0 2 Champion Philadelphia Flyers MVP Bernie Parent | Dates May 7 – May 19 Start date May 7, 1974 | |
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Location(s) Philadelphia (Spectrum) (3,4,6)
Boston (Boston Garden) (1,2,5) Coaches Philadelphia: Fred Shero
Boston: Bep Guidolin Captains Philadelphia: Bobby Clarke
Boston: John Bucyk Referees Dave Newell (1,5)
Art Skov (2,6)
Lloyd Gilmour (3)
Ron Wicks (4) Similar 1975 Stanley Cup Finals, 1973 Stanley Cup Finals, 1972 Stanley Cup Finals, 1976 Stanley Cup Finals, 1987 Stanley Cup Finals | ||
1974 stanley cup finals game 2 clarke ot goal
The 1974 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers made their first Final appearance and the Bruins returned to the Finals after having won the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals. The Flyers won the best-of-seven series four games to two and became the first team from the 1967 Expansion to win the Stanley Cup.
Contents
Paths to the Final
Boston defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 and the Chicago Black Hawks 4–2 to advance to the final.
Philadelphia defeated the Atlanta Flames 4–0 and the New York Rangers 4–3 to make it to the final.
The series
In the previous 19 games against the Bruins in Boston, the Flyers had lost 17 and tied two. Boston had the best regular season record in the league finishing one point ahead of the Flyers. The Bruins also had home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals, and were made heavy favorites to win the series. A key confidence-building win late in the regular season saw the Flyers defeating the Bruins 5–3 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The first two games at Boston Garden were full of late game dramatics. In game 1, the Flyers nearly scored late in the third period to break a 2–2 tie. Bobby Orr, having saved the Flyers' shot by blocking the open Boston net with his leg, then took the puck up the ice and scored on a slapshot past Bernie Parent with a little over a minute remaining in regulation to propel the Bruins to a 3–2 win. Game 2 saw the Bruins on the verge of a 2–0 series lead when Flyers defenseman Andre Dupont scored with Parent pulled with less than a minute remaining for an extra attacker to tie the score at 2–2, and Bobby Clarke scored the 3–2 game winner in overtime. The Flyers, led by Parent's play in goal, won the next two games on home ice to take a 3–1 series lead. Game 5 in Boston was a sloppy affair marred by many fights and penalties as Boston easily won to extend the series to a game 6 in Philadelphia. Before a national audience watching the game on NBC and a raucous Philadelphia crowd, Parent posted an epic 30-save shutout against the Bruins as the Flyers won the game 1–0, the series four games to two, and the Stanley Cup. Parent made a spectacular kick save to stop a tremendous slapshot from Ken Hodge with less than 3 minutes left to play. The blast was the Bruins' final shot of the series. Parent was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. The Flyers were the first of the non-original 6 teams in the NHL to win the championship.
Aftermath
The Flyers Stanley Cup win triggered the largest celebration in Philadelphia sports history. The day after the Flyers won the Cup, more than two million lined Broad Street for a ticker-tape parade, making it the largest championship parade in the history of Philadelphia sports. One of the fans who attended the parade was future New York Rangers goaltender Mike Richter. Richter grew up in Flourtown, Pa. near Philadelphia idolizing Flyers goalie Bernie Parent.