When we highlighted the best Flyers teams in franchise history to fall short of a Stanley Cup, few believed there was better than the 1987 team.
And on this date in 1987, those Flyers needed a rally from behind in game 6 to push the mighty Oilers to the brink of elimination.
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A disputed Kevin Lowe goal gave the Oilers an early 1-0 lead on the road, and a second Edmonton goal put the Flyers in a 2-0 home before the first intermission. Already running on fumes after a comeback in game 5 in Edmonton, the Flyers had to dig deep to rally in front of the home fans at the packed Spectrum.
Lindsay Carson gave the Flyers life with a goal 7:12 into the second period, and Ron Hextall kept his team in it despite being heavily outshot by the visitors through 40 minutes (24-13).
Hextall remained sharp in the third as the Flyers’ power play broke through with a tying goal from Brian Propp with 6:54 left in regulation.
But while Propp’s goal would draw the Flyers even, it would be little known defenseman JJ Daigneault providing the game-winning goal on a memorable finish from distance with Scott Mellanby screening Oilers netminder Grant Fuhr.
The quick blitz gave the Flyers the lead in a matter of a couple shifts on the ice and just 1:24 of game time.
Daigneault’s goal —his lone tally of the playoffs— would be enough though Hextall nearly gave the Flyers’ comeback away with an adventure of his own with less than a minute to play. Though Hextall created the mess himself, he came up with one of the biggest saves of his career on the play, creating quite the highlight in the process.
The win forced the series back to Edmonton for a decisive game 7 after the Flyers trailed 3-1 in the series.
Loose pucks
Also on May 28th in franchise history…a 3-1 lead is squandered in game 4 of the 1985 Stanley Cup Finals against Edmonton, resulting in a 3-1 series deficit and the loss of All-Star netminder Pelle Lindbergh to injury for the balance of the series…Roman Cechmanek is dealt to the Kings in 2003 after falling out of favor with the team despite a .923 save percentage, 1.96 goals-against average, and 20 shutouts in just 163 games…we’ll always have the memories of this though…
*Stick taps to hockeyreference.com, nhl.com, and Flyers.nhl.com for help with this trip down memory lane*
