1960-61 NHL Replay - week ending 4 February 1961

Will the Maple Leafs ever lose again? Will a team other than Toronto ever win away from home again? Will League leader Jean Beliveau ever score a goal again? The answers to these questions, and more,  await us in the action from the first full week of February . . .

29 January 1961 - Detroit (6) at Boston (6)

A wild one at Boston Garden ended with two goals in the final minute of play, the second coming from Gordie Howe with the Detroit net vacant to snatch a point away from the Bruins at the final gasp. A five-goal first period gave a hint of things to come, Detroit going to the locker room with a a 3-2 lead after John Bucyk's goal late in the period had brought the Bs halfway back from an early two-goal deficit. Murray Oliver and Norm Ullman (four points, six shots) - the former first-line Wings center and the new one - exchanged goals twenty-three seconds apart in the middle of the second, and Andre Pronovost tied the game with five minutes left in the period on the power play after Howie Young had been chased from the ice for roughing up Charlie Burns in the corner. Boston was probably feeling pretty good about its chances in the third period, being at home and having outshot Detroit by ten over the first forty minutes, but it was the visitors who struck first in the final stanza when Howe beat Bruce Gamble to break the tie at 7:09. Don McKenney, though, knotted things back up at 12:14 and the two clubs braced for a tense final eight minutes of play. As the minutes ticked away, it looked as if the draw was inevitable, but Burns jumped off the Boston bench for a line change with a minute to go and Tom McCarthy's pass found him ahead of the pack by a stride and the Bruins center deked Terry Sawchuk to the ice before chipping it over him and into the back of the net for a 6-5 Boston lead. Sawchuk came off the ice immediately and Detroit won possession in the Boston end; passing around the perimeter led to a Gerry Odrowoski shot which Gamble parried, but the loose disk found the blade of Howe's stick and the Wings' captain banged it over the goal line with only seven beats left on the Garden clock. [box] [stats]

Gordie Howe scored twice, including the game-tying goal with 0:07 left

29 January 1961 - Montréal (0) at Chicago (1)

A close-fought contest at the Stadium was only decided when Stan Mikita scored on a broken play five minutes into the final period. It was something of an ill-tempered affair from the start, with two roughing calls in the first two minuets alone, but the Canadiens were the better team in the first period despite having nothing on the scoreboard to show for that when they skated off for the first intermission. But the second stanza, while featuring fewer infractions, was played much more conservatively and the twenty minutes passed with a total of only thirteen shots on goal and again no scoring. The Hawks picked up the pace a bit to begin the third, and a reward came at 5:26. Montréal were moving the puck across the Chicago blue line when Claude Provost and Jean-Guy Talbot collided on a line change and Al Arbour was the man on the spot to chip the free puck forward to Tod Sloan, who shot a quick pass cross-ice to Mikita streaking into the center of the ice, and Stan wristed it over Charlie Hodge and under the crossbar for the game's only goal. The Black Hawks did a good job of holding the Canadiens down the rest of the way - literally and figuratively, as Moose Vasko was called for holding at 14:08 - and frustration boiled over for MTL at the end as Marcel Bonin made the ill-advised choice to drop the gloves and pair off with Pierre Pilote in the final minute. [box] [stats]

Stan Mikita breaks free to score the game's lone goal

29 January 1961 - Toronto (5) at New York (2)

Three second-period goals, two by Allan Stanley, shot Toronto into a two-goal lead which was more than enough to put away the Rangers after a bumpy start. New York center iceman Earl Ingarfield had scored twice in the first nine minutes to pull the MSG crowd to its feet and Ron Stewart's score at 17:26 only served to dull the Ranger momentum as the home team skated off the ice for the first time full of vim and vigor. The middle period was an entirely different experience, however; while NY continued to control the puck for stretches, the finishing was all done by the Leafs. Stanley slapped home a Dave Keon feed four minutes after the restart to forge a tie, and George Armstrong scored after a scramble in front to give the Maple Leafs the lead just two minutes later. When Stanley (three points, four shots, two hits) again cashed in from range at 18:32 to make the score 4-2 for Toronto, the crowd had begun to turn on the fifth-place Rangers and many of them didn't bother to stick around for much of a proforma third period that saw no penalties and no scoring until Keon tacked one on with less than two minutes to go. Toronto's win was the League's first road win in ten days, snapping a string of thirteen straight games without a loss by home teams. [box] [stats]

Allan Stanley had a big day from the blue line for Toronto

1 February 1961 - Chicago (1) at New York (6)

The Rangers scored twice in each period to easily overcome the Black Hawks. By the time Camille Henry scored on the man advantage at 3:10 of the second period, it was already 3-0 for New York and Reggie Fleming's goal a minute later did little to slow them down. Pat Hannigan scored in the final minute of the period to settle matters, more or less, and Andy Hebenton and Dean Prentice (his second of the game) added goals in the final period. Gump Worsley, who had been battling a long stretch of mediocre form, was sharp with 23 saves although, to be fair, he was largely untroubled by a Chicago attack that continues to be among the League's most anemic. [box] [stats]

