1960-61 NHL Replay - week ending 10 December 1960

Featured on the schedule this week - a home-and-home between the Rangers and Red Wings, and the Maple Leafs get another chance to reel in the Canadiens, this time at the intersection of Carlton and Church Streets . . .

4 December 1960 - Toronto (6) at Boston (2)

The Maple Leafs scored four unanswered goals in the last half of the first period to skate away from the Bruins in Boston. Larry Hillman's power-play goal with one second remaining on a Doug Mohns cross-check got Toronto underway at 11:00, and the visitors then exploded for three goals in less than two minutes as the period wound down. Eddie Shack, hitting a purple patch since his move from New York, and George Armstrong scored on the same shift 26 seconds apart and Allan Stanley added the fourth in the final minute of a period in which Boston was both outscored and outclassed. While the home team showed a little more effort over the final forty minutes, it wasn't close to being enough to get back into the game as they could only find a way to put two pucks in behind Johnny Bower. The Leafs' offence had a big day despite Frank Mahovlich being held to a single shot on goal. [box] [stats]

Larry Hillman gets Toronto started on a big first period in Boston

4 December 1960 - Montréal (1) at Chicago (1)

A gritty defensive affair ended in a low-scoring tie after Jean Beliveau's power-play goal early in the third period got the Canadiens on even terms. It looked as if there might be more offensive spark in the game when the Black Hawks scored only forty-eight seconds after the opening face-off, Pierre Pilote driving one at goal that ricocheted past Charlie Hodge off the butt end of Bob Tuner's stick, but Chicago held Montréal to just four shots in the opening stanza and Hodge turned aside the other ten Hawk shots. The middle twenty was scoreless, as the offensive pace of the game slowed even more, and the home team then lost control of both their temper and the game early in the third period. Pilote was whistled for a high-stick on Tom Johnson, and bumped the referee in his haste to question the veracity of the call; the result was a Canadiens power play and the loss of Chicago's top blueliner for an additional ten minutes courtesy of a misconduct. Pilote had hardly gotten himself settled in the box before Beliveau (three shots, two hits) tapped in the rebound of Doug Harvey's drive from the point to tie the score and it was the visitors who had the better of the play in the final third of the game. But neither Hodge nor Glenn Hall would be breached again and the clubs skated off with a point apiece. [box] [stats]

Pierre Pilote's late penalty put Chicago in a precarious position

4 December 1960 - New York (0) at Detroit (7)

The Red Wings torched the Rangers for five goals in the second period on their way to a lopsided shutout win at the Olympia. A scoreless first period was largely controlled by New York, and thus gave little warning of the carnage that was to follow in the second. Murray Oliver and Norm Ullman struck thirty seconds apart six minutes into the period to start the scoring, and Ullman bagged a second four minutes later. Oliver was not to be outdone, however, and after Marcel Pronovost had scored at 13:35 to make the score 4-0, he became the second Wings center to score twice in the period when he redirected Allan Johnson's pass around the beleaguered Gump Worsley for the fifth score of the frame, in thirteen shots. While the heart wasn't completely beaten out of the visitors, who got ten third-period shots, Gump seemed to have had quite enough as two more of Detroit's final seven shots got past him with Ullman finishing his hat trick (on five shots) at 5:17. [box] [stats]

Norm Ullman's hat trick was only part of Detroit's demolition of the Rangers

7 December 1960 - Detroit (2) at New York (2)

Three days after their embarrassment in Detroit the Rangers had a chance to get back at the Wings in front of the Madison Square Garden crowd and, for two periods, it appeared as if they would do just that. But the wheels came off for New York in the final twenty minutes and the Red Wings scored twice to force a tie for which NY ended up feeling the most fortunate. Andy Hebenton (six SOG) scored in each of the first two periods, frames in which the home team had largely set the territorial pace as well, and the Rangers had to feel good about their chances of seeing out the win with twenty minutes left to play. But Norm Ullman, quickly becoming a New York nemesis, scored for the fourth time in two games to cut the lead in half at 4:23 and suddenly the entire game seemed to be confined to the Rangers' defensive zone. Wave after wave of Wings came at Gump Worsley and the home defence, and all of them broke except Warren Godfrey's snapshot at 9:23 which beat Worsley high to the stick side to tie the game at two apiece. The NY netminder, though, turned away the other fifteen Detroit shots of the period and the Rangers skated off the ice feeling as if they might have actually stolen a point from a game which they had controlled for forty minutes. [box] [stats]

