Pittsburgh Penguins Throwback Thursday: Ron Hextall vs. Robby Brown
By Mike Necciai
It’s no secret that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers are bitter rivals. The cross-state rivalry could be considered the best in sports.
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A rivalry of this magnitude goes back throughout the NHL history books. And while we see that hatred on display every time the two modern-day rosters clash, it’s worth revisiting some of the older antics between these franchises. In April of 1989, we witnessed what would normally be expected of Hacksaw Jim Duggan in the WWF (currently WWE), except it was for Flyers goaltender and current General Manager Ron Hextall.
The Pens and Flyers faced off in the Patrick Division Final and Hextall had been up and down throughout the series with more bad moments than good. It should be noted that aside from the incident we’re discussing that involved chasing Rob Brown, Hextall also assaulted one of the referees during the contest. The Pittsburgh Penguins won the game by a score of 10-7, with Hextall allowing nine of those goals on seventeen shots. However, one goal was particularly unsettling for the irate net minder.
Mario Lemieux created the goal, as he did with so many for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Somehow, he was allowed to coast down the left-wing with very little pressure from the Flyers defense. Instead of shooting, Lemieux patiently approached the goal line and slid a beauty of a pass through the crease to a streaking Brown, who then buried it to increase the Pens’ lead yet again in an absolute blowout.
Hextall reacted as follows…
You’ll notice that he also attempts to get Paul Coffey involved after Brown is out of reach. This type of play was fairly standard for Hextall as his antics became his identity and defined him more than his actual play.
The Flyers would go on to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in games six and seven to eliminate them from playoff contention. But, despite losing the series, any Pens fan that was alive to watch will always remember this game.
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