1960-61 NHL Replay - week ending 3 December 1960

The end of the season's second month sees Toronto visiting Montréal in desperate need of a win to close the gap at the top of the League, and the struggling Black Hawks with a chance to make up some ground on the leaders as they face the Rangers and Bruins . . .

27 November 1960 - Montréal (5) at Boston (3)

The League's bottom team put up a fight against its top one, but never really threatened to win as the Canadiens used special teams play to bury the Bruins. A scrappy but scoreless opening ten minutes came to and end when Jean Beliveau scored just 0:22 into the power play on Fern Flaman's interference infraction, but Boston answered quickly on Johnny Bucyk's marker just sixty-three seconds later. Bill Hicke (six shots) scored with five minutes left in the first, and then again five minutes into the second, to put Montréal up 3-1 but the Bruins (15 SOG) actually pressed the play in the middle twenty minutes. The reward for this didn't come until early in the third, when Orval Tessier one-timed a Vic Stasiuk pass behind Charlie Hodge, and the Boston Garden crowd started to make some noise about their chances for an upset. But discipline failed Boston in the crunch, as Flaman hooked Geoffrion at the Boston blue line a minute later and Beliveau scored his second PPG of the game thirty seconds into the man advantage to restore the MTL two-goal lead. When Albert Langlois went off for boarding with eight minutes to go, there was a ray of hope for the home team, but the Pocket Rocket scored short-handed with just two ticks left on the penalty to put out the lights. [box] [stats]

Jean Beliveau's two power play goals are too much for Boston

27 November 1960 - Toronto (1) at Detroit (2)

Allan Johnson scored on the power play with three minutes left in the second period to put Detroit in front and Terry Sawchuk made 34 saves (14 in the final period) to frustrate the Leafs. The game's first goal came from the Wings, as Marcel Pronovost scored from Gordie Howe's feed with three minutes to go in the first, but the lead didn't last long; Bob Nevin stuffed home the rebound of Allan Stanley's shot with just five seconds left in the period to even the game at the first break. The second period was evenly played, but there was nothing on the scoreboard until Bert Olmstead got the whistle for tripping at 16:29, and Johnson cashed in by picking off a pass just outside the TOR blue line and skating in untouched to beat Johnny Bower. The final period was a goaltending clinic, as Bower and Sawchuk kicked away twenty-three shots between them and Detroit's slim edge was enough to earn them a win. Stanley and Murray Oliver each launched six shots on goal, and the Leafs went the full sixty minutes without being credited with a single hit. [box] [stats]

Allan Johnson's goal late in the second period allowed Detroit to edge Toronto

27 November 1960 - Chicago (2) at New York (4)

The Rangers scored three times in a six-minute stretch of the final period to overtake the scuffling Black Hawks. The clubs traded first-period goals, but Ab McDonald puts Chicago ahead with a score in the waning minutes of the second. New York had been at least even in puck possession, but had work to do to make that show on the scoreboard. With ten minutes to go, they were still being held at bay by Glenn Hall and the Hawk defence, but the dam broke at 11:43 when Dean Prentice was left alone at the back post and Don Johns put the puck right on his tape. Chicago seemed to deflate now that they had lost the lead, and it barely a minute had gone by when Ted Hampson skated onto the end of Harry Howell's pass and flipped the biscuit over Hall's pads for a 3-2 NY lead. With the visitors trying to press forward in the final minutes, Camille Henry spotted Johnny Wilson breaking into the offensive zone and the winger scored the insurance goal with about two minutes to go. League hit leader Lou Fontinato dished out three more, and Andy Bathgate had two hits on top of his seven shots on goal. [box] [stats]

Ted Hampson's third-period goal gives the Rangers the lead for good

30 November 1960 - Boston (1) at Chicago (1)

Bruce Gamble turned away 42 Black Hawk shots, but the one he didn't stop was enough to salvage Chicago a point and avoid an embarrassing home loss to Boston. The Bruins, who had won away from home just once in eleven games thus far, signaled some intent when Jerry Toppazzini whistled one over Glenn Hall's glove just 1:03 into the game and they held that lead all the way to the first intermission. But, five minutes into the second, Chicago got back  on level terms thanks to an unlikely source when Al Arbour found a path for his shot from the point to escape the view of an unsighted Gamble and hit the back of the net. With twenty minutes to go the score was still tied and the Chicago crowd was getting restless, but the dressing room talk from Rudy Pilous lit a fire under the home team. They came out skating hard to open the third and began to pepper Gamble with attempts from all directions while Boston could muster only six shots, as the only mystery became whether Gamble could weather the storm to the end; twenty-two times Chicago put the puck on net in the final period, and twenty-two times the young Bruins netminder got himself in the way to steal a point from a frustrated Hawks team that continued to lose ground in the standings. Bobby Hill was thwarted seven times by Gamble, while Leo Boivin threw his weight around to the tune of four hits. [box] [stats]

Bruce Gamble's 42 saves produced a point at Chicago

1 December 1960 - Boston (3) at Detroit (4)

The Red Wings jumped out to a big first-period lead, but needed Alex Delvecchio's goal with just over six minutes left to dispatch a pesky Bruins team which fought back to a third-period tie. Detroit led 3-1 after twenty minutes, on goals from Allan Johnson, Murray Oliver and Norm Ullman, but Gordie Howe's high-stick early in the second allowed Jerry Toppazzini to tally with the extra man and pull Boston to within a goal despite only four shots on goal in the period. Things got really tight for the Wings when Gerry Oullette scored five minutes into the final stanza to make the score 3-3, and the last twenty minutes erupted into a track meet with the teams skating back and forth and trading shots. The home team put nineteen pucks on Bruce Gamble, and needed all of them as only one got through - Norm Ullman scooped the rebound of Pete Goegan's shot to Delevecchio, and "Fats" made no mistake as he chipped the puck under the crossbar for the game-winner with six minutes to go as Terry Sawchuk made thirteen saves in the final twenty minutes. [box] [stats]

