1960-61 NHL Replay - week ending 24 December 1960

Not a great time for the Hawks to be embarking a four-day, three-city road swing, just as they are starting to feel a little breath on the back of their necks from the last-placed Bruins, but the two clubs will face off in Boston in the middle of that trip . . .

18 December 1960 - Montréal (3) at Boston (4)

Two third-period goals and staunch late-game defence gave Boston an improbable win over the Canadiens at the Boston Garden. An opening period that was largely controlled by the visitors ended in a deadlock when André Provonost scored against his old club at 11:53 and Dickie Moore equalized just over a minute later. The middle period featured some wide-open hockey (30 total shots) which would have typically favored Montréal, but it was the Bs who scored first, Jim Bartlett doing the dirty work in front of Charlie Hodge's cage. But the pace of play gradually told, and the Canadiens scored twice in the remainder of the period to take the lead. Marcel Bonin answered Bartlett's goal two minutes later and it was then Bartlett's penalty for holding that allowed Henri Richard to score on the power-play at 15:01 to put Les Habs in front. Things were certainly pointed in Montréal's direction when the third period began, but the game had taken on a different character; shots were suddenly harder to come by and hits were being handed out liberally on both ends of the ice. It would be Bartlett again, though, who would influence the game, as "Rocky" muscled his way through two defenders to tuck in an Orval Tessier pass at 6:19 to force the game back into a tie. The Bruins were slowly but surely putting a stranglehold on a Canadiens offence that had rarely been held back this season, and were on the lookout for one more chance to steal a win. That came at 9:48, when Vic Stasiuk, promoted to the top-line pivot in the absence of Don McKenney, teamed up with Johnny Bucyk and Jerry Toppazzini to work the puck through the crease where Stasiuk was waiting at the post to jam the puck under Hodge's left pad. Boston was clearly energized by the lead and the crowd, and their defense squeezed Montréal like a python over the second half of the period; the Canadiens' final shot on goal of the game would come with 4:20 to go and the Bruins held on for the two points. Dickie Moore had a goal and three hits in the losing cause, and Bruce Gamble made 32 saves for Boston. [box] [stats]

Jim Bartlett scored twice to power Boston to an upset win

18 December 1960 - Detroit (6) at Chicago (2)

The Red Wings scored twice in the game's first two-and-a-half minutes and then used a three-goal second period to bury the Black Hawks in front of an incredulous Chicago Stadium crowd. All of the concern surrounding Chicago's poor form over the past month came to a head soon after the opening face off, when Alex Delvecchio found himself all alone in front of Glenn Hall to score at 1:56 and Murray Oliver then doubled the lead just thirty seconds later. The cat calls rained down on the ice and, even though the home team did get one back through Al Arbour late in the period, the unrest in the building was still obvious during the intermission. Detroit again struck in the opening moment of the period, Howie Glover scoring at 1:13 of the second, but the Hawks stayed in touch when Ab McDonald converted a penalty shot at 13:06. They were getting outskated, however, and it eventually told as Pete Goegan and Allan Johnson tallied a minute apart late in the period to make it 5-2 and a considerable number of patrons left the building before the third period even began. All they missed was Delvecchio's second goal of the game, which they probably wouldn't have cared to see anyways, and the Hawks fell to 0-9-2 in their last eleven games; they have not won a contest in over a month since defeating Boston on November 17th. Gordie Howe had three assists for Detroit. [box] [stats]

Gordie Howe assisted on three of the six Red Wing goals

18 December 1960 - Toronto (2) at New York (2)

Bob Nevin's goal with a little over seven minutes left tied the score and enabled the Maple Leafs to walk away with a point from a scrappy little affair in Manhattan. A physical opening period saw twenty-six penalty minutes, including an entertaining round of boxing between Red Sullivan and Eddie Shack (who apparently has no love lost for his recent former teammates), but no scoring and the game stayed that way until Dick Duff put Toronto on the scoreboard first early in the second period. But the Rangers answered back quickly, Ted Hampson and Sullivan potting goals three minutes apart to jump the home team into a well-earned lead which they took into the second intermission. But they couldn't hold on for twenty more minutes - Toronto turned it up a notch in the third, and Red Kelly controlled the rebound of Tim Horton's shot at 6:38 and backhanded the puck over the Nevin for the game-tying finish. New York got a chance to win the game with the man advantage when Horton (two hits, two blocked shots) took a bad penalty with 2:30 to go, but the Ranger power play came up empty for the fourth time on the evening and the game ended in a draw. Andy Bathgate was everywhere for the home team, with two assists, seven shots on goal and three hits. [box] [stats]

Andy Bathgate was a constant thorn in Detroit's side at MSG

21 December 1960 - Chicago (4) at New York (0)

The long drought finally ended as the Black Hawks earned their first win in 35 days through suffocating defence and two points each from Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita. The tone was set early as Earl Ingarfield and Ron Murphy dropped the mitts only three minutes into the game; there were twenty penalty minutes in the first period, and only ten shots, but despite the scoreless result the visitors had clearly started their intent to get back in the win column through grit and grind. The Hawks would land fourteen hits in the game and their physicality began to tell on the Rangers in the middle period. Chicago won a loose puck along the boards  five minutes into the period and Mikita found Ab McDonald streaking down the wing for a finish that opened to scoring in the Hawks' favor. Late in the period, Lou Fortinato got sent off for tripping, and Mikita cashed in on the power play to give the visitors a two-goal lead with twenty minutes to play. This time, Chicago wasn't letting their guard down - they held NY under twenty shots for the game and Hull scored twice in the third period to salt the game away. The Hawks' commitment to work rate was evidenced by the fact that nine different skaters landed at least one hit (three for Pierre Pilote) and Hall earned his second shutout of the season. [box] [stats]

