Some home cooking was just tonic the Detroit Red Wings needed. Returning to their home rink, the Olympia, after a disastrous road trip, the Wings disposed of the Boston Bruins by a 4-2 score in the only National Hockey League game last night.
The game at home was the first after a seven-game sojourn on the road in which Detroit garnered only three of a possible 14 points.
Wings Start Quickly
The Wings started quickly, scoring two first-period markers and then adding a third early in the second stanza. Andy Bathgate and Alex Delvecchio notched goals in the first 20 minutes, with Dean Prentice making it 3-0 early in the second. Detroit was truly dominant in that opening frame, outshooting the Bruins 19-3.
Seemingly content with the three-goal lead, the Red Wings took their foot off the gas a bit and it nearly cost them. The Bruins roared back with a pair of goals just less than five minutes apart before the second ended. Curiously, it was former Detroit defenseman Al Langlois who scored both Boston goals. Not even remotely noted for his scoring prowess, Langlois markers were his third and fourth of the season.
The Bruins tried further their comeback in the final period, outshooting the Wings 9-4. But Detroit goalie Roger Crozier held the visitors off the score sheet until Delvecchio tallied his second of the game with only 17 seconds left on the clock to put the game out of reach.
Marlies Shock Petes
The Toronto Marlboros pulled off the biggest upset of the Ontario Hockey Association Junior A season last night. The Marlies shocked even themselves by eliminating first-place Peterborough with a 3-1 win over the Petes at Maple Leaf Gardens.
The Marlies won the series, four games to two. It was their fourth straight win in the series, after dropping the first two games by lopsided scores. They will now play the winner of the Niagara Falls Flyers – Kitchener Rangers series.
Wayne Carleton led the way for Toronto with two goals. Mike Corrigan had the other Toronto marker. Danny Grant was the Peterborough goal-getter.
Carleton is generally regarded as the top prospect in the Toronto Maple Leafs system. He has been hampered by knee injuries for the past two seasons, and looks to just now be rounding into shape. It was his best game since his return to the lineup.
Another player who played his best game of the season was defenseman Doug Dunville. Dunville earned assists on all three Toronto goals.
Goalie Al Smith was another standout. He faced 35 Peterborough shots, many of the difficult variety. Employing his newly-found standup style, he proved to be nearly unbeatable against the OHA’s best offensive squad.
Toronto coach Gus Bodnar credited his team’s superior defence for the series upset:
It’s the old playoff story. The team with the best defence usually wins. Luckily this time it was us.
Bodnar was referring to the play of Jim McKenny, Brad Park, Brian Glennie and Dunville. As a group, they were far superior to their counterparts, clearing well around their own goal and moving the puck efficiently up the ice.
Peterborough coach Roger Bedard blamed the officials for his club’s defeat:
“The referees killed us and I think we should have a whole new set of officials next year. It might sound like sour grapes but they missed an awful lot of penalties which should have been called against them (Marlboros). But on the night’s play, they were the better team.”
Broderick Tops at UBC
Ken Broderick, just back in Canada after helping the national team to a third-place finish at the World Hockey Championships, has been named the University of British Columbia’s outstanding athlete for 1965-66.
Broderick, 24, is a native of Toronto. He split the goaltending duties for Canada at the World Championships with Seth Martin, and was in goal for three of Canada’s five victories.
Notes:
- New York Rangers have called up defenseman Al LeBrun from the Minnesota Rangers of the CPHL. Two regular Ranger rearguards, Bob Plager and Jim Nielson, have been sidelined with injuries.
- Al Arbour, who was expected to miss significant time with injuries, has recovered and will return to the Rochester Americans lineup for this weekend’s AHL games.
- Punch Imlach says that with Allan Stanley out of the lineup with an injury, his best defenseman right now is Larry Hillman.
- Portland Buckaroos cut down the Los Angeles Blades 5-3 in WHL action. Art Jones and Larry Leach each had two goals for Portland.
- San Francisco Seals and Seattle Totems battled to a 4-4 tie. WHL veteran Guyle Fielder of Seattle was the star in that game with two goals and two assists.