March 24, 1974
The Flyers finished off a four-game home stand with a decisive 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues at the Spectrum. Goals by Andre Dupont, Orest Kindrachuk, Rick MacLeish and Bill Clement were more than enough offense in front of All-Star goalie Bernie Parent.
This win, their 45th of the season, along with 11 ties, gave the Flyers points No. 100 and 101 on the season. This was the first time in franchise history that the Flyers cracked the 100-point mark.
Just two years prior, the Flyers struggled mightily, with just 66 points and made the jump up to 85 points in the 1972-73 season. Additions to the 72-73 team like Bill Barber and Rick MacLeish improved the offense, which added needed depth to the likes of Bobby Clarke, Gary Dornhoefer and "Cowboy" Bill Flett.
To find the biggest reason for the great success of this budding 73-74 team, you didn’t need to look any further than the crease in front of the Flyers net. With the addition of Bernie Parent via trade for his rights from Toronto, his stellar play had a lot to do with the drastic reduction of goals allowed. If you have a goalie who can keep the puck out of your net, your chances of winning increase. Pretty simple.
In the 1972-73 season, the Flyers allowed 256 goals in 78 games with Doug Favell, Michel Behumeur and Bobby Taylor between the pipes. In 73-74 with Parent and Taylor – with Parent playing in 73 of the 78 games – the Flyers allowed just 164 goals, over a goal per game less than the year before.
The Flyers would go on to finish the 73-74 regular season with a record of 50-16-12 for 112 points. It would mark the first of three straight 50 win seasons and the first of three straight Stanley Cup appearances.
That magical season of 1973-74 culminated with a parade down Broad Street in May, after defeating the Boston Bruins, four games to two, to win the first of two Stanley Cups.
Mike Watson is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @Mwats_99
