For lucky number 13 on the list, we head back to the ice. In the 2003-04 NHL season, just about everyone knew that there was a lockout coming, and I wanted the Flyers to win the Stanley Cup just so I could say that they won it the season before the NHL changed forever. They didn't get that far, but this moment certainly made a lot of people feel like they could have.
Moment #13: Jeremy Roenick beats Toronto in Overtime-Game 6, Eastern Conference Semifinals-May 4, 2004
In the early part of this decade, the Philadelphia Flyers were consistently one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, but there was always something missing to push them over the edge. Usually, it was the goaltending, as it always seemed to fail at crucial times during the playoffs. The Flyers thought that they had addressed that matter going into the 2003-04 season, having signed Jeff Hackett in free agency. However, Hackett only played about a third of the season before having to retire due to vertigo. Instead, Robert Esche got between the pipes, and recorded a 21-11-7 record in 40 starts. His play, along with a team that included Jeremy Roenick, Keith Primeau, Tony Amonte John LeClair and Mark Recchi, helped the Flyers finish the regular season with 101 points and the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They started out well, taking out the New Jersey Devils in five games before moving on to face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the semifinals.
Toronto finished the regular season with 103 points, but could only secure the fourth seed in the playoffs because they did not win their division. Like the Flyers, the Maple Leafs had a balanced attack on the ice, with Mats Sundin, Joe Nieuwendyk, Owen Nolan, Bryan McCabe and Gary Roberts leading the way, and Ed Belfour in the net. With two evenly matched teams, most believed that the series would go at least six games, with a possible seventh game easily within reach.
The Flyers looked like they would take the series without much trouble to start, winning the first two games in Philadelphia. The Maple Leafs had gone seven games in the first round with their rivals, the Ottawa Senators, and the Flyer fans were hoping that such a long, physical series would drain the Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, Toronto came back with wins in Games 3 and 4, making a return trip to Toronto a necessity for a Game 6. In Game 5, the Flyers came out shooting, scoring seven times and knocking Ed Belfour out of the game after putting six shots past him. Backup Trevor Kidd finished what turned out to be a 7-2 rout that gave the Flyers momentum heading back to Toronto for Game 6.
Sure enough, that momentum carried over for the Flyers in the first period, as Jeremy Roenick and Radovan Somik scored within six minutes of each other to put Philadelphia up 2-0. Robert Esche held the lead through the second period and about half of the third, but then Toronto struck back. First, Karel Pilar scored his first goal of the playoffs with about ten minutes to play. Then, with just under five minutes remaining, Mats Sundin scored his third goal of the series to tie the game up at two. The Maple Leafs had a few more chances to score and end the game before the third period came to a close, but they were unable to, and the two teams headed for overtime, with a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals on the line for the Flyers, and a Game 7 waiting for Toronto if they could win.
Neither team was able to do much through the first five minutes of the overtime period, but then Darcy Tucker checked Sami Kapanen hard into the glass, knocking him senseless. He was finally able to make his way over to the bench, and Jeremy Roenick hopped onto the ice to replace him. Just 20 seconds after that, Mark Recchi and John LeClair broke down the ice on a two on one chance. Recchi's shot was stopped by Belfour, and the Maple Leafs made their way into the Philadelphia zone. Mats Sundin lost the puck to Joni Pitkanen, who cleared the puck up to Roenick. This time, it was Roenick and Tony Amonte on a two on one break, and this time, there would be no miss. Roenick fired the puck past Belfour for the game, and series winning goal, and the Flyers were on their way to the Eastern Conference Finals. There would be no Game 7, no need to travel back to Philadelphia for Toronto. Though the hit to Kapanen was vicious, it allowed Roenick to get onto the ice and score the game winner, ending a well played series by both teams.
Of course, the Flyers wouldn't make it to the Stanley Cup, falling in seven games to the eventual champion Tampa Bay Lighting, but there's no way of knowing how much longer they would have played if the Maple Leafs had won Game 6. No one wants to play in a Game 7, especially if you lost Game 6 to get there. Toronto would have had all the momentum, and the Flyers very well could have lost. Instead, they made it to their 14th Eastern Conference Final, and it was thanks to Jeremy Roenick.
Here's CSN's video of the goal, complete with Jim Jackson's call.
We get even closer to the Top 10 with moment number 12 up next. It seems fitting that the Eagles and Giants just played their last game in Giants Stadium this past week, because this next moment might be the one in the rivalry that's remembered the most by Eagles fans this decade.
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