the score before Dineen’s strike while the Flyers skated a man short came less than three minutes later.
Eric Lindros added a fourth goal during the stanza when he also beat John Vanbiesbrouck while Philadelphia was shorthanded to give the club a two-goal lead heading into the third. That marker gave Lindros — who obviously was not suffering a sophomore slump — goals in 11 of his first 13 games of the season (12 total).
1995 — Eric Lindros scored his 11th goal of the season, but that’s all the Flyers would get in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of John Vanbiesbrouck and the Florida Panthers at the Spectrum.
Lindros notched goals in 10 of Philadelphia’s first 12 games, but was injured during the tilt and would miss the next seven contests with a bruised knee. The ‘Big E’ would go on to have the best goal-scoring year of his career, lighting the lamp 47 times in 73 outings.
1996 — Late third period goals from Shjon Podein and Joel Otto erased a 2-1 deficit and lifted the Flyers to a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers at Miami Arena.
Philadelphia couldn’t find a way to beat John Vanbiesbrouck as the home team held a 2-0 lead midway through regulation, before Trent Klatt got the Flyers on the board with a power play goal in the latter stages of the middle frame to make it a 2-1 Panthers’ lead at the second intermission.
The Flyers attacked the Florida net in waves in the final 20 minutes, sending 22 shots on Vanbiesbrouck to forge the triumph. Podein beat ‘Beezer’ with 7:21 left to knot things up at 2-apiece, and Otto provided the shocker with 1:02 remaining in regulation to lift Philadelphia to victory.
Ron Hextall made 26 saves — including all 12 he faced in the third period — to pick up the win.
2002 — Dennis Seidenberg and Keith Primeau scored second period goals as the Flyers badly outplayed the Washington Capitals, but were barely able to eek out a 2-1 win at the First Union Center.
Philadelphia outshot the Caps by a 35-7 margin through the first 40 minutes, and finished with a 45-11 shots advantage by game’s end.
Goaltender Sebastien Charpentier was spectacular in keeping the visitors in the contest, and his 43-save effort earned him well-deserved Star of the Game honors in the defeat.
Roman Cechmanek made 10 saves to record the victory, and yielded only a Jaromir Jagr power play marker with 1:52 left in regulation as things got interesting in the latter stages of the contest.
2007 — Mike Richards returned from a fight with Brooks Laich with 12 stitches in his face in time to snap a 1-1 deadlock late in the second period, and Antero Niittymaki made 24 saves to key a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center.
Danny Briere also scored in the middle frame, and R.J. Umberger provided the eventual game-winning goal via the man advantage early in the final stanza.
It was Philly’s first win over the Caps since February of 2006, after being swept in all four meetings the previous season.
2009 — Mike Richards and Jeff Carter combined for four goals and six points and Ray Emery made 26 saves as the Flyers blasted the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 at the Wachovia Center.
Scott Hartnell (goal, two assists) and David Laliberte also scored, with Lalibert’s marker being his second in as many games since his recall from the Phantoms to replace the injured Danny Briere.
Rookie winger James van Riemsdyk added three helpers to the winning cause.
2011 — First period goals from rookie Sean Couturier, James van Riemsdyk, and Scott Hartnell staked the Flyers to an early 3-0 lead, and Ilya Bryzgalov made it hold up by stopping 29 of 31 shots in a 3-2 triumph over the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena.
Hartnell’s goal to the short side gave Philadelphia a 3-0 lead and chased Buffalo starter Ryan Miller just 6:23 into the contest. Jhonas Enroth stopped all 15 shots he faced the rest of the way to keep the Sabres in the game.
2013 — One day after making highlight reels all over the world for his beatdown of Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby, Ray Emery stopped all 14 shots he faced to blank the New Jersey Devils by the narrowest of margins in a 1-0 victory at Prudential Center.
Brayden Schenn managed the game’s lone tally, deflecting an Andrej Meszaros shot past Martin Brodeur late in the first period.
November 2 Flyers Birthdays
Jason Smith 1973 — The gritty veteran defender came to the Flyers along with Joffrey Lupul in a July, 2007 trade with the Edmonton Oilers, and quickly became a team leader. He was named the 16th captain in franchise history, and played just the one season (2007/08) in Philadelphia. It was a season that re-oriented the franchise in the right direction just a year after the worst finish in team history, and Smith’s leadership had a lot to do with it. In 77 games he posted a goal, 10 points, and 86 PIMs, and two assists and four PIMs in 17 postseason contests before leaving the Flyers the following summer as an UFA.
Luke Schenn 1989 — The 6′ 2″, 220-pound rear guard was brought in from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the summer of 2012 in exchange for winger James van Riemsdyk, in hopes that he would be a young building block to construct a much more physical back line. Now in his fourth year with the club, Schenn, as well as the rest of the team, continues to battle inconsistencies and attempts to remain in the lineup. The older of the Schenn brothers has a goal and four points in the six games in which he’s appeared this season, but his real strength is at the defensive end where he is one of Philadelphia’s top hitters and shot blockers on the blue line.