Gump Worsley had to hang on for the tie in a game NY thought it had won

7 December 1960 - Montréal (2) at Toronto (0)

The Leafs outshot the Canadiens 41-30, but their six failures on the man advantage would come back to haunt them as they lost a crucial home opportunity to put pressure on Montréal at the top of the table. The visitors took the lead at 13:08 of the first behind a Claude Provost goal, but the chances started to come Toronto's way in the second - three Canadiens penalties in quick succession gave them five minutes of power-play action in a six-minute stretch, one of which was a 5-on-3, from which they came up completely empty. They had had much the better of the play through forty minutes, but were still trailing, and the dagger came at 12:06 of the third when, after two more failed man-advantage situations, Jean-Guy Talbot found the range from the back of the right circle for a 2-0 Montréal lead which Charlie Hodge would protect until the final horn. The Leafs finished the evening 0-for-6 on the power play while the visitors failed to get a single chance to play with the extra man as Toronto (just three hits) played a finesse game that controlled the shot counter but not the goalmouth. [box] [stats]

Jean-Guy Talbot's third-period goal spelled doom for Toronto

8 December 1960 - Chicago (0) at Boston (3)

The Bruins completely overran the Black Hawks at the Boston Garden, holding them to just fourteen shots on goal to win easily despite only beating Glenn Hall three times themselves. It was a sing of things to follow when Chicago only managed three shots in the opening period, and they were lucky to escape that with a scoreless tie. The home team stepped it up a notch in the middle twenty minutes, peppering Hall with nineteen shots, and finally broke through when Don McKenney scored a shortie just sixteen seconds after Dallas Smith was sent off for high-sticking to give the Hawks their only power play of the game. Gerry Ouelette's goal with 90 seconds to go in the second turned the screws on Chicago and Leo Labine ended any doubt when he wristed one past Hall three minutes in the final period. Bruce Gamble got what was likely to be the easiest shutout of his NHL career, and Johnny Bucyk (6) and Doug Mohns (7) each recorded as many shots on goal in the game as the entire Hawks team did in any single period of the contest. [box] [stats]

Jim Bartlett had two hits and a blocked shot in a suffocating Bruins defensive effort

10 December 1960 - New York (4) at Boston (3)

Gump Worsley made 43 saves and held Boston scoreless until his teammates had built a four-goal lead before settling for a one-goal win on the road. Dean Prentice opened the scoring ten minutes into the game with a steal at center ice and a breakaway goal on Bruce Gamble, but the Bs had the run of play which gradually built as the game moved on. They outshot the Rangers by nearly two-to-one in the second but it was New York that scored, Harry Howell drilling one home from the point after the puck was slid across to him by Bill Gadsby. A two-goal lead might have seemed large, even away from home given Boston's scoring challenges, but there was still the growing disparity in possession that hinted at a possible Bruins comeback. But owning the puck isn't quite the same as scoring the puck, as became clear when Prentice scored again at 5:23 of the third and when the home team failed to answer with even one for another ten minutes before Ken Schinkel made it 4-0 with just under five minutes left and disgruntled fans began to stream out of the Garden. But, whether it was fatigue or overconfidence, those last minutes were much more interesting than the fans now boarding their trains home at North Station would have guessed. Fern Flaman and Don McKenney grabbed goals on the same Boston shift with just over three minutes to go and it was suddenly a shooting gallery at the Ranger end. Worsley stopped a few chances cold before Charlie Burns got the third for Boston with about twenty seconds on the clock, and the Rangers had to weather a short spell of the extra Bruins attacker before they could finally be sure of the victory. [box] [stats]

