The Flyers were playing in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Down two games to one, a Game Four win was pivotal for the Flyers’ playoff hopes. Playing in Toronto against Mats Sundin and Ed Belfour, this was not going to be an easy task at all. The Flyers knew they had to throw everything at Belfour to have a chance to even the series and they did exactly that – firing 75 shots at Eddie the Eagle. The 75th, by Mark Recchi, beat Belfour in the third overtime to give the Flyers a dramatic 3-2 win.
In the first period, Recchi started the scoring for the Flyers just 1:16 into the game, set up by Michal Handzus and Chris Therien, but the Leafs came right back less than three minutes later. Travis Green beat Roman Cechmanek shorthanded and tied the game at one.
In the second period, fan favorite Jeremy Roenick scored just 54 seconds into the middle frame, unassisted, to put the Flyers back in the lead at 2-1. In that period, Belfour kept the Leafs in it, stopping 15 of 16 shots while the Leafs were only able to muster three. Even though the Flyers were outshooting the Leafs 25-6, Belfour was the reason the Flyers were only up by a goal.
Early in the third period, Roenick took a cross-checking penalty on Flyers’ nemesis Darcy Tucker and the Leafs capitalized. Captain Mats Sundin tied the game on the power play less than two minutes in. Once again, the Flyers turned up the pressure, even having a four-minute power play opportunity to take the lead, however Belfour was up to the task. The Flyers outshot the Leafs 12-4 in the third and a whopping 37-10 through regulation time. They were unable to take advantage on the power play, going 0-for-8 on the night, and with the score tied at two, they were heading to overtime.
Unlike the first three periods, the Leafs showed some offensive signs of life. They managed 12 shots, more than the first three periods combined, and had the only power play of the first overtime. In the second overtime, the teams went back and forth again, with Belfour robbing John LeClair late in the OT with a huge blocker save. Finally, in the third OT, the man who opened the scoring decided to end it. At 13:54, the Recchi again beat Belfour, this time with a wrist shot from the faceoff circle that squeezed through Belfour's legs and barely trickled over the line. The exhausting 3-2 win sent the series back to Philadelphia tied at two and with a huge wave of momentum for the series. The Flyers outshot the Leafs 75-38 for the game and set a Flyers’ team record for shots on goal in a game.
You can see Recchi’s 3OT winner here:
Mike Watson is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @Mwats_99
