1995–96 Philadelphia Flyers | |
---|---|
Atlantic Division champions
|
|
Division | 1st Atlantic |
Conference | 1st Eastern |
1995–96 record | 45–24–13 |
Home record | 27–9–5 |
Road record | 18–15–8 |
Goals for | 282 |
Goals against | 208 |
Team information | |
General Manager | Bob Clarke |
Coach | Terry Murray |
Captain | Eric Lindros |
Alternate captains |
Rod Brind'Amour Eric Desjardins Craig MacTavish (traded) |
Arena | CoreStates Spectrum |
Average attendance | 17,345 |
Team leaders | |
Goals | John LeClair (51) |
Assists | Eric Lindros (68) |
Points | Eric Lindros (115) |
Penalties in minutes | Shawn Antoski (204) |
Plus/minus | Petr Svoboda (+28) |
Wins | Ron Hextall (31) |
Goals against average | Ron Hextall (2.17) |
The 1995–96 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers 29th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). In the Spectrum's final season the Flyers repeated as Atlantic Division champs and clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but the Flyers lost in the Conference Semifinals to the Florida Panthers in six games.
Building on the success of the lockout season, the Flyers began the year with a 7–1 rout 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 struggled to a 3–6–7 record thereafter.
A 3–2 home overtime win over Montreal on February 1, in which defenseman Petr Svoboda was 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 win 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.