In what quickly turned into a lopsided affair, the Flyers scored seven unanswered in the third period to take down the league’s worst team.
The Flyers and Penguins have a long and intense history. But there was a time where Pittsburgh was a lowly team in the league. And back in 1984, the Flyers certainly took advantage of that.
Not even five minutes into the game, the Flyers already had control with three goals. And it wouldn’t get any better from there for the Penguins. All but three Flyers would finish the game with at least one point.
Dave Poulin kicked things off early, scoring not even 30-seconds into the contest. Tim Kerr would score his 50th and 51st goals three minutes apart. It would be the first of four straight 50-goal seasons for Kerr. But just like that, it was 3-0 only 4:53 into the game.
The Penguins would try to climb back in as Pat Boutette put them on the board eight minutes into the period. The Flyers would score three straight goals, once in the first and two to start the second period.
Pittsburgh did make it interesting in the second period and probably played some of their best hockey. Greg Hotham, Gary Rissling and Ron Flockhart scored to cut the lead to 6-4. It was a close game going into the third period. That was the closest it would get before the Flyers completely took over the game.
Five different Flyers’ players scored in the third period. Poulin and Ilkka Sinisalo would grab two goals each to complete hat tricks. Mark Howe, Thomas Eriksson, and Len Hachborn would score the other three goals in the period. Three of the goals were separated by less than a minute.
It was an outstanding game for Kerr as he would grab six points in the contest and was on the ice for all seven goals. Poulin was the next closest as his hat trick was part of a four-point night. Sinisalo also had a four-point night. Penguins goaltender Denis Herron was left in for the entire game.
The score wasn’t the only crazy part of the night either. The two teams combined for 52 penalty minutes. Marty McSorley was responsible for 20 of those minutes as he had two fights during the game. Mark Taylor‘s two minutes were the only other penalty minutes for the Penguins.
Daryl Stanley grabbed 15 minutes for the Flyers while Dave Brown had seven. Both were involved in a fight with McSorley during the night. Three other Flyers’ players took minor penalties.
It was one of the most complete and lopsided games in Flyers’ history. This was during a 15-year streak in which the Flyers did not lose to the Penguins at the Spectrum. It would be five more years before the team would lose at home.