PHILADELPHIA — Defenseman Cam York fired home the overtime winner that sparked a Philadelphia celebration more than a decade in the making, then broke free from his celebrating teammates to hurl his stick high into the crowd.
York threw his stick skyward, watching it sail like a home run ball, though nobody knew exactly where it would land in the moment.
“I hope everyone’s OK,” York said with a laugh. “Definitely don’t want a lawsuit. Just honestly blacked out. I didn’t know what to do. I was so excited.”
How does a team mark their first playoff series victory in over a decade?
York wound up like he was throwing a boomerang. Philadelphia fans sounded horns and whistles throughout the arena while repeatedly chanting the opening notes of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” Forward Christian Dvorak’s celebration got a bit too intense — he suffered a cut above his right eye during the on-ice festivities, leaving blood running down his face.
It looked like he’d been in a boxing match.
More accurately, it was six demanding games against Sidney Crosby and a Pittsburgh squad that has claimed Stanley Cup championships and dominated their Pennsylvania rivals so frequently over the past 15 years that their meetings often seemed less like an intense rivalry and more like the Flyers serving as a minor obstacle during the regular season.
This year was different. This was in Philadelphia.
Not even when the rejuvenated Penguins threatened to make playoff history by rallying from a 3-0 series deficit and crushing the hopes of a Flyers squad that became the NHL’s first team to reach the postseason after sitting 10 points outside playoff position with 22 games or fewer left.
York and netminder Dan Vladar, who stopped 42 shots, had different ideas.
The Flyers’ 1-0 Game 6 overtime triumph over Pittsburgh on Wednesday evening provided early proof that general manager Danny Briere made smart moves in executing a long-overdue reconstruction, resulting in their first playoff series victory in a complete NHL campaign since 2012. Philadelphia exceeded their postseason expectations — largely thanks to the mid-season emergence of teenage star Porter Martone — and are essentially playing with bonus time as they prepare for a second-round matchup against top-seeded Carolina.
“We played a great series,” Flyers forward Travis Konecny said. “Now we get a chance to play again.”
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet and his players unanimously agreed when they held a 3-0 series advantage that Crosby and the experienced Penguins were too skilled and playoff-seasoned to surrender easily. Crosby dominated Pittsburgh’s 3-2 Game 5 victory and had the Penguins convinced they could join just the fifth NHL team ever to win a series after falling behind 3-0.
Vladar, a well-traveled goaltender turned Olympian who earned team MVP honors this season, stopped everything Pittsburgh sent his way throughout most of the series. He recorded his first shutout of the year with 27 saves in Game 2, overcame an undisclosed arm injury in Game 3, and carried the Flyers in Game 6 — outdueling the excellent Arturs Silovs — to stabilize a position that had been problematic for the organization since their Stanley Cup championship era with Bernie Parent.
Vladar managed to blank the NHL’s third-highest scoring offense from the regular season.
“There was never a doubt,” Vladar said. “Good things happen to good people, and we are good people here.”
Vladar also acknowledged the long odds Philadelphia faced just to reach this stage and noted teammates wearing their lucky clothing.
The Flyers celebrated in T-shirts featuring Parent’s 1970s mask design with “3.8 percent” printed on the sleeves, referencing their minimal playoff chances from two months earlier.
Vladar — the fifth goaltender in franchise history to record a series-clinching shutout — also made the fourth-most saves in a series-ending shutout victory over the last 70 years. Only Patrick Roy (63 saves in Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup Final), Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Carey Price have made more.
“danvladar you are a BAADDDDD man!!” former Phillies World Series champion Jimmy Rollins posted on social media.
The Flyers remained euphoric long after the final buzzer.
Regarding York’s stick? It found its target and was enthusiastically caught by a fan in a white Flyers sweatshirt.
He celebrated with high-fives from surrounding fans and secured quite the playoff memento.
Philadelphia can only hope May brings much more excitement ahead.
