June 7, 1995
Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals for the Flyers against the New Jersey Devils could be summed up in three words: a must win.
After dropping the first two games to Martin Brodeur and Co. on home ice, the Flyers traveled north and had to make a series out of it to avoid a 3-0 deficit.
And it was the captain, Eric Lindros, who would step up.
Just 1:32 into the game, arch nemesis Claude Lemieux would get the Devils on the board. As a Flyers fan, you had that "oh no" feeling as the Devils were a stifling team to play against with the lead.
Thankfully, just three minutes later, Kevin Dineen scored his fourth of the playoffs and tied the game at one. Although the Flyers were outshot, 10-8, for the period, they were still in it and had two periods to go.
Early in the second period, Randy McKay of the Devils put them ahead, 2-1, with an assist by Bobby Holik. Despite the two power plays the Flyers had in the last half of the period, they were unable to score and trailed by one going into the third period.
In the third, the Flyers would have to fight off two penalties of their own, as they kept the Devils from extending their lead. With just under six minutes to play, Flyers centerman Rod Brind'Amour scored to even the game at two. It remained that way through regulation and the game was headed to overtime.
In the overtime, John LeClair passed to the center of the ice, finding Mikael Renberg. Renberg skated down the right side, crossed the blue line, pulled up and fired a long cross ice pass to a streaking Lindros.
With LeClair heading to the net, Lindros fired a hard snap shot inside the left post, just before the diving attempt by defenseman Ken Daneyko could block it. The shot beat Brodeur and the Flyers jumped right back into the series with a 3-2 overtime win.
Even though the Flyers won Game 4 in New Jersey as well, the Devils took Games 5 and 6 and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. The Devils would go on to win the Stanley Cup, their first in team history, sweeping the Detroit Red Wings.
Mike Watson is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @Mwats_99.
