1998–99 Philadelphia Flyers season

NHLTeamSeason
Season=1998–99
Team=Philadelphia Flyers
Conference=Eastern
ConferenceRank=5th
Division=Atlantic
DivisionRank=2nd
Record=37–26–19
HomeRecord=21–9–11
RoadRecord=16–17–8
GoalsFor=231
GoalsAgainst=196
GeneralManager=Bob Clarke
Coach=Roger Neilson
Captain=Eric Lindros
AltCaptain=Rod Brind'Amour
Eric Desjardins
Arena=First Union Center
Attendance=19,612 [FlyersHistory.net, [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/attend.cgi All Time Team Attendance] ]
GoalsLeader=John LeClair (43)
AssistsLeader=Eric Lindros (53)
PointsLeader=Eric Lindros (93)
PIMLeader=Eric Lindros (120)
PlusMinusLeader=John LeClair (+36)
WinsLeader=John Vanbiesbrouck (27)
GAALeader=John Vanbiesbrouck (2.18)The 1998–99 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers 32nd season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

In the off-season, the Flyers went looking for a new goaltender. Sean Burke hadn't worked out well enough and Ron Hextall was about to enter his final season as a backup. They chose to sign former Panther John Vanbiesbrouck over former Oiler Curtis Joseph, who ended up signing with Toronto. The 1998–99 season was marred by a life-threatening injury sustained by Eric Lindros on April 1 during a game against the Nashville Predators, a season-ending injury later diagnosed as a collapsed lung. Up until that point, Lindros was having an MVP-type season with 40 goals and 53 assists in 71 games. It is said that if roommate Keith Jones had not intervened at the last minute, Lindros might have died on the plane ride back to Philadelphia. Without Lindros, the Flyers were fortunate to have re-acquired Mark Recchi at the trade deadline. Although Vanbiesbrouck allowed nine goals to Joseph's eleven allowed, the Flyers lost their first round series with Toronto in six games.

Regular season

Looking to put the previous year's debacle behind them, the Flyers began the season 4–0–1. However, a quick 1–6–3 downturn caused the first casualties - as Trent Klatt was dealt to Vancouver and Shjon Podein was shipped to Colorado for Keith Jones. Jones scored a goal in his first game in orange and black, a 6–1 rout of New Jersey, keying a 6–1–0 run.

Turmoil continued, as, after a 5–4 overtime loss to the Devils on December 10 saw the Flyers blow a 4–1 lead, the decision was made to end the Chris Gratton experiment. He was dealt back to Tampa Bay along with Mike Sillinger for Mikael Renberg and Daymond Langkow, and the move paid off in spades. Philly topped Toronto, 3–0, spurring a 15-game unbeaten streak (10–0–5) during which the club matched a record by shutting out their opponents in four consecutive games (Islanders, Carolina, Nashville, Washington).

Another run, this time a 6–0–2 streak from January 18 to February 6, tied the Flyers atop the NHL standings with the Dallas Stars. That momentum did not last long, as the club went 1–4–1 after the All-Star break, including an inexplicable 4–3 loss in Los Angeles where the Kings scored three goals in the final minutes, including a 60-foot game-winner by Jozef Stumpel just before the final buzzer.

Following a win over Pittsburgh, the team suffered through a franchise-worst 12 games without a victory (0–8–4), broken up only by a rally from two goals down to Detroit on March 21. Lindros was felled by the collapsed lung after a 2–1 win in Nashville on April 1, but they managed to lock up the five-seed on the final day of the season with a win over Boston.

LeClair continued his goal-scoring streak with 43 on the year, matching Tim Kerr's team record of four straight seasons with 40 or more goals. He was one of only a handful of players to make it through the entire season, as general manager Bob Clarke set a record with 13 trades throughout the year.

eason standings

Game log

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Playoffs

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 1998–99 season.

Trades

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL. [FlyersHistory.net, [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/ml-season.cgi?1998-99 AHL Season Overview: 1998–99] ]

ee also

*1998–99 NHL season

References

*General: [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/season.cgi?1998-99 1998–99 Flyers season] on FlyersHistory.net
*Regular season game log: [http://www.flyershistory.net/cgi-bin/games.cgi?1998-99 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