Dean Prentice bagged a pair in New York's easy win

2 February 1961 - Chicago (3) at Boston (5)

A pair of second-period special teams scores allowed the Bruins to build a big lead over the Hawks and the Boston defence held the visitors scoreless in the final period to secure the win at home. The Bs lead 2-1 after one period of play, Murray Oliver (on fire since his trade from the Red Wings) and Doug Mohns staked them to a two-goal cushion early before Bobby Hull got one back late in the frame. After the debris had been cleared from a Dallas Smith vs Reggie Fleming one-rounder early in the second, Leo Boivin was sent off for roughing after trying to instigate a second round of pugilism and Chicago had a golden opportunity to tie the game. But Johnny Bucyk broke the seal on the Hawks' PP at the Boston blue line and got a chance to go in on Glenn Hall one-on-one, a chance which he did not waste as he scored the SHG to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Bruins. Ab McDonald scored on the remainder of the power play a minute later, and it was a one-goal game again, but Boston struck twice in less than three minutes shortly thereafter to drive a stake in the Hawks. Don McKenney tallied at 12;05 and then Andre Pronovost got another on the power play at 14:55 while Eric Nesterenko was in the bin for interference. Nesterenko came out of the box to score with four minutes left in the period, but the damage had been done. The final period saw Smith get into another fight, this time with Bill Hay, and four man-advantage chances that went for naught as the home side saw out the duration. [box] [stats]

Dallas Smith had two fights, a hit and a blocked shot to lead Boston's defence

2 February 1961 - Toronto (4) at Detroit (2)

Red Kelly's three points led the Leafs over the Wings in a highly-entertaining contest at the Olympia. A thirty-one shot opening period left the crowd breathless, but disappointed, as Toronto took a 2-0 lead behind goals from Frank Mahovlich and Larry Regan before Allan Johnson could get Detroit on the scoresheet. Pete Goegan was sent off for hooking Mahovlich in the last minute of the period, and Bill Harris made that hurt with a PPG at 1:08 of the second to put the visitors back in front by a pair of scores. It was Kelly who placed the straw that finally broke Detroit's back, scoring nine minutes into the third to make it 4-1, and there was no way back for the Wings. Norm Ullman got a consolation prize with five minutes left, but the white-hot Leafs had won yet again to stamp their name atop the standings in bold print. [box] [stats]

Red Kelly had a goal and two assists for the Leafs

2 February 1961 - New York (4) at Montréal (0)

A tight game surprisingly got away from Canadiens at home as the Rangers scored three times in the final period to pull off one of the surprise results of the season thus far. The final scoreline was shocking enough, but the matter in which it was done was even more so - New York shredded the Montréal defence for 38 shots on goal, dominating the early part of the game before burying Les Habitants late after the home team had appeared to have finally found some direction. The opening period was almost all New York, as they outshot Montréal by nearly a two-to-one margin, but Charlie Hodge kept the home team on par with thirteen saves before Brain Cullen finally turned the Rangers' territorial advantage into a goal on the first shift of the second period. While the Canadiens were gradually tilting the ice back closer to level, New York was still creating plenty of chances and were certainly not sitting back to protect the one-goal lead away from home. It was still a 1-0 game about a third of the way through the final frame when the game shifted on a referee's whistle; at 7:17 Henri Richard was called for hooking Bill Gadsby, a call which which he vehemently disagreed. So vehemently, in fact, that he bumped the referee while explaining in great detail how Gadsby had embellished the contact and earned himself a misconduct. Gadsby, for his part, didn't care for the implication by Richard and the two decided to settle things with a few wild swings to the head at center ice. After all of this had been sorted out, the Rangers were left with a power play and Red Sullivan got the key goal at 8:34 to give NY some breathing room. It fell apart for Montréal from there, perhaps feeling the pressure from Toronto's invincible recent form, as Johnny Wilson scored three minutes later and Gadsby got the last laugh (with Richard still serving his misconduct) with a late fourth. Gump Worsley made 34 saves to earn the whitewash and Sullivan's two points and seven SOG led New York. [box] [stats]

