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Philadelphia Famine

November 1, 2016, 10:17 PM ET [2 Comments]
Bob Duff
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
With the Chicago Cubs on the brink of winning the World Series for the first time since 1908, perhaps the Detroit Red Wings can find a path to success in the City of Brotherly Love.

Detroit hasn’t collected a victory in Philadelphia since Game 2 of the 1997 Stanley Cup final, a 4-2 verdict on June 3, 1997. Since then, the Wings have lost 11 straight regular-season games to the Flyers in Philadelphia. The Flyers have outscored the Wings 48-20 in those 11 games. Detroit’s last regular-season win in Philadelphia was a 4-1 triumph on Jan. 25, 1997.

“You guys keep reminding us, so it’s hard to not think about it,” Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg joked. “Obviously, we know what it is, we haven’t won there in a while.

“The good thing is we have a chance tomorrow, and we’ve got another chance next week.” The Wings are back in Philadelphia again on Nov. 8. “We’re looking forward to getting a chance tomorrow to break that.”

Watching the Chicago Cubs rally from a 3-1 deficit in the World Series, the Wings believe that this Second City comeback could prove ominous to them.

“I have no idea (why they can’t win in Philadelphia),” Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith said. “Just like the Cubbies not winning for so long, it’s just how it has been. We don’t really try to think about it, we just go in there and play our game and hopefully we can come out with two points there.”

The Wings also believe they’ve been a victim of circumstance. A Western Conference team for so many years, they seldom got to play on a regular basis in Philadelphia.

“I think one of the reasons is we didn’t play there that often, when we were in the Western Conference,” Zetterberg said. “They’re playing us well. I thought we had some games that were close.

“We were up a few games and they came back and found a way to win.”

Philadelphia isn’t exactly known as one of the friendliest places for visiting teams, either, and that can be a factor.

“I think every building’s pretty tough to play in,” Smith said. “That’s where you get the advantage. I just think some of those reasons are that they haven’t seen them that much. (The Wings) only went there once a year, whatever it was, when they were in the West, so it’s just limited.

“It’s probably a tough building, there’s a lot of tough buildings. But yeah, we’d like to get that win so you guys would stop talking about it.”

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