1960-61 NHL Replay - week ending 28 January 1961

The Canadiens visit Toronto midweek with first place on the line, and there is a five-player swap between Detroit and Boston as the Wings look to build up their experience heading towards the playoffs while the Bruins aim to get younger as they look ahead to next season . . .

22 January 1961 - Boston (1) at Chicago (2)

Murray Balfour's goal in the final minute of the second period separated the teams after nearly forty minutes of tight-checking hockey, and Glenn Hall then shut the Bruins down the rest of the way to earn the two points at home for the Black Hawks. After fifteen scoreless minutes of a choppy game, Bobby Hull got the scoring underway when he was set up by Bill Hay at the edge of the right-hand face-off circle, but the Bs answered immediately on Leo Boivin's long-range effort 23 seconds later that eluded a screened Hall to tie the score. The second period continued the defensively-minded approach from both clubs, with only fourteen shots on goal combined, but the final one would turn out to be the game-decider. Hay led the Hawks across the Boston blue line on a 3-on-2 rush in the final minute of the period and backhanded the biscuit to Balfour, who snapped a shot under the armpit of Bruce Gamble and into the back of the net at 19:06 to put Chicago up 2-1. The pace picked up considerably in the final twenty minutes as the Bruins chased the game and Chicago looked to counter, but there was no scoring and three power plays went unrewarded (the two teams were 0-for-10 on the game). Hall finished with 27 saves and Balfour with eight shots on goal. [box] [stats]

Murray Balfour had eight shots at net, including the eventual game-winning goal

22 January 1961 - New York (5) at Detroit (5)

A crazy stretch if play that saw nine pucks elude the goalies in the span of twenty-three minutes wasn't enough the decide the honors at the Olympia as Johnny Wilson's goal with a little over seven minutes to go was the final straw in a ten-goal tie. The Rangers led 1-0 after the first period and tripled their lead when Andy Hebenton and Camille Henry scored midway though the second. This set off a flurry of Detroit scoring - the Wings got all three of those back in the bat of an eyelash when Val Fonteyne, Gerry Melnyk and Pie McKenzie all lit the lamp in the span of fifty seconds - and the clubs entered the third period tied at three goals apiece. Gordie Howe scored a shortie and Hebenton a PPG on the same Marcel Pronovost penalty in the opening minute of the period (the final twenty would see seven minors whistled) and then Howie Glover gave the Wings a 5-4 lead at 5:12. The home team defended this slight edge for seven minutes before Wilson found a seam in which to bat home the loose puck after John Hanna's shot, and the game was tied again, this time for good. Hebenton had three points and Fonteyne five shots for Detroit. [box] [stats]

Johnny Wilson's goal ended a scoring frenzy and earned the Rangers a point in Detroit

23 January 1961 - TRADE

Boston sent forwards Leo Labine (age 29; 5G, 15A, 39PIM, -12 in 40 games) and Vic Stasiuk (age 31; 7 G, 20 A, 25 hits, -14 in 46 games) to Detroit in exchange for wingers Gary Aldcorn (age 25; 2G, 5A, -14 in 46 games) and Tom McCarthy (age 26; 30G, 24A in 45 games at Sudbury of the EPHL), and center Murray Oliver (age 23; 8G, 10A, +0 in 46 games). "We're getting younger players," Boston coach Milt Schmidt told reporters. "and while we gave up two hard-working players, we had to give something to get something." About the young pivotman Oliver, Schmidt said, "For my money, he should have been the Rookie of the Year (last season) instead of finishing second. He's a fine skater and definitely the big man in the deal as far as I'm concerned."

25 January 1961 - Boston (3) at New York (4)

The home-standing Rangers built a 3-0 lead in the first half of the game but still had to survive some tense late-game moments to nip the visiting Bruins at MSG. Earl Ingarfield had scored the only goal of the game's opening period, and then Harry Howell and Johnny Wilson struck two minutes apart early in the second to send New York well clear. But Boston would start ot chip away, with Don McKenney shaving their deficit down to a pair with a goal in the middle of the second, and John Bucyk's tally a minute after the second intermission making it just a one-goal game. Andy Hebenton relieved the tension somewhat when he was sprung loosed by Camille Henry for a goal at 6:08 but, when Jerry Toppazzini poke-checked Irv Spencer at center ice and went in alone to beat Gump Worsley at 15:45, the Bs had four minutes to find the one score they needed to salvage a point. The Ranger defence, though, held firm behind a pair of blocked shots by Don Johns and the Blusehirts secured the win in front of a nervous crowd. [box] [stats]

Andy Hebenton had a goal and an assist, including a vital third-period score

25 January 1961 - Montréal (3) at Toronto (3)

The crowd on Carlton Street was in full voice as the Canadiens came to town with first place on the line, and the Leafs responded with a dominant first-period performance that saw them outshoot the visitors 13-5. But they failed to score, and it was Montréal who drew first blood when Jean-Guy Talbot scored four minutes into the second period. Toronto was still having the better of the run of the play, however, and got even quickly when Tom Horton ripped one home from the top of the circle four minutes later. Late in the period, Dickie Moore and Frank Mahovlich traded goals and the two teams went to the dressing room for the second time with nothing settled. Once again it was the Canadiens who got onto the front foot first, as Gilles Tremblay scored four minutes into the third, and again the Maple Leafs had an answer when Allan Stanley's slapper found twine at 7:04. The visitors had found their sea legs by this point, and the final period was a even contest; but when Eddie Shack and Ralph Backstrom went off for fighting at 16:23 to reduce the final four minutes of the game to four-a-side, it was clear that neither team had the jump left in them to strike the fatal blow. Henri Richard was the pick of the skaters with three assists, a hot and a blocked shot, while Bob Nevin led the Leafs with seven shots on goal. [box] [stats]

Henri Richard's three assists spelled trouble for Toronto

26 January 1961 - Toronto (5) at Boston (5)

Toronto blew a 3-1 lead in the second period, and a 4-3 one in the third, and had to scramble back to earn the tie when Dick Duff scored with less than five minutes to go. A quiet first period came to life after twelve minutes when Frank Mahovlich scored shorthanded after Bert Olmstead had been caught holding the stick of defenseman Aut Erickson. Erickson extracted revenge with a goal on the same man advantage just 67 seconds later, but Mahovlich continued to climb the list of the League's scoring leaders when he potted his second of the period with a minute left to give the Leafs the lead. Eddie Shack's goal a minute into the second appeared to give the visitors a big leg up, but the cellar-dwelling Bruins have been a tough nut to crack at home, and they got to level terms again after John Bucyk scored at 15:02 of the second and Murray Oliver scored a PPG at 3:26 of the third for his first goal wearing the Spoked B. Boston were having much the better of the positional play, but Allan Stanley scored at 8:31 to put TOR back in front before Oliver scored again at the midway mark of the period to force another tie. A little over a minute later, Bob Baun and Fern Flaman got into a fracas after Baun had cross-checked Bucyk to the ice and the Bs got a 4-on-3 chance which Don McKenney cashed in to give Boston the lead for the first time with just under seven minutes to play. But Duff lobbed what looked a like routine chance at the net at 15:32 and, somehow, it got through Bruce Gamble and over the line to tie the score again and that was how the game ended. Mahovlich had two goals, two hits and six shots on goal while Oliver used ten shots to earn his pair of scores. [box] [stats]

Murray Oliver scored two goals in his second game for Boston

26 January 1961 - Chicago (1) at Detroit (5)

The Wings scored four times in the first thirteen minutes and then coasted to an easy win at home over the Hawks. New Red Wing Vic Stasiuk scored an unassisted goal at 4:29, and Allan Johns followed that just fifteen seconds later with a a one-timer from the right circle to quickly make the score 2-0. Detroit's third line got rolling later in the period, Parker MacDonald and Val Fontenye scoring on successive shifts for the tertiary trio, and the Black Hawks found themselves staring up at a 4-0 deficit on the road. Detroit checked their way to a scoreless second before a PPG early in the third by Murray Balfour gave them at least the appearance of a pulse. Norm Ullman slammed to door with a man-advantage goal with five minutes to go, however, and Terry Sawchuk finished up with 25 saves against the one blemish. Warren Godfrey was the man at both ends of the ice for Detroit, assisting on three of their goals while also notching two hits and a blocked shot for a +3 evening. [box] [stats]

Warren Godfrey blocks a Chicago shot; the defenseman also had three helpers

28 January 1961 - Detroit (3) at Montréal (4)

The Canadiens used a three-goal second period to overcome a valiant performance by the Red Wings at the Forum. After Henri Richard had made the most of a Marcel Pronovost slashing penalty with a power-play marker at 7:27 of the opening period, Detroit fought back hard away from home. Pronovost scored on his next shift after escaping the box, and Allan Johnson got the visitors a PPG and the lead at 12:14 with League +/- leader Albert Langlois off the ice for running Leo Labine head first into the left-wing boards. The visitors had to feel good about their game at the first intermission but Montréal, and specifically fourth-line center Phil Goyette, had other plans for the second period. Goyette scored his fourth goal of the season at 7:02 and his fifth eight minutes later, Gilles Tremblay providing the primary assist on both, to jump the Canadiens into a 3-2 lead and then Cliff Pennington (in his first appearance of the season) scored at 17:47 to double that advantage heading into the third to make the teams' moods much different at the second break than they had been at the first. Alex Delvecchio scored for Detroit twelve minutes into the third period, and Detroit had a chance, but they couldn't crack Charlie Hodge again and Jean-Guy Gendron dished out three hits to knock the Wings off of their game. [box] [stats]

Phil Goyette's two tallies were instrumental in Montréal's win

28 January 1961 - Chicago (1) at Toronto (3)

The Toronto defense held the Hawks to just 21 shots on goal and Red Kelly scored one goal and assisted on a second to earn the Leafs a win. Kelly teamed up with Frank Mahovlich and Bob Nevin to score the lid-lifter at 9:41 of the first, and the Maple Leaf defence held Chicago off of the scoresheet for nearly thirty minutes before Bill Hay tied the game at 9:57 of the second. Despite superiority in possession, the Leafs found it hard to dent the Chicago goal, and it took another eight minutes before the mounting pressure told. After an extended stretch of play in the Black Hawks' end, Allen Stanley gathered the long rebound off of Dave Keon's wrister and fired the puck off the post and in to put TOR back in front. Toronto suffocated Chicago in the final twenty minutes - just six shots on goal - and Nevin scored a power-play goal in the final minute, after Moose Vasko's frsustration had turned into a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, to put the game away. Bob Baun had three hits to anchor the backline for the home team. [box] [stats]

Bob Baun ties up Bobby Hull in front of the net as the Leafs strangle the Hawks

Standings as of 28 January 1961

Team	GP	W	L	T	PTS	Pct	GF	GA
Montreal Canadiens	47	28	11	8	64	0.681	195	124
Toronto Maple Leafs	49	28	13	8	64	0.653	166	119
Detroit Red Wings	48	21	18	9	51	0.531	133	124
Chicago Black Hawks	48	17	24	7	41	0.427	120	137
New York Rangers	46	14	25	7	35	0.380	121	178
Boston Bruins	48	13	30	5	31	0.323	122	175

League Leaders

Goals	Team	G
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	35
Mahovlich, Frank	Toronto	31
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	30
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	28
Ullman, Norm	Detroit	23

Assists	Team	A
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	43
Kelly, Red	Toronto	38
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	37
Harvey, Doug	Montreal	33
Three tied with		31

Points	Team	PTS
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	78
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	67
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	59
Kelly, Red	Toronto	54
Ullman, Norm	Detroit	54

Penalty Minutes	Team	PIM
Fleming, Reggie	Chicago	124
Talbot, Jean-Guy	Montreal	104
Pilote, Pierre	Chicago	90
Richard, Henri	Montreal	81
Mahovlich, Frank	Toronto	78

Plus/Minus	Team	+/-
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	51
Langlois, Albert	Montreal	51
Johnson, Tom	Montreal	46
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	44
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	38

Goals-Against Average	Team	GAA
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	2.39
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	2.45
Hodge, Charlie	Montreal	2.47
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	2.70
Plante, Jacques	Montreal	2.81

Save Percentage	Team	PCT
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	0.920
Hodge, Charlie	Montreal	0.917
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	0.914
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	0.910
Hall, Glenn	Chicago	0.905

(Boxscores and stats from the BlueLynx hockey spreadsheet.)