Red Sullivan supported Gump Worsley's shutout work wth a goal and an assist

4 February 1961 - New York (2) at Boston (0)

Gump Worsley recorded his second straight shutout, running his scoreless streak to 156 minutes, and the Rangers sat on two first-period goals for fort-plus minutes to win a game they perhaps didn't quite deserve if not for Gump's heroics. The beer was still cold when Andy Bathgate got New York on top with a one-timer from Bill Gadsby's pass at 1:56, and the dogs were still fairly warm when Camille Henry slithered to the front of the Boston goal to tap home the rebound of Bathgate's shot to make it 2-0 at 7:20. While the Bs have been a tough out at the Garden, coming from behind with limited offensive weapons has not been their forte and this posed an early problem. They threw their resources forward and gave it the old college try, outshooting NY 11-4 in the period, but failed to get to Gump in the opening twenty after which it became clear that the Rangers were going to "park the bus" and play to hold down the fort in front of him the rest of the way. The visitors only had twenty shots for the game, as they packed the defence in and tried to bully Boston away from the doorstep. John Hanna took on Bob Armstrong with the fists late in the first, and Red Sullivan did the same with Aut Erickson early in the third, but the New York transgressions were well-timed as they only gave Boston two power plays on the evening. The final period was largely one-way traffic aimed at the NY goal, but Gump was in the middle of a purple patch and was not going to be blemished as he finished with 34 saves and a frustrated Bruins team shaking its collective heads on their way to the changing room. [box] [stats]

Gump Worsley swats the puck away from Don McKenney for one of his 34 saves

4 February 1961 - Chicago (1) at Montréal (4)

The Canadiens were desperate for a win, coming off a a shock loss to the Rangers at home and watching the Maple Leafs run roughshod over the League for the last month, and they (eventually) found the right partner in the scuffling Black Hawks. Not that it came easily - a cagey first period ended up in Chicago's favor when Jean-Guy Talbot hauled Bill Hay down from behind late in the period and Hay converted the penalty shot for the first goal of the game. But Montréal's stars would come out in the second to seize control - Jean Beliveau, who had failed to score a point in five straight games despite leading the League in scoring, got off the mark with a goal at 10:33 off an assist from Bernie Geoffrion and then, ninety seconds later, Dickie Moore and Henri Richard teamed up to put Bill Hicke in position to make it a 2-0 game. In the third, the home team turned on the jets for the first time in what seemed like weeks - 21 shots and special-teams goals from Tom Johnson (PPG) and Claude Provost (SHG) inside the first sox minutes put the game away and the Canadiens coasted home behind Charlie Hodge's 29 saves. [box] [stats]

Charlie Hodge stopped 29 Chicago shots to give Montréal the space to pull away

4 February 1961 - Detroit (0) at Toronto (4)

The Maple Leafs got two Frank Mahovlich goals and 17 saves from Johnny Bower in a dominating performance at home to win their fifth straight game and extend their unbeaten streak to sixteen games. Toronto didn't waste any time in getting rolling, as Mahovlich scored just eighty-nine seconds into the game and the Leafs skated rings around the Hawks for the entire period (14 shots to 5) before Eddie Shack made it 2-0 at 14:15. The rest of the game was really a formality - Chicago could never mount any sustained offence, getting just 127 shots on goal, while Toronto peppered Terry Sawchuck with 38 pucks. Mahovlich got his second on the PP (his 34th of the season) to pull within two goals of Beliveau for the League lead and Shack also got a brace when he beat Sawchuk midway through the final period. Tom Horton had four hits for the Leafs, while Pete Goegan handed out three for Detroit to take a firm grip of the NHL lead in that category. Toronto has not lost since a 2-1 defeat at New York on New Year's Day, going 11-0-5 in 1961 since then. [box] [stats]

Eddie Shack's presence in front of goal netted him two scores in Toronto's win

Standings as of 4 February 1961

Team	GP	W	L	T	PTS	Pct	GF	GA
Toronto Maple Leafs	52	31	13	8	70	0.673	179	123
Montréal Canadiens	50	29	13	8	66	0.660	199	130
Detroit Red Wings	51	21	20	10	52	0.510	141	138
Chicago Black Hawks	52	18	27	7	43	0.413	126	152
New York Rangers	50	17	26	7	41	0.410	135	184
Boston Bruins	51	14	31	6	34	0.333	133	186

League Leaders

Goals	Team	G
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	36
Mahovlich, Frank	Toronto	34
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	30
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	28
Ullman, Norm	Detroit	26

Assists	Team	A
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	44
Kelly, Red	Toronto	41
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	39
Harvey, Doug	Montreal	33
Ullman, Norm	Detroit	33

Points	Team	PTS
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	80
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	69
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	60
Ullman, Norm	Detroit	59
Kelly, Red	Toronto	58

Penalty Minutes	Team	PIM
Fleming, Reggie	Chicago	133
Pilote, Pierre	Chicago	114
Talbot, Jean-Guy	Montreal	108
Richard, Henri	Montreal	100
Mahovlich, Frank	Toronto	82

Plus/Minus	Team	+/-
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	51
Langlois, Albert	Montreal	50
Johnson, Tom	Montreal	46
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	45
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	39

Goals-Against Average	Team	GAA
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	2.33
Hodge, Charlie	Montreal	2.42
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	2.69
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	2.70
Plante, Jacques	Montreal	2.81

Save Percentage	Team	PCT
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	0.922
Hodge, Charlie	Montreal	0.919
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	0.910
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	0.909
Hall, Glenn	Chicago	0.904

(Boxscores and stats from the BlueLynx hockey spreadsheet.)