The Flyers didn’t make the playoffs so we won’t have any games to relive, revisit or forget this April and May. However, there are a horde of Flyers playoff games that meant something, whether it was an individual player, to the team or the franchise itself. Here then is a series of games (each cherry-picked) from various eras and playoff rounds, but each game being that game in that particular round of the playoffs.
Round 1, Game 7
Flyers 3, Capitals 2 (OT) (April 22, 2008)
Approximately 20 years and one week prior to this contest, the Flyers and the Capitals found themselves in a deciding game seven in Washington. The Flyers squandered a 3-1 advantage in games and a 3-0 lead early in the second period to see that particular game go to overtime. The Capitals did everything but score before Dale Hunter scored nearly six minutes into overtime to send Washington on and the Flyers home.
Of course nobody from that 1988 team was in the lineup for the 2008 series, but the urgency from both sides was apparent. The Capitals, led by Alex Ovechkin and his 65 goals, also had Nicklas Backstrom and an aging Sergei Federov in the lineup. Meanwhile the Flyers were led by the youthful duo of Jeff Carter and Mike Richards alongside Danny Briere. Unfortunately for the Flyers the script of the 1988 series was staying true to form after the Flyers again blew a 3-1 lead in the series to end up at game seven. All the momentum looked to be in Washington’s favor and the Flyers looked to be on the ropes at best.
After trading power play goals in the first the teams swapped goals in the middle frame, Sami Kapanen for the Flyers and Ovechkin for Washington. With no goals in the third, the overtime period saw the Capitals take a minor penalty and left the Flyers with a golden chance to end the series. Philadelphia sustained some pressure in Washington’s end with Briere’s shot being blocked. Kimmo Timonen then took a shot from the point which Capitals’ goalie Cristobel Huet thought he had. However Huet looked to his left thinking the puck was there, not realizing it was still loose on the right hand side. Joffrey Lupul took the puck and put a soft backhand into the open cage for the series win.
The series wasn’t a defining moment for Joffrey Lupul as it was his lone goal of the opening round. It made a turning point for the Flyers of sorts, their first playoff round win since beating Toronto in the second round back in 2004. It was also the first taste of post-season success both Richards and Carter would see, setting the tone for an exciting run in 2007-08 to the Conference finals before the lengthy run they had during the spring of 2010. The timing of the series win couldn’t have been better following a disasterous 2006-07 season where they garnered a mere 56 points and ended up with a horrid goal differential of -89.
“A lot of people thought we were dead. A lot of people,” Briere said after the game according to Sportsnet. “And probably their side, too, thought, ‘We have the momentum. These guys are down. They’re not going to get back up.’ That was a little bit of an advantage. We got back up from a lot of tough situations this year. We did it again tonight.”
The series at the very least showed fans and the team itself any thoughts of repeating the playoff drought in the early ’90s were in the past. The tradition of winning in April and into May and coming through in the clutch were back in Philadelphia. It was a huge stepping stone to go from a bottom dweller one season to one of the last four competing for the Stanley Cup the next. And Joffrey Lupul’s overtime winner certainly played a hand in that narrative.
