Flyers Have That Team-of-Destiny Look in 3-2 Win

PHILADELPHIA —  In Edmonton, the Oilers today are wondering just what it will take to rid themselves of the Philadelphia Flyers.

In Philadelphia, meanwhile, they’ve come to believe the unbelievable.

Once again Thursday night, the Flyers came back from a two-goal deficit to beat Edmonton, 3-2, in the Spectrum, thereby tying the Stanley Cup finals at three games apiece and sending the series to a seventh game for the first time since 1971.

The game was supposed to be the one in which, finally, the Oilers clinched their third Stanley Cup. The feeling was that the Flyers had made it interesting, but, really, it was time to end it.

To that end, the Oilers took a 2-0 lead in the first period. It was not enough.

Edmonton has scored first in all six games. Philadelphia has twice come back twice from two-goal deficits and once from three goals down.

What will it take for the Oilers to finally kill the Flyers?

“It’s going to take a stake through our hearts, and even then I don’t know if it will do it,” Flyer forward Rick Tocchet said.

A stake in the heart? What’s a little more pain to the Flyers?

Their captain, Dave Poulin, again played wearing a specially-designed flak jacket to protect his battered ribs. Ron Sutter’s back has not stopped aching since he cracked vertebrae five months ago. He missed 51 games of the regular season.

Defenseman Doug Crossman has been playing with pulled muscles in his groin, and has therefore played either in great pain or under great medication.

The man who scored the winning goal Thursday, J.J. Daigneault, has only played 8 of the Flyers’ 25 playoff games because of a badly sprained ankle.

The denial of pain is a Flyer hallmark, and it’s been especially apparent in the post season.

“There’s no such thing as hurt and pain in the playoffs,” said Flyer winger Lindsay Carson, who has been skating with a broken bone in his left foot.

Daigneault’s winning goal electrified the sellout crowd of 17,222 in the Spectrum. But the fans had been charged up from the beginning, the Flyers having brought back their charm, Kate Smith. As they had in Game 3 here, the Flyers showed a videotape of the late singer performing ‘God Bless America.’

When Smith sings that song before the home games, the Flyers have had phenomenal success, going 58-9-2.

It was a ploy the Flyers have come to rely upon, and it seems to work. The Flyers came from a 3-0 deficit to win Game 3, in another late charge.

The fans here have come to expect late-game theatrics, even if the Oilers’ have not.

“I hope they’ve run out of lives,” Edmonton Coach Glen Sather said. “They have a lot of character, and tonight they deserved to win.”

The Oilers took the lead while short-handed when Wayne Gretzky took the puck into the Flyer zone on the right side and lured goaltender Ron Hextall to the edge of the net. Gretzky faked a shot, took the puck behind the net and then fed Kevin Lowe, who scored.

Edmonton scored again as their first power play ended. The Oilers jammed the front of the net and Kevin McClelland forced the puck into the net.

That gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead at 15:16 of the first period and they continued to press. Hextall’s work at the end of the period kept the Oilers from running away with it.

Hextall played exceptionally well, making 30 saves to Grant Fuhr’s 20 for Edmonton.

“Ron’s a fabulous goaltender,” said Flyer Coach Mike Keenan. “That kind of poise, with that kind of responsibility that we’ve given him all year . . . that makes him the best goaltender in the league right now.”

Gretzky agreed.

“Hextall is probably the best goaltender I have ever seen in the NHL that I have played against,” Gretzky said. “Just when you think you are going to bombard him . . . “

“It seems every game we start up 2-0 or 3-0, and he comes up with the big saves. When it was 2-0 for us, we had a couple of great chances in the last minute of the first period and he came up with some great saves. He kept it at 2-0 when it could have been 3-0.”

Philadelphia pulled to within one goal in the second period when Dave Brown threw the puck across the slot to Carson. Carson’s shot hit the post and slowly inched across the goal line.

Edmonton winger Jaroslav Pouzar’s shot at point blank range was knocked away when Hextall dived and kicked it with his skate. That left Edmonton with a 2-1 lead after two periods.

The Oilers were livid that an incident in which the Flyers’ Brad McCrimmon seemed to butt the Oilers’ Glenn Anderson did not result in an Oiler power play.

Although McCrimmon clearly tried to butt Anderson, he did not appear to make contact. Both players were assessed double minors.

“Last time I looked, head-butting was a five-minute major,” Gretzky said.

The Flyers tied the game with a power-play goal. Pelle Eklund centered a pass to Brian Propp in the slot. Oiler defenseman Charlie Huddy flung himself to the ice to block Propp’s shot, but Propp lofted the puck over Huddy and into the net.

The goal sent the Spectrum crowd into a frenzy. Almost beyond hope, they were willing the Flyers to win.

It happened 84 seconds later, on Daigneault’s slap shot. Edmonton’s Jari Kurri had swept the puck away, and into Daigneault’s vicinity. The 21-year-old defenseman skated up to the puck and slammed a slap shot toward Fuhr.

Philadelphia’s Scott Mellanby screened the shot and the puck flew by Fuhr.

Stanley Cup Notes

Ron Hextall set an NHL record for playoff minutes played by a goaltender. his 1,420 minutes surpassed the mark set by Calgary’s Mike Vernon, who had 1,229 in 1986. . . . Game 7 will start Sunday at 5 p.m. PDT. . . . Wayne Gretzky’s line was effectively shut down Tuesday night. Gretzky had one assist, on a power play, and had only two shots on goal, both in the first period.