Washington Capitals Hockey
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Two Up, One Down -- A Brief Flyer/Capital Playoff History
It's been a quite a while since the good ol' Patrick
Division was still in existence. Since the last time Washington faced
the Philadelphia Flyers in the postseason, the Capitals have played
every other Patrick Division team at least once in the playoffs.
But it's been 14 years since the Capitals played a
Patrick team who did not hail from Pittsburgh. That was a loss in five
to the New York Rangers, but there were also series with both the New
York Islanders and New Jersey Devils since the Capitals last played in
City of Brotherly Love in mid-April. The wait is over. But what might
we expect?
- The first matchup came in the 1984 playoffs. The
first Capitals goal was scored by none other than Craig Laughlin. In
fact, Laughlin also scored what turned out to be the series winning
goal -- the Capitals first ever playoff series win. The drama was
minimal, however, as
the Capitals swept the Flyers in three straight and won each of the
last two games by four goals.
- Check out the conclusion of the 1988 series. Does it
get any better than watching
Dale Hunter score the Game 7 overtime
winner?
- The Flyers get the last laugh in 1989 when Ron
Hextall humiliated the Capitals with a shorthanded empty
net goal in
Game 5. I posted the video a couple days ago, but for those of you who
are too
lazy (like myself) to scroll down, here it is again:
- And what would a Capitals/Flyers game be without team
brawls? The following are both regular season battles. The first is
circa 1985, the second from the 1990-91
season:
As much as I
love hearing country music, seeing NASCAR jackets, and hearing cats
screaming on every faceoff in 80 degree January weather (note the
sarcasm), it sure is refreshing to see an old Patrick Division rival
that is not named the Pittsburgh
Penguins in the playoffs.
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