Alex Delvecchio's goal at 13:48 of the third secures two points for Detroit 

1 December 1960 - Toronto (4) at Montréal (2)

Johnny Bower stuffed 42 Canadien shots and Eddie Shack scored twice to lead the Maple Leafs to a huge road win which closed the gap at the top of the standings. After a scoreless opening period thoroughly controlled by the home team, Shack got Toronto on top when he scored at 2:43 of the second and Bower held Montréal off the scoresheet until there were just eight seconds to go in the period; Dickie Moore (ten SOG) found a way around Bower to tie the score, but Toronto won the ensuing face-off and Shack flew into the attacking zone and blasted a shot past Charlie Hodge with only one second left on the clock. The Leafs' one-goal lead became two when Tim Horton scored six minutes into the final period, but there was a bit of drama when Henri Richard got the home team back within a goal at 19:09. With their net empty, Montréal had a number of chances to score in the final minute before and after Billy Harris slid one into the empty net to short-circuit any hopes of a Canadien comeback. The Leafs defence corps combined for seven hits and three blocked shots. [box] [stats]

Eddie Shack was all smiles after his two goals upended Montréal

3 December 1960 - Boston (0) at Montréal (2)

"Boom Boom" Geoffrion scored a pair of goals and Charlie Hodge kept Boston off the scoreboard at the Forum. A brisk opening twenty minutes saw no scoring until Geoffrion connected on a tip in front off of an Albert Langlois drive, and the score stayed that way for the next forty minutes as Hodge and Bruce Gamble traded saves. But the run of play would eventually tip the scales for Montréal, and it was a tripping call on Dallas Smith at 8:58 of the third that opened the door. On the first Canadien possession of the power play, Geoffrion found a seam in the slot and slammed Jean-Guy Talbot's pass behind Gamble for his 20th goal of the season and a two-goal MTL lead. Boston, who came up empty on four man-advantage attempts, could not find an answer to the Canadien defence and Hodge recorded his first shutout of the campaign. Bernie's ten shots led Montréal, while fourth-liner Charlie Burns took ten of the B's 29 shots. [box] [stats]

Charlie Hodge shuts out Boston on 29 saves

3 December 1960 - New York (3) at Toronto (3)

Facing an unexpected two-goal deficit to the Rangers with twenty minutes to go, the Maple Leafs rallied to score twice in the final five minutes of the game to rescue a point at home. The visiting New Yorkers had powered their way to a 3-1 lead after two periods, behind second-period goals from Johnny Wilson and Red Sullivan (PPG) that punctuated a period in which the Rangers were clearly the better team. Toronto didn't really do much to change that perspective as the final period wore on, with NY giving as much as they took, but they got a big goal from Bob Nevin at 14:54 to change the complexion of the contest. With the crowd urging them on, the Leafs pushed forward, and George Armstrong finished off a scramble for the loose puck in front of Gump Worsley with just under two minutes left to salvage something from the evening for the home team. Johnny Bower had 36 saves and Ken Schinkel scored his second goal of the season on seven shots. [box] [stats]

George Armstrong's goal with two minutes on the clock gets Toronto a tie

Standings as of 3 December 1960

Team	GP	W	L	T	PTS	Pct	GF	GA
Montreal Canadiens	25	16	5	4	36	0.720	112	70
Toronto Maple Leafs	25	15	9	1	31	0.620	88	70
Detroit Red Wings	25	11	11	3	25	0.500	59	60
New York Rangers	23	9	10	4	22	0.478	71	85
Chicago Black Hawks	24	8	12	4	20	0.417	61	68
Boston Bruins	26	5	17	4	11	0.212	58	96

League Leaders

Goals	Team	G
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	22
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	20
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	19
Hicke, Bill	Montreal	12
Keon, Dave	Toronto	12
Mahovlich, Frank	Toronto	12

Assists	Team	A
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	30
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	26
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	23
Harvey, Doug	Montreal	22
Delvecchio, Alex	Detroit	19

Points	Team	PTS
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	52
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	46
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	42
Delvecchio, Alex	Detroit	30
Ullman, Norm	Detroit	27

Penalty Minutes	Team	PIM
Fleming, Reggie	Chicago	67
Richard, Henri	Montreal	67
Talbot, Jean-Guy	Montreal	50
Mohns, Doug	Boston	46
Balfour, Murray	Chicago	39
Hillman, Larry	Toronto	36

Plus/Minus	Team	+/-
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	40
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	33
Johnson, Tom	Montreal	31
Langlois, Albert	Montreal	29
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	29

Goals-Against Average	Team	GAA
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	2.24
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	2.51
Hall, Glenn	Chicago	2.74
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	2.81
Plante, Jacques	Montreal	2.81

Save Percentage	Team	PCT
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	0.921
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	0.919
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	0.906
Hall, Glenn	Chicago	0.906
Plante, Jacques	Montreal	0.904

(Boxscores and stats from the BlueLynx hockey spreadsheet.)