Philadelphia Flyers Retire #88 Jersey As They Defeat Maple Leafs 3-2

Philadelphia Flyers retire Eric Lindros JerseyThe Wells Fargo Center was on its feet as the #88 jersey rose to the rafters as the Philadelphia Flyers paid tribute to Eric Lindros before the start of tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As the crowd cheered, Lindros said,

“Very blessed that I could’ve played in Philadelphia. These are one of those days you take for the rest of your life. It’s a special moment, you feel lucky.”

The Canadian was the 6th player in Philadelphia history to have his jersey number retired. Other Philly players with their numbers retired include Bernie Parent’s #1, Mark Howe’s #2, Barry Ashbee’s #4, Bill Barbers #7 and the number 16 of Bobby Clarke.

Lindros was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on the 14th of November. In his NHL career, he had 290 goals and 659 reg season points and 56 playoff points during 486 games. However, embattled with multiple concussions conjures memories of Lindros lying on the ice after a nasty head shot by Scott Stevens. The hit ended Lindros career after thirteen NHL seasons with Toronto, the Flyers, Dallas and the Rangers.

Before his career-ending injury, Lindros was a dominant player who, at 22, scored twenty-nine goals and earned seventy points in forty-six games. This won Lindros the Hart Trophy in 19995 as the MVP. Lindros also was pivotal is seeing the Flyers make it to the Stanley Cup Final in 1997 against Detroit, who won the series in in four games.

Toronto succumbs to pressure from the Flyers

After an emotional start to the game, the Flyers managed to succeed in its effort against the Maple Leafs with a 3-2 win. The Maple Leafs are currently sitting in third place in the Eastern Division of the Eastern Conference.

Toronto’s Coach, Mike Babcock was asked if he had plans to giving Conor Brown additional ice time but remained unwavering refusing to not make changes to how he manages the Leafs stating,

Why don’t you canvas the top-nine and see who wants to give him that? You know what I mean? My wife can tell me what’s wrong, but in our business, you’ve got to find a way to figure out what’s right.”

Toronto Maple Leafs

As Toronto battled the Flyers with little happening, Babcock chose to move Conor Brown onto the first line, and in his first shift on the ice with Zach Hymen and Austin Matthews, he scored. The move proved to be the right choice as the goal helped Toronto to see its lead extended to 2-0. Frederik Gauthier also scored for the Leafs, but sadly, that was the last the team would see on Thursday night.

The Flyers entered the third period on a mission that saw an early goal in the 3rd period. Nolan Patrick was able to get the puck past Frederik Andersen to make it 2-1. Shortly after, Wayne Simmonds tied the game on a rush that was shorthanded to make it 2-0.

For Toronto fans, this was an all too familiar scene for a team that went into tonight with a three-game losing streak having failed to win since the 28th of December. After the Phillis Sean Couturier scored only eighteen seconds into overtime to see the losing streak increased to four.

For Toronto, Conor Brown needs to see increased ice time and is a perfect candidate to see his responsibilities increased. Playing in his rookie year, Brown has averaged less than two minutes on the ice per game but has scored twelve goals and has a solid impact when utilized on the ice.

Said Babcock,

“I think Brownie, he’s playing on our power play, playing a regular shift and playing well with us and penalty killing for us. Any time a guy like that plays like that – he’s sending a message to everybody else at the same time, right? He wants more ice time, he wants their job and so I think that’s a good message for a team.”

Toronto will next face off against Ottawa on Saturday, and then welcome the Bluejackets on Monday. For all the latest in Canadian betting action with top rated bookies, visit Betting.ca.

Author Hey all! My name is Doug Hirdle, and I am the main author at Betting.ca. As a huge sports fan, for years I have thought about running a website that’s going to provide people with the latest news from the world of sports. However, watching sports is not my only passion, as I also love...