I swear that I'm not trying to publish these on the same day that something related happens in Philadelphia sports. Two days after Allen Iverson made the Top 25 for the first time, the Flyers and John Stevens make it on here. This is what happens when a team manages to blow a 3-1 lead and still win.
Moment #20: Joffrey Lupul beats Washington-April 22, 2008
I'm not even going to cut corners here: The 2006-2007 Philadelphia Flyers were awful. When the team celebrated their 40th anniversary, they celebrated it with the worst team in their history. Ken Hitchcock was fired as head coach just eight games into the season and was replaced by John Stevens. The team finished with the second worst record in the NHL, and had to upgrade quickly if they wanted to rebound and play in the newer, high paced, NHL. Fortunately for Flyers fans, it only took one season to turn things around. The Flyers added Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell, Kimo Timonen, Jason Smith and Joffrey Lupul in the offseason, and traded for Martin Biron late in the 2006-07 season. With those additions built in to the existing team, the Flyers turned a 56 point team into a 95 point team, and were able to make it back to the playoffs in the 2007-08 season.
There was a tough road ahead for the Flyers in the playoffs. In the first round, they would face off against the Washington Capitals, who had won the Southeast Division and boasted the NHL MVP in Alexander Ovechkin. Washington took the first game of the series with a game winning goal from Ovechkin, but the Flyers not only stole home ice advantage, but took a commanding lead in the series by winning the next three games. With the series now in favor of the Flyers 3-1, all Philadelphia had to do was win one final game, and they would be headed to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
What happened instead was much more difficult. Washington took Game Five by a score of 3-2 in Washington, then forced a Game Seven with a 4-2 victory in Philadelphia. Most Flyers fans had thoughts of the 2000-2001 season running through their heads, when the Flyers had the New Jersey Devils in a 3-1 hole in the Eastern Conference Finals, only to let them slip out and win in seven games, and then beat the Dallas Stars for the Stanley Cup. With Game Seven taking place in Washington, all the pressure was on the Flyers to somehow pull off a miracle and not let the Capitals come back.
Things did not start out that well. Nicklas Backstrom scored for Washington less than six minutes into the game on a power play goal. The Flyers would answer later in the first period with a power play goal of their own, thanks to Scottie Upshall. Sami Kapanen would give the Flyers the lead in the second period, but Alexander Ovechkin tied the game with a goal later in the same period. Neither team could score in the third period, and the game headed to overtime.
It only took a little over six minutes for the game to be decided in the extra period, and the number 20 moment to take place. Just four minutes into the overtime, Tom Poti was called for tripping, giving the Flyers a power play chance for the first time since the second period. With the man advantage, the Flyers were able to get into the Washington zone and attack goalie Cristobal Huet. With just 15 seconds left on the power play, Danny Briere launched a shot at Huet that bounced back to Kimo Timonen, who fired a shot on goal. Huet lost track of the puck, but Joffrey Lupul did not. He pushed the puck past Huet for the game, and series winning goal. Somehow, the Flyers managed to not fall apart after blowing a 3-1 series lead, and they were headed to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The goal was Lupul's first of the series, and the most important of his Philadelphia career. After getting past Washington, the Flyers upset the top seeded Montreal Canadiens in five games, only to lose the Eastern Conference Finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lupul played for the Flyers in the 2008-2009 season, finishing with 25 goals, but he was traded during the offseason for Chris Pronger. Meanwhile, the Washington Capitals finished second in the Eastern Conference in the 2008-09 season, but were knocked off by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Penguins in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Now, the Flyers are struggling, and have just fired John Stevens, but I wouldn't put it past them to make another run like the one that they had during the 2008 playoffs.
Lupul's goal is right here:
Moment number 19 will be next. It features the first moment that took place while I was in college, as well as the last of it's kind to happen at Veterans Stadium.
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