Both Dean Prentice goals were necessary in an unexpected thriller in Boston

10 December 1960 - Detroit (1) at Montréal (1)

The Canadiens survived an uncharacteristically listless performance at the Forum behind Charlie Hodge's 32 saves and a second-period goal from Tom Johnson to salvage a point. The home team was pushed around the ice for the first twenty minutes as the Wings hit and skated their way to an 11-3 shot advantage, but there was no scoring so the visitors turned up the pressure in the second period. Outshooting Montréal by a three-to-one margin, they finally cracked through at 4:04 when Pete Goegan pinched down into the left circle and one-timed Norm Ullman's pass through Charlie Hodge's five hole. Things didn't turn in the Canadiens favor after that, as the Red Wings kept piling on the pressure but suddenly, in the waning seconds of the period, the Canadiens caught a lucky break. Marc Reaume's chip out of the Detroit zone to kill off the remainder of the period hit the linesman on the backside and dropped to the stick of Marcel Bonin; he poked it along the boards to Ralph Backstrom, and the Montréal center flipped it into the high slot where Tom Johnson was waiting to slap it on net. Perhaps Hank Bassen was screened, or perhaps he had relaxed in anticipation of the horn, but nevertheless, the puck got behind him with three seconds left on the clock and the game was tied. This seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Red Wings' resolve on the road, as they now found themselves in a scrap despite a 29-9 shot advantage, and they played like.a different team in the third. The physicality was still there (eleven total hits) but the offensive spark was gone, and the Canadiens would have the better of the play as the game wound down, although both teams seem resigned to settling for the draw that eventually played out. [box] [stats]

Warren Godfrey's four hits led Detroit's defence

10 December 1960 - Chicago (1) at Toronto (2)

All three goals in the game were scored during a two-minute span of the second period, and it was the Maple Leafs who got the extra goal from Frank Mahovlich to squeak by the struggling Black Hawks at home. After shaking off a Chicago power play in the first minute of the game, Toronto were the better team in the first, but neither team was able to score until Stan Mikita was caught with the blade of his stick under Bob Nevin's nose ninety seconds into the middle period. The Leafs took advantage of the extra man, Red Kelly finishing off a nice three-man play with Bert Olmstead and Bob Pulford in the final second of the power play. But, a minute later with the special teams front-liners getting a breather, Chicago's fourth line struck back behind Earl Balfour and matters were even once again. That situation lasted for fifty-eight seconds, when Mahovlich tipped Bob Baun's shot through the pads of Glenn Hall for a 2-1 Toronto lead. The final period saw chances for both sides, and one early power-play opportunity for  Toronto, but Hall and Johnny Bower kept it clean and the Hawks could not keep possession long enough in the final minute to get Hall off the ice for a sixth attacker until there were just twenty seconds left and that was too late. George Armstrong had nine shots on goal for the Leafs. [box] [stats]

Frank Mahovlich scores the decider at 5:26 of the second period

Standings as of 10 December 1960

Team	GP	W	L	T	PTS	Pct	GF	GA
Montreal Canadiens	27	17	5	5	39	0.722	115	71
Toronto Maple Leafs	28	17	10	1	35	0.625	96	75
Detroit Red Wings	27	12	11	4	28	0.519	68	62
New York Rangers	26	10	11	5	25	0.481	77	97
Chicago Black Hawks	27	8	14	5	21	0.389	63	74
Boston Bruins	29	6	19	4	16	0.276	66	106

League Leaders

Goals	Team	G
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	23
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	20
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	19
Ullman, Norm	Detroit	15
Mahovlich, Frank	Toronto	13

Assists	Team	A
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	31
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	26
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	23
Harvey, Doug	Montreal	23
Delvecchio, Alex	Detroit	21

Points	Team	PTS
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	54
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	46
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	42
Delvecchio, Alex	Detroit	32
Ullman, Norm	Detroit	32

Penalty Minutes	Team	PIM
Fleming, Reggie	Chicago	67
Richard, Henri	Montreal	67
Talbot, Jean-Guy	Montreal	54
Pilote, Pierre	Chicago	52
Mohns, Doug	Boston	50

Plus/Minus	Team	+/-
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	40
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	33
Johnson, Tom	Montreal	32
Langlois, Albert	Montreal	30
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	29

Goals-Against Average	Team	GAA
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	2.08
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	2.36
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	2.68
Hall, Glenn	Chicago	2.72
Plante, Jacques	Montreal	2.81

Save Percentage	Team	PCT
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	0.927
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	0.921
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	0.910
Hall, Glenn	Chicago	0.909
Plante, Jacques	Montreal	0.904

(Boxscores and stats from the BlueLynx hockey spreadsheet.)