Stan Mikita had a goal and an assist to give Chicago a 2-0 lead

22 December 1960 - Chicago (4) at Boston (2)

Chicago left its team defense behind in New York, but Glenn Hall bailed them out in the tough end of a back-to-back as he made 36 saves to frustrate the Bruins. The Hawks were in real danger of getting put to sleep in the opening period, as their heavy legs were obvious from the start - Boston outshot them 15-3 in the first period, but they survived thanks to Hall to go to the dressing room clutching to a scoreless tie. Aut Erickson's power-play goal just seventy-four seconds into the second, however, had them on the back skate again almost immediately but Hall and Stan Mikita would come to the rescue. The Czech pivot scored two minutes after Erickson to tie the score quickly and then, as Chicago was gradually getting their feet beneath them, he and Ab McDonald scored two minutes apart to give the visitors a 3-1 lead at the second break. The third period was a shooting gallery - twenty-nine total goal attempts and, although the Bruins closed to within one when Jerry Toppazzini tallied at 8:51, Hall was immense and Bill Hay's power-play goal with nine minutes remaining was all of the cushion he would require. Pierre Pilote adminstered three more hits for Chicago, while Willie O'Ree had an assist and six shots on goal for the Bs. [box] [stats]

Glenn Hall might have felt like he was alone at times, but his 36 saves were the difference

24 December 1960 - Chicago (2) at Montréal (6)

Chicago's newly-found momentum disappeared in the face of the Montréal attack and a third road game in four nights, as Bill Hicke and Don Marshall each scored twice and the Canadiens held the Hawks to just nineteen shot attempts. Despite being pressed almost from the outset, Chicago got on the scoresheet first when Murray Balfour tipped home Ab McDonald's centering pass at 7:29. But their fatigue was perhaps in evidence when Marshall picked Jack Evan's pocket at the Hawks' blue line and skated in alone to beat Glenn Hall at 10:45 to make it a 1-1 game. But the second period was all bleu, blanc et rouge as Dickie Moore and Ralph Backstrom scored eighteen seconds apart in the middle of the frame and Hicke then cashed in Evan's interference penalty with just over a minute left in the period. It seemed as if the home team had the game well in hand at 4-1, but they didn't play as if that were the case, launching seventeen third-period shots at the beleaguered Hall; Hicke and Marshall each got their second of the game (on six shots each) and Henri Richard finished with two assists. [box] [stats]

Don Marshall scored twice to help the Canadiens dispatch the Hawks

24 December 1960 - Detroit (2) at Toronto (2)

Allan Stanley scored with four seconds to go and the Toronto net empty to steal a point from the Red Wings at Maple Leaf Gardens. The last-gasp game-winner was Stanley's second score of the game, as he opened the evening's accounting with a goal just 1:25 into the game to put the Leafs up early. Gordie Howe countered at 9:18 and an entertaining opening period ended with the teams locked up at one goal apiece. Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk were proving to be tough nuts to crack, as the low-scoring tie dragged on through a scoreless period and then late into the third. With just under three minutes on the clock it looked as if the Wings had seized two points away from home when Marcel Pronovost's drive found its way past Bower to make the sore 2-1, but the game's full story was not quite written yet. With a minute to go, the Leafs got possession and Bower skated to the bench for an extra forward; as time ran out, Bob Baun reached out at the blue line to keep the puck in the Detroit end and Stanley pounced on the loose disc, skated into the left circle and flicked a shot off the tip of Sawchuk's glove and into the net just before the horn sounded.  [box] [stats]

Allan Stanley had two goals for Toronto, including the game-tying score with :04 left

Standings as of 24 December 1960

Team	GP	W	L	T	PTS	Pct	GF	GA
Montreal Canadiens	33	21	6	6	48	0.727	138	83
Toronto Maple Leafs	33	18	12	3	39	0.591	112	90
Detroit Red Wings	32	14	12	6	34	0.531	83	74
New York Rangers	32	11	15	6	28	0.438	86	118
Chicago Black Hawks	33	10	18	5	25	0.379	78	97
Boston Bruins	33	9	20	4	22	0.333	81	116

League Leaders

Goals	Team	G
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	28
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	23
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	22
Ullman, Norm	Detroit	16
Hicke, Bill	Montreal	16

Assists	Team	A
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	34
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	30
Harvey, Doug	Montreal	27
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	26
Howe, Gordie	Detroit	23

Points	Team	PTS
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	62
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	53
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	48
Ullman, Norm	Detroit	38
Delvecchio, Alex	Detroit	35

Penalty Minutes	Team	PIM
Fleming, Reggie	Chicago	83
Richard, Henri	Montreal	71
Talbot, Jean-Guy	Montreal	64
Mahovlich, Frank	Toronto	55
Pilote, Pierre	Chicago	54

Plus/Minus	Team	+/-
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	45
Johnson, Tom	Montreal	41
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	38
Langlois, Albert	Montreal	36
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	33

Goals-Against Average	Team	GAA
Hodge, Charlie	Montreal	1.92
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	2.07
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	2.54
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	2.68
Plante, Jacques	Montreal	2.81

/tbody>

Save Percentage	Team	PCT
Hodge, Charlie	Montreal	0.929
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	0.992625
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	0.916
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	0.912
Plante, Jacques	Montreal	0.904

(Boxscores and stats from the BlueLynx hockey spreadsheet.)