The other day we reminisced about a Flyers comeback in the making against the Penguins, and two days later that comeback came complete.
Back on April 29th of 1989 the Flyers would go on to complete of the most impressive —and unlikely— comebacks in franchise history, and all at the expense of their bitter rivals in Pittsburgh.
After securing a win in game six of their 1989 Patrick Division Finals series at the Spectrum, the Flyers turned their attention to game seven back in Pittsburgh at the Civic Center. Entering the series as massive underdogs, just getting Mario Lemieux and the Penguins to a game seven was impressive enough, but the Flyers would have to complete the upset without the services of standout netminder Ron Hextall.
Hextall suffered a knee injury in the latter stages of the game six win and was unavailable for head coach Paul Holmgren in the do-or-die game seven. Holmgren was forced to turn to Ken Wregget, who the Flyers acquired midseason for the low cost of two first-round picks.
Wregget played just a handful of games for the Flyers down the stretch, and played just 28 minutes of relief duty in the playoffs before his dramatic game seven start.
The midseason move proved to be worth the price as Wregget was sensational for the Flyers, stopping 39 of 40 shots as he frustrated the Penguins and Lemieux (who scored the lone goal for homesteading Pittsburgh).
With Wregget keeping the Penguins’ offense at bay, the Flyers’ deep offense could go to work on Tom Barrasso at the other end. After Lemieux’s tally evened things in the second period following a Brian Propp goal, the Flyers erased it quickly with a Dave Poulin short-handed goal to re-take the lead at 2-1.
An early power play in the third period would prove to be pivotal as the Flyers would extend the lead in the form of a Mike Bullard goal to make it 3-1. Wregget didn’t even need the extra insurance as he made the lead standup until Scott Mellanby sent the home crowd home stunned as the Flyers won game seven by a final of 4-1.
Though they’d run out of steam in the Conference Finals against the Canadiens, Wregget’s heroics provided another sensational comeback chapter in the storied history of the Flyers. The fact that it came at the expense of the Penguins never hurts, though Wregget would go on to win a Stanley Cup with them in 1992 after the blockbuster midseason trade from the Flyers that involved Rick Tocchet and Mark Recchi.
Loose pucks
Also on April 29th…Daniel Briere scores twice in overtime (one was disallowed) to give the Flyers game one in their Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Devils in 2012…
Wayne Simmonds records a hat-trick as the Flyers force game seven in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series with the Rangers in 2014…Steve Mason makes 34 saves in the 5-2 win…
*Shouts to hockeyreference.com and nhl.com for help with this trip down memory lane*
