The Flyers' Goaltending Is Consistently Awful
Twenty-four years ago, the Philadelphia Flyers made the Stanley Cup Final with a talented roster of big, physical skaters -- including future Hall of Famer Eric Lindros at center and 50-goal scorer John LeClair at left wing. The oddsmakers had Philly favored to beat the smaller, faster Detroit Red Wings for the Cup ... until the series actually began, that is.
Game 1 starting goalie Ron Hextall gave up four goals, including one by Steve Yzerman from approximately 60 feet away. Hextall was replaced in Game 2 by Garth Snow, who promptly let in four of his own (including two more from over 45 feet out). After turning back to Hextall for the rest of the series, Philly proceeded to allow eight more goals over the next two games en route to being swept by Detroit. The Flyers' .861 save percentage in the series was 70 percent worse than average, the second-worst goaltending performance in Cup Final history. Thirteen years later, history repeated itself: When the Flyers lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010 with a save percentage 45 percent worse than league average, the tandem of Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher combined for the 11th-worst goaltending performance by a team in the Final.
Even in the best of times, such carousels of struggling goalies are basically the natural state of things in Philadelphia. The franchise has received nothing if...