1981 STANLEY CUP FINALS – PHILADELPHIA FIREBIRDS @ PITTSBURGH SPIRIT
| PHILADELPHIA vs. PITTSBURGH | |
| Eastern PA hosts Western PA! Pittsburgh and Philadelphia! Pens and Flyers hate each other… will that carry over between the Firebirds and Spirit? | |
| GAME #1 | This game was all Pittsburgh as they chase Sevigny out of net and go on to win by a lopsided score of 8-4. |
| GAME #2 | A closer game… final score of 5-4 as Pittsburgh wins and sends it back to Philly up 2-0. Sevigny was better, but still not good. Resch wasn’t great either, just one less goal allowed than Sevigny. |
| Back to Philly. Let’s see if the Firebirds can burn the Spirit in the city of Brotherly Love! After a long layoff we continue the Stanley Cup Playoffs. |
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| GAME #3 | Philly gives Donnie Beaupre a start in goal after a tough couple games in Pittsburgh 1st- The Spirit test Donnie often as Huber /Petterson and LAfluer get point blank shots. Minutes in The Rat gets injured until the 3rd period. But Marcel continues his playoff brilliance with his 8th from Langway and Carlyle. Bridgeman takes a high sticking penalty and Pitt makes Philly pay as Vickers gets his 4th from Heberg on the PP. Period ends 1-1 15-10 shots in favor of Philly 2nd – John ” Ive disappeared in the playoffs” Anderson gets his 1st from Maruk and Schmautz. Lindy Ruff gets injured and is out for the game. Late in the period Marcel takes his own rebound and puts in his 9th! Philly leads 3-1 3rd – Petterson and Lafluer get injured and Philly is feeling GREAT. thennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Maloney gets his 8th from Chouinard and McLeish. minutes later Chouinard gets his 6th from Sittler and we are tied. Period ends 3-3 OT – Philly dominates play which is a BAD omen a puck jumps over Langways stick to Murphy who buries his 3rd from Patey and the Spirit take the game 4-3 |
| Philadelphia Down 3-0 …its looking as ugly as a Chicago Underground girlfriend | |
| GAME #4 | 1st- Spirits waste no time as Sittler gets his 6th from Lafluer and petterson…minutes later Denis Maruk ties it with his 11th from Schmautz. With the teams on a 4 on 4 Maruk gets another his 12th from Schmautz to put Philly up 2-1 but with a screen in fron of Sevigny Pat Ribble gets his 3rd from hagman and before the period ends Sittler gets his 7th and 2nd of the period from Norwich and Lafluer. Period ends 3-2 Spirit 2nd – St Croix comes up big time after time before Peter Lee gets his 10th from Linseman. But with Dionne off for holding Norwich puts the Spirit back up with his 2nd from Chouinard and McLeish. Period ends Pitts 4 Phill 3 3rd – Facing elimination Philly comes out flying and Bobby Schmautz gets his 3rd from Dionne and Martin…minutes later Peter Lee puts Philly up on his 11th from Homer and Bridgeman. Schmautz puts in and EN his 4th from Hartsburgh and Philly sees another day winning 6-4 |
| 3-1 going back to Pittsburgh is not pretty.
Back to Pittsburgh up 3-1, the Spirit hope to close it out in front of the home crowd! |
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| GAME #5 | Beaupre gets the nod for Philly in net as Sevigny sits in the press box, suspended. Resch is between the pipes for Pittsburgh. Let’s go! Back and forth in the 1st until MacLeish (6) makes it 1-0 Spirit. A little over 2 mins later Chouinard (7) makes it 2-0 Pittsburgh.2nd period – Bridgman (3) on the PP cuts the lead in half, 2-1 PIT leads. Pettersson (12) scores before the end of the period to reclaim the 2 goal lead 3-1.3rd period – Pettersson (13) on the PP makes it a commanding 4-1 Spirit lead. But Philly isn’t done yet! Maruk (13) scores to cut it to 4-2. Then 4 mins later Van Boxmeer (4) brings Philly within one as it is suddenly a game at 4-3!! Philly pulls Beaupre to get the extra attacker on… Maloney steals the puck in the defensive end, flings it to Lafleur who dekes and frees Sittler all alone as he easily buries the empty netter… 5-3 Pittsburgh with 36 seconds left. Resch stands tall the rest of the way as 3… 2… 1… THE PITTSBURGH SPIRIT ARE YOUR BACK TO BACK STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!! |
| Congrats to Philly on a great season, and a tighter series that the 4-1 series win would indicate. Enjoy this win people of Pittsburgh, cause there is ZERO change of a 3-peat! lol Thank God, cause it’s exhausting. 😉 lol Congrats to all on successful season and to league management for running a top notch league! See you all in the 81-82 season!!! |
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