Today In Flyers History: First playoff game played in Philadelphia
Bernie Parent shined despite a losing effort in the Philadelphia Flyers’ first playoff game.
The Flyers would play the franchise’s first-ever playoff game after winning the Western Division during their first season. They would face the St. Louis Blues in the first round. It was the first game at the Spectrum in over a month as the arena had suffered roof damage.
It would turn out to be a matchup of two Hall of Fame goaltenders. Bernie Parent suited up for the Flyers while Glenn Hall was in net for the Blues. And it was a goaltending duel until the final minutes of the game.
The Flyers were outshot heavily in this one, 33-14. Parent stood tall for as long as he could, giving the team a chance up until the game’s final minutes. With just over six minutes left in the game, Jimmy Roberts scored the only goal of the game.
With the puck in the offensive zone, the Flyers turned the puck over. Frank St. Marseille gained control of the puck and passed it to Gary Sabourin. Sabourin found Roberts, who had beaten out Joe Watson for space. He was able to get the shot past the outstretched glove of Parent.
Only three Flyers’ players finished the night with multiple shots on net. Leon Rochefort and Joe Watson led the team with three shots apiece. Forbes Kennedy had two shots. Six other players ended up with just one shot in the contest. Seven players failed to record a shot.
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Looking ahead from that game, the Flyers would end up taking the Blues to seven games in this series, an impressive feat in their first season. They ended up having to win two elimination games to make it to the seventh. Fighting back, the team would end up losing in the final game of the series.
The team didn’t get much scoring in the end as Andre Lacroix and Kennedy led with five points in seven games. Don Blackburn and Rosaire Paiement had three goals during the series. Despite appearing in three more games, Parent and Doug Favell both let up the same amount of goals during the series.