It was a night for the goaltenders to shine at the Olympia in Detroit. The Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks battled to a 1-1 tie in a game dominated by the goaltending of Roger Crozier of the Wings and Glenn Hall of Chicago. The other two National Hockey League games saw Toronto trounce New York 5-1 and Montreal defeat Boston 3-1.
Wings Score Once on 50 Shots
While the game in Detroit saw great goalkeeping at both ends, the work of Hall was almost miraculous. He faced 50 Detroit drives, giving up only a single marker by Floyd Smith of Detroit in the second period. Chicago’s Doug Mohns also scored in the middle stanza, and for both players it was their 21st goal of the season.
Crozier was no slouch at his end, facing 33 Chicago shots in the wide-open contest.
The game was one of the best seen in Detroit this season. It had lots of action and spectacular saves, and the paucity of goals didn’t detract from the enjoyment of the paying customer.
Detroit coach Sid Abel, who thought Saturday’s game against the Leafs was a fine contest, could hardly contain his enthusiasm for this game:
“Just a great hockey game. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many outstanding saves in one game. It could have been 8-8. It was a shame to play that well and not win.”
Abel got no argument from Chicago bench boss Bill Reay:
“That was playoff goaltending at its best. We can’t complain about the tie. In fact, we can’t complain about anything this year insofar as Detroit is concerned.”
Reay was referring to his club’s dominance of Detroit all season. In fourteen games, the Hawks won 11 times, tying twice.
Leafs Cruise Past Rangers
The Toronto Maple Leafs played one of their most solid all-round games last night as they took down the New York Rangers 5-1 at Madison Square Garden.
Five players shared in the Toronto scoring, and goalie Johnny Bower put in his third straight strong performance.
George Armstrong, Orland Kurtenbach, Ron Ellis, Pete Stemkowski and Frank Mahovlich were the Toronto marksmen. Earl Ingarfield had given the Rangers a very brief first-period lead.
Kurtenbach and Ellis were perhaps the best Toronto skaters. Kurtenbach was outstanding on Saturday in a relief role. He had stepped in for injured Brit Selby and continued to be dominant last night against the Rangers.
Ellis did double duty, playing on two lines. The young, fast right-winger seemed to thrive on the extra work and will likely see the same kind of deployment in the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs.
Cesare Maniago started in goal for New York but was replaced at 16:33 of the second, after Stemkowski scored. As the puck entered the net, Stemkowski was nailed from behind by Rangers Bob Plager and thrown into the crossbar. Completely out of control, his skate caught Maniago in the groin area and the Ranger netminder was unable to continue. Ed Giacomin came in to finish the game.
Backstrom Hot For Habs
Ralph Backstrom’s third goal of the weekend was the game winner for Montreal as the Canadiens took their second straight game from the Boston Bruins, this one by a 3-1 score.
Backstrom also collected an assist and was the best Montreal skater all night. Habs’ goalie Gump Worsley was also solid, stopping 23 of 24 Boston shots.
Yvan Cournoyer and Bobby Rousseau also found the range for Canadiens, who led 3-0 at the end of two periods. For Rousseau, it was his 30th of the year.
Johnny McKenzie, with his 18th, ruined Worsley’s shut out bid in the final frame.
Montreal lost winger Claude Larose in the second period. He injured a shoulder when hit by Boston’s hard-rock rookie defenseman Gilles Marotte. Jim Roberts took his spot on the line with Henri Richard and Dave Balon.
Montreal coach Toe Blake was happy to get through the games without mishap against a suddenly pesky Boston squad:
“It’s a relief these games are over. The Bruins are a hard team to play against.”
Oshawa Ousts Baby Habs
The Oshawa Generals eliminated the Montreal Junior Canadiens last night at the Forum in Montreal. The Generals used an outburst of three goals within a 45-second span of the third period to turn the trick. Oshawa won 3-2 to take the Ontario Hockey Association Junior A semi-final series four games to one.
Montreal took a 1-0 lead late in the first period on a goal by captain Jacques Lemaire. Lemaire has been, without a doubt, Montreal’s best player by far in the playoffs. He looks to be a sure-fire NHL’er.
The Baby Habs outshot Oshawa in that opening frame by a margin of 14-4. Only the brilliant netminding of Generals’ Ian Young kept the home side from running away with the game early.
Oshawa settled down in the second and held a territorial advantage. However, it was Montreal who scored the only goal of the period. Chris Bordeleau found the range with an unassisted marker.
A pair of Montreal penalties 17 seconds apart early in the third set the stage for the fateful 45 seconds that would spell an end to Montreal’s season. Lemaire was fingered at 5:07 by referee Bob Nadin and Larry Pleau was sent off seconds later. The two-man advantage was all the Generals needed.
At 6:04 Billy Heindl made it 2-1 on a setup by Bobby Orr. Twenty-seven seconds after that goal, Danny O’Shea was the beneficiary of another Orr play to tie the score at two. O’Shea came right back at 6:49 with the winner. Wayne Cashman manhandled Montreal defenseman Serge Savard on the end boards and stole the puck. The burly Oshawa winger made a perfect pass to O’Shea who beat Montreal goalie Ted Ouimet from close in.
After that, it was up to Young to preserve the narrow lead and he was completely equal to the task. In fact, the main difference in this series was goaltending. Young was consistently good throughout. Ouimet, who had his moments, also suffered from some inconsistency.
Montreal Canadiens scout Claude Ruel was at the game and was furious with the officiating:
We have to be five times better to beat them and those Ontario referees. And they are always crying up in Ontario about the our Quebec referees.
Oshawa coach Bep Guidolin was happy to get past the Junior Canadiens:
“That’s the only team I was worried about. I don’t care who we meet in the finals. We’ve done well against both of them. The only way we can lose it now is by dropping dead.”
Kitchener Evens Series
The Kitchener Rangers tied up their Ontario Hockey Association Junior A semi-final series with the Toronto Marlboros yesterday. The Rangers downed the Marlies 5-3 in an afternoon tilt at Maple Leaf Gardens before over 10,000 fans. Both teams have won twice with one game tied.
Bruce Reier scored twice for Kitchener. Singles came off the sticks of John Beechey, Bill Hway and Gord Kannegiesser. For Toronto it was Gerry Meehan, Wayne Carleton and Mike Corrigan.
Toronto goalie Al Smith was the Marlies’ lone bright spot. He faced 48 Kitchener shots and was the only reason the score was respectable.
Toronto Star reporter Frank Orr was particularly impressed with the officiating. He praised referee John McCauley and linesmen Will Norris and Pat Shetler for a crisp, knowledgable effort and the best call of a junior game this year.
Notes:
- Defenseman Jimmy Morrison scored three goals to pace the Quebec Aces to a 7-4 win over the Rochester Americans in AHL play at Maple Leaf Gardens.
- Seattle Totems mathematically eliminated the Los Angeles Blades from the WHL playoffs with a 4-2 win at Los Angeles. Veteran Guyle Fielder scored the winner for Seattle.
- Fred Hucul scored twice to help Victoria Maple Leafs down the Portland Buckaroos 4-1 in another WHL game.
- San Francisco Seals hammered the AHL Buffalo Bisons 8-3 in an interlocking game. Captain Al Nicholson scored three goals for the Seals.