The Last Two Times A Flyers Goalie Had Back-To-Back Playoff Shutouts, They Went To The Cup Final. So You Do The Math
April 17, 1975. The Philadelphia Flyers are on the road for game 3 of their First Round matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bernie Parent (ever heard of him?) had just shutout the Leafs in game 2. Bernie is a sick bastard so he decided he wasn't going to let the Leafs score for a 2nd consecutive game. The Flyers swept the Leafs in the first round and then they'd go on to win their 2nd straight Stanley Cup a month later.
May 18, 2010. The Philadelphia Flyers are home for game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens. Pretty familiar opponent. Michael Leighton, who may not be quite as historic as Bernie but still a legend in his own regard, had just shutout the Habs in game 1. The Flyers had just completed an insane comeback against the Bruins in the Conference Semifinal where they came back from being down 3-0 in the series. So after coming back from that wild ride, Michael Leighton decided he was going to make life a little easier for the boys in the next round by shutting out the Habs in back-to-back games to open up the series. 120 minutes into the Eastern Conference Final and Montreal hadn't even got on the board yet. They'd win game 3 at the Bell Centre but it was all Flyers from there. They would end up losing to Chicago in the Cup Final but that's really where the story begins for this Flyers team.
The Flyers felt they lost the 2010 Stanley Cup Final because they didn't have a true #1 goaltender in net. They were lacking that franchise goalie who could consistently be counted on. It was an issue that plagued this franchise for so many years.
So in a panic to finally get that guy, the Flyers went out and they made the abysmal decision to sign Ilya Bryzgalov to a massive 9-year, $51 million deal. And because of that signing, the Flyers had to move some guys around. Most notably, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. Jeff Carter turns into Jakub Voracek and Sean Couturier. Mike Richards now is Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost via Brayden Schenn. The Flyers put themselves into severe cap hell trying to overcompensate for a missed opportunity in 2010, and that severe cap hell led to this team becoming the peak of mediocrity for years to come. But all those years of mediocre hockey led to the organization being able to slowly rebuild through the draft. All those years of mediocrity caused by a loss in 2010 led to guys like Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim and Carter Hart. It opened up the window for Claude Giroux to step in to be the captain of this team. It led to the firing of multiple coaches which eventually opened the door for Alain Vigneault and the 3-headed monster behind the Flyers' bench. For all the troubles the Flyers put themselves through after making a bunch of panic decisions to try to make up for 2010, it led to this team.
August 18, 2020. The Philadelphia Flyers are technically the away team but they're in the Toronto bubble for game 4 of their First Round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. Carter Hart (ever heard of him?) had been pulled in game 2 but bounced right back and shutout the Habs in game 3 of the series. Being the absolute sick bastard that he is, Carter turned right back around and decided to shutout the Canadiens for a 2nd straight game yesterday becoming the 2nd youngest goalie ever to post back-to-back playoff shutouts, and the youngest to do it was in 1945 so that barely counts anyway.
And now the Flyers are one more win away from winning their first playoff series since 2012. Obviously I would love nothing more than to put this team away and get the Habs out of the way with. They're a pesky bunch and I don't need them tiring out the Flyers anymore than they need to anymore in this series. There are still 3 more intense series to play so getting this done in 5 would be huge. I think Carter has earned himself the right to possibly let one or two get by him tonight, though, now that he's playing on back-to-back days. So tonight's a night you really need the forwards to step up and kind of take some of the pressure off the kid. Would certainly be an ideal time for Claude Giroux to finally put one in the back of the net.