The Flyers are about to embark on another season, this one 84 games long but sure to be as interesting as last year was. Over their franchise history, Philadelphia has lost some opening games, won some opening games, and tied a few (yes, in ancient folklore, games ended in ties, with no three-point games in existence). The team didn’t win their first season-opener until October 10, 1970, a 2-1 win over Minnesota (the North Stars, not the Wild). Bobby Clarke scored the game-winner late in the opening frame and the Flyers held on for the two points.
Now, with the Penguins on the agenda tonight, the Flyers are looking for their fifth victory on opening night against their state rival. So, with tonight’s contest against the Penguins at Xfinity Mobile Arena hours away, let’s take a look at the three biggest victories the team’s had to start their respective seasons.
October 7, 1995: Flyers 7, Canadiens 1
The Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens completed a trade earlier in that calendar year which altered the Flyers for the better. Defenseman Eric Desjardins was almost tossed in as a sweetener alongside John LeClair while the Flyers parted with Mark Recchi. With the deal then still fresh in a lot of people’s memories, Philadelphia pounded the Habs 7-1, scoring the opening six goals before Recchi broke the shutout with a short-handed goal roughly halfway through the game. Ron Hextall stopped 30 of 31 shots, and the goals were spread all over the place: Patrik Juhlin (who had three points and finished +3), Eric Lindros, LeClair, Rob DiMaio, Brent Fedyk, Rod Brind’Amour, and Mikael Renberg all scored. Aside from Juhlin, LeClair and Brind’Amour all had three-point games.
It was also not the most gentlemanly of games, with 93 penalty minutes over the 60 minutes. Montreal’s Donald Brashear and Philadelphia’s Shawn Antonski fought, and Lindros went at Stephane Quintal who received a 10-minute attempt to injure major after head-butting Lindros.
Lindros, as was the Legion of Doom that night, a complete wrecking ball to the Canadiens. Lindros was running over anyone and everyone in a Montreal uniform, including Oleg Petrov who was in the trolley tracks, leaving #88 with relatively easy prey.
October 7, 1982: Flyers 9, Nordiques 5
This was one of the wildest opening nights in Philadelphia Flyers history, one that went back and forth despite the final score. Flyers winger Bill Barber opened the scoring 33 seconds in, with Bobby Clarke getting the primary assist. However, Quebec star Peter Stastny scored two power play goals later in the period to give the Nordiques a 2-1 lead. Both Stastny goals had Peter’s brother Marian getting the primary assist. However, Philadelphia tied it up less than a minute later when David Michayluk scored his first of two on the night to tie the game heading into the first intermission.
The second was just as defensively-challenged as the opening frame, with Mark Howe and John Paul Evans scoring 55 seconds apart to make it 4-2 Philadelphia before the second was five minutes old. But midway through the second, Quebec scored two in 85 seconds to tie it up again. Quebec’s Anton Stastny scored the fourth goal, with brothers Peter and Marian getting the primary and secondary assists, respectively. Philadelphia’s Michayluk put the Flyers up again 5-4 after two periods.
In the third, Dale Hunter pulled Quebec even again. It was then things got really kooky. Brian Propp scored a power play goal at 9:08 of the third to make it 6-5. At 9:31, Barber got his second of the night, and 12 seconds after that, Ray Allison scored to make it 8-5. Three goals in 35 seconds isn’t seen all that often. And less than two minutes after Allison’s tally, Lindsay Carson made it 9-5 to finish things off. Allison was the biggest star on that night with a goal and three assists for a four-point night while finishing +5.
The opening game would be the last in Flyers history where the club would be seen wearing the Cooperall pants, a design that made the traditional hockey pants and socks obsolete. At least for the Flyers for a few seasons before going out of style. The Flyers brought the retro look back briefly in 2022-23, wearing them during warmups before returning to the traditional pants for game action as part of a “Reverse Retro” campaign the NHL had that season.
The first all-Cooperall game took place in December of 1981 between the Flyers and the Hartford Whalers.
October 9, 1980: Flyers 7, Penguins 4
You knew a victory over the Penguins had to be included among the three. But for good reason, as Philadelphia scored a touchdown (and extra point) against the then hapless Penguins. The loss for Pittsburgh at the Spectrum was one of a ridiculous 42 consecutive road losses in Philadelphia, going from 1974 through to 1989 when Mario Lemieux and company finally broke the drought. However, back to this contest. The Flyers scored three goals before the game was eight minutes old thanks to goals by Bill Barber, Yves Preston, and Al Hill. Pittsburgh cut the deficit to two before enforcer Behn Wilson made it 4-1 to end the opening 20 minutes.
After Barber and Preston each got their second goal of the night to make it 6-1, Pittsburgh made a game of it. Greg Malone and Ron Stackhouse scored 15 seconds apart, and Mario Faubert tossed more doubt into the game late in the second to make it 6-4. However, Preston got his second goal just over eight minutes into the third to put the game out of reach. Although there were no fights in the game, there seemed to be plenty of chippy play from both sides, with Paul Holmgren earning four minors in the contest.
The Flyers would continue to basically rag doll the Penguins throughout most of the ’80s, at least in the regular season at home. The streak the Flyers had would be one that will be hard to duplicate, or even come close to, moving forward.
Stats courtesy of NHL.com and Hockey-reference.com.
