1995–96 Philadelphia Flyers season

NHLTeamSeason
Season=1995–96
Team=Philadelphia Flyers
Conference=Eastern
ConferenceRank=1st
Division=Atlantic
DivisionRank=1st
Record=45–24–13
HomeRecord=27–9–5
RoadRecord=18–15–8
GoalsFor=282
GoalsAgainst=208
GeneralManager=Bob Clarke
Coach=Terry Murray
Captain=Eric Lindros
AltCaptain=Rod Brind'Amour
Craig MacTavish (Oct-Mar)
Eric Desjardins (Mar-Apr)
Arena=CoreStates Spectrum
Attendance=17,345 [FlyersHistory.net, [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/attend.cgi All Time Team Attendance] ]
GoalsLeader=John LeClair (51)
AssistsLeader=Eric Lindros (68)
PointsLeader=Eric Lindros (115)
PIMLeader=Shawn Antoski (204)
PlusMinusLeader=Petr Svoboda (+28)
WinsLeader=Ron Hextall (31)
GAALeader=Ron Hextall (2.17)
DivisionWin=yesThe 1995–96 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers 29th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Eric Lindros eclipsed the 100-point mark for the first time in 1995–96, gathering 115 points, and John LeClair scored 51 goals, as the Flyers repeated as Atlantic Division champs and clinched the No.1 seed in the East. Facing the 8th-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers dropped two of the first three games. They rallied by winning three straight games to win the series. After taking two of the first three games against their second-round opponent, Florida, the Flyers were defeated in overtime in Game 4 and double-overtime in Game 5. An upstart Florida club with stellar goaltending from John Vanbiesbrouck ended the Flyers' season in Game 6. The Flyers said goodbye to the Spectrum and prepared to open a new arena - the CoreStates Center - for the next season.

Regular season

Building on the success of the lockout season, the Flyers began the year with a 7–1 romp in Montreal over the Canadiens. An early 5–0–1 stretch was derailed in a 5–4 loss to Chicago on October 22, in which Dominic Roussel turned in a poor performance in net. It would be one of several in the early going which forced head coach Terry Murray to favor Garth Snow as the backup to Ron Hextall.

Lindros was hurt in early November, and the club limped to a 2–4–1 record in his absence. However, after his return they ripped off eight straight wins as part of a 12–2–2 stretch which put them in contention in the Atlantic Division with the Florida Panthers. However, the momentum switched and the club gasped to a 3–6–7 record thereafter.

A 3–2 home overtime win over Montreal on February 1, in which defenseman Petr Svoboda was viciously elbowed in the head by Marc Bureau, finally lit a fire under the team. In addition, the trade-deadline acquisition of Dale Hawerchuk, who was needed in Mikael Renberg's absence, spurred a 13–3–0 charge at the end of the season. Thanks to a 6–5 Bruins win over the Penguins on the final day, the Flyers gained the top spot in the Eastern Conference following a 3–1 triumph over Tampa.

Lindros hit the 100-point mark in a 3–0 win over Hartford on March 25, while LeClair netted his 50th goal of the season in a 5–1 win in New Jersey on April 10. In an ironic twist, Avalanche forward Claude Lemieux notched the game-winning goal on a fluke shot in a Colorado 5–3 win in Philly on February 11. With the Devils the previous June, Lemieux hit the net from 50 feet out to give his club a 3–2 win in Game 5 of the conference finals.

On April 11, the Flyers organization celebrated the final regular-season game in the Spectrum. The home team took care of their end, topping the Canadiens 3-2. After the game, an emotional torch-passing ceremony saw past and present team members skating alongside each other, with a symbolic transferrence of leadership from Clarke to Lindros.

eason standings

Game log

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Playoffs

With the top spot in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers drew their division rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning, coached by former Flyer Terry Crisp. After a 7-3 Philly home romp in Game 1, Lightning goaler Daren Puppa was spectacular and Brian Bradley notched the OT winner in a 2-1 Game 2 triumph. Former draft pick Alexander Selivanov ended Game 3 in Tampa with an overtime goal, and Bolts tough guys Igor Ulanov and Enrico Ciccone began taking liberties with top Flyers skaters.

Hawerchuk and LeClair provided leadership and goals in a 4-1 road win in Game 4, then Lindros went hellbent for revenge against Ulanov and others in another positive 4-1 result in Game 5 at the Spectrum. In Game 6 at the Thunderdome saw Lindros running anything in a white jersey, while enforcer Shawn Antoski scored and won his fights. Ulanov was wisely left out of the handshake line after Philly's series-ending 6-1 thrashing.

Next up in the conference semifinals were the Florida Panthers, a team with talent but who also relied on the dreaded trap for success.

Panthers starter and Flyers nemesis John Vanbiesbrouck posted a 2-0 shutout in Game 1, and it took until midway through Game 2 for the Flyers to get rolling offensively in a narrow 3-2 win. Game 3 saw Flyers veterans Dan Quinn, Hawerchuk, Desjardins and Hextall set the tone in a 3-1 victory.

Game log

Player stats

katers

"Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes"

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions before/during the 1995–96 season.

Trades

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the AHL and the Mobile Mysticks of the ECHL. [FlyersHistory.net, [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/otheraffiliates.cgi Non-AHL Affiliates] ] [FlyersHistory.net, [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/ml-season.cgi?1995-96 AHL Season Overview: 1995–96] ]

ee also

*1995–96 NHL season

References

*General: [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/season.cgi?1995-96 1995–96 Flyers season] on FlyersHistory.net
*Regular season game log: [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/games.cgi?1995-96 Philadelphia Flyers regular season game log] on FlyersHistory.net
*Playoffs game log: [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/poffs.cgi Philadelphia Flyers playoffs game log] on FlyersHistory.net