Quick Hits: November 26, 2020

1) Flyers 2019 first-round pick Cam York and the Michigan Wolverines (4-0-0) return to action this weekend in a Black Friday evening game against Notre Dame. The teams will rematch on Saturday. York has five points (1g, 4a) through the season's first four games.

2) Today in Flyers History: November 26

1967: In a clash of first-year expansion teams, the Flyers pummeled the Los Angeles Kings at the Spectrum by a 7-2 count. Seven different Flyers players lit the lamp: Leon Rochefort (power play), Pat Hannigan, Ed Hoekstra, Garry Peters, Joe Watson, Bill Sutherland and Gary Dornhoefer. Five Philadelphia players enjoyed multiple-point games. Bernie Parent (25 saves) took a shutout into the third period before a pair of LA goals temporarily trimmed the Flyers lead from five to three goals. Late goals by Sutherland and Dornhoefer restored the five-goal margin.

1975: Shrugging off an early 1-0 deficit, the Flyers broke loose for four goals in the second period in route to a 7-3 home rout of the Atlanta Flames. Rick MacLeish and Reggie Leach notched two goals apiece, while Don Saleski, Bob Kelly and Orest Kindrachuk also scored. Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber had two assists apiece. Late in the first period, Atlanta Flames defenseman Pat Quinn (later the Flyers head coach) traded off high sticks with Clarke, precipitating fights at the end of the period.

1976: In a chippy game that was scoreless through the first period, the Flyers took a while to wake up against the lowly Colorado Rockies but then strafed goaltender Michel Plasse and the Rockies for four goals en route to a 4-2 win. Jimmy Watson, Rick MacLeish, Bill Collins (scoring the first and only goal of his Flyers career) and Bobby Clarke scored for the Flyers. Bernie Parent made 36 saves to earn the win. Flyers tough guy defenseman Jack McIlhargey racked up 21 penalty minutes in the game including three consecutive minors (charging, tripping, charging) and then a high-sticking major in the second period.

1983: A wide-open affair at the Spectrum between the Flyers and Vancouver Canucks saw a pair of lead changes, a combined 69 shots between the two teams and a brawl at the end of the second period in a 5-4 Flyers win. Mark Howe, Rick MacLeish, Brian Propp, Tim Kerr and Darryl Sittler (power play) scored for the Flyers. After a slow start, Pelle Lindbergh turned back 23 of the final 25 shots fired on his net.

1993: Tommy Soderstrom earned a 27-save shutout for the Flyers in a 3-0 home win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. A pair of goals by Brent Fedyk was supplemented by a Garry Galley empty netter in the final nine seconds of the third period.

1986: The Flyers prevailed, 4-2, in a hard-fought game at the Spectrum against the Montreal Canadiens. The game was something of a preview of a classic Wales Conference Final series between the teams in the postseason. Rookie goaltender Ron Hextall was stellar in net, turning back 27 of 29 Habs shots to earn the win. A fight-filled first period saw four separate fights break out: Rick Tocchet vs. Bobby Smith in the opening minute of the game, Daryl Stanley vs. Shayne Corson and Dave Brown vs. Chris Nilan a few minutes later, followed by a rematch between Brown and Nilan. Goals by Tocchet and Montreal's Brian Skrudland knotted the game at 2-2 heading into the third period. In the final stanza, Philadelphia gained a 2-1 lead on Brad McCrimmon's shorthanded goal at 1:10 and then took two-goal lead less than a minute later on a Peter Zezel tally. After Montreal's Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Robinson narrowed the deficit back to one goal on a Habs power play, Ilkka Sinisalo responded a few shifts later to restore the two-goal margin.

1997: Two goals by Rod Brind'Amour and a single tally by John LeClair spurred the Flyers to a 3-1 road win over the Buffalo Sabres. Defenseman Chris Therien assisted on a goal apiece for Brind'Amour and LeClair. Meanwhile, the Flyers' penalty kill stepped up to kill off six disadvantages. Winning goaltender Garth Snow (26 saves) outperformed the legendary Dominik Hasek (22 saves) in this game.

1999: The Flyers saw a 2-0 third period lead slip away but rescued a 3-2 home win on Mark Recchi's overtime goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Eric Lindros and Eric Desjardins scored in regulation for Philadelphia. Brian Boucher (20 saves) earned the win in net.

2008: Simon Gagne figured in all the scoring for the Flyers in a 3-1 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Gagne scored an even strength goal in the first period, assisted on defenseman Matt Carle's game-winning goal early in the third period and later added an empty net goal. Winning goalie Antero Niittymaki stopped 27 of 28 Carolina shots.

2010: The Flyers lost a controversial 3-2 shootout decision in a matinee at home against the Calgary Flames. An apparent game-winning overtime power play goal by the Flyers was disallowed and Chris Pronger penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct under the "Avery Rule" for setting up a screen in front of goalie Miikka Kiprusoff and waving his stick. Replays showed that Pronger was merely directing traffic on the 4-on-3, and referee Don van Massenhoven overreacted. In the ensuing shootout, Rene Bourque scored the winning goal against Sergei Bobrovsky (28 saves in regulation and OT on 30 shots, 1-for-3 in the shootout).

2018: The four-plus year general manager tenure of Flyers Hall of Fame member Ron Hextall came to an end when the organization announced his dismissal. The following day, assistant general manager Chris Pryor was let go after 20 years in the organization, including several seasons as AGM under Hextall.

3) Nov. 26 Flyers Alum birthday: Randy "Ozzy" Osburn was born on this day in 1952. A high-scoring minor league forward for the Philadelphia Firebirds and Oklahoma City Blazers, Osburn spent one NHL game with the Flyers (1974-75) and 26 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He posted two assists for Toronto. Osburn posted 35-plus goals three times in the minor leagues and was a former 100-point scorer in the Ontario Hockey Association with the London Knights.

4) Happy Thanksgiving to all American readers of HockeyBuzz.

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