November 13, 1986
No matter what sport, when an athlete is traded to another organization, they seem to get pumped up just a little bit more against the team that "gave up" on them. A former first-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 1982 (17th overall), Murray Craven was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in October of 1984 along with Joe Paterson, for future Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler.
On this night in 1986, the Flyers would defeat the Red Wings at the Spectrum in a barn burner, 7-5. The aforementioned Craven would shine, recording his first career hat trick as a Flyer against his old club.
With the Flyers leading 2-1 after one period on goals by Rick Tocchet and Lindsay Carson, it was the Murray Craven show for the Flyers in the second period.
He would score three of the Flyers four goals that period, including his third on the power play, assisted by Mark Howe and J.J. Daigneault. This would blow the game wide open as the Orange and Black took a 6-2 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
After a Peter Zezel goal at 1:22 of the third made the score 7-2, the Flyers let their foot of the gas a little bit. Three straight goals by Detroit rookie Shawn Burr made the game a little too close for comfort at 7-5, however the Flyers would hang on to win in front of Ron Hextall and his 19 saves.
Craven would finish the season with 21 goals, his second 20-plus goal campaign in as many years for the Flyers…and for one night, a bit of redemption against his old club.
