The Flyers blew a 3-goal lead and lost to the Penguins in Pittsburgh, 5-4. No, this was not an April Fools’ joke. The Flyers’ fourth goal, however, was a historic one — both for the team and for a left-handed sniper from Lindsay, Ontario. That goal was the 50th on the season for Rick MacLeish, the first Flyer to ever score 50 goals in a season.
Rick was originally drafted 4th overall in the 1970 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins after scoring 119 goals in three years in junior (OHL) for the Peterborough Petes. He was traded to the Flyers along with Danny Schock for Mike Walton back on February 1, 1971. This trade by legendary GM Keith Allen was another steal, as Rick broke out in '72-'73 with that 50-goal season, including 21 on the power play, which led the NHL.
Rick wore the orange and black for the next decade; playing in over 700 regular-season games and another 108 in the playoffs. His 328 regular season goals ranks him sixth all-time in Flyers history and he is tied for first in career playoff goals with Hall of Famer Bill Barber, each with 53.
Through Rick's marvelous career as a Flyer, he was an All Star three times ('76, '77 and '80). He also scored a memorable goal vs. the Soviet Red Army in 1976, going high glove side on a breakaway and beating Vladislav Tretiak, revered as the worlds’ best goalie.
Flyers fans will always remember the most famous goal in team history, scored by MacLeish. It was the only goal of the day on May 19, 1974 — game six vs. the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals. A wrist shot from the point by Andre “Moose" DuPont was deflected by MacLeish past the Bruins goalie, Gilles Gilbert, midway through the 2nd period. It was the only goal the Flyers needed as they shut out Bobby Orr and the Bruins 1-0. This was the first of two consecutive Stanley Cup wins for the Flyers.
Mike Watson is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @Mwats_99
