1960-61 NHL Replay - week ending 11 March 1961

The magic number in the NHL is two - two points separate both the top two teams and the two clubs fighting for the final playoff spot, with two weeks to go in the season . . .

5 March 1961 - Montréal (0) at Boston (4)

Don McKenney had two goals and an assist and Bruce Gamble stopped 33 Canadiens shots, as Boston put the brakes on Montréal's coronation parade. The visitors were looking to put Toronto away in the title race, with back-to-back home games against the bottom half of the League, but the Bruins (who have been a tough nut to crack at home with a 13-16-5 record, despite their secluded position in the basement) had other ideas. They skated the Habs to a standstill for much of the first, and got the early goal when Jerry Toppazzini turned in a Charlie Burns saucer pass at 4:33. The Canadiens pressed forward after the break, outshooting Boston by more than two-to-one in the second period, but it was the Bs who cashed in when Tommy McCarthy tallied just two minutes after the restart. This turnabout seemed to sap some of Montréal's resolve as the game wore on and Boston controlled the final twenty minutes, and McKenney grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck with two goals in 78 seconds with about six minutes left in the game. Gamble recorded his second shutout with an outstanding performance, holding the Canadiens off the board in the early going while they had the run of play and then standing firm after Boston had found its way back into the game. Dallas Smith provided fine support with two hits, a blocked shot and a +4. [box] [stats]

Bruce Gamble thwarted Montréal at every turn for his second shutout

5 March 1961 - Toronto (3) at Chicago (2)

A battle between two clubs both playing desperately for something late in the season lived up to the billing, as the Maple Leafs needed to score twice in the final period to come from behind and tighten up the title race. The two teams traded early goals as their nerves settled, and the game then moved into a close-checking affair where neither side appeared willing to take chances - Toronto could only muster four shots in the middle period, while the Black Hawks failed to trouble Cesare Maniago with eleven shots of generally low quality. Chicago struck early in the third, however, Stan Mikita scoring his 11th of the season at 1:16 by jamming home the rebound of Kenny Wharram's shot from the slot. This opened the game up, and the scoring chances began to come; the Leafs tied the game six minutes later on Bert Olmstead's one-time off of Tim Horton's pass. That left about twelve minutes of hockey from which neither side could afford to be satisfied with a single point, and it was the visitors who found a way to get that second standings point. Just past the midway mark of the period Bob Pulford rushed into the Chicago zone and dropped the puck to Allan Stanley, who blasted one into the top shelf past a tardy Glenn Hall from twenty feet and the Toronto defense (led by five hits from Horton and Carl Brewer) held off the Hawks for the win. [box] [stats]

Allan Stanley's third-period goal kept Toronto's title hopes alive

5 March 1961 - Detroit (5) at New York (4)

With a spot in the playoffs seemingly there for the taking the Rangers imploded in the final five minutes, allowing the Red Wings to score three times to steal a 5-4 victory in front of a shocked assemblage at Madison Square Garden. It had been a fairly quiet game for forty minutes, the two clubs each scoring once and only cracking ten shots in a period once, but all of that went out the window in the third period. Johnny Wilson and Gerry Odrowski scored in the first five minutes to make it a 2-2 game, and then New York took control in the middle of the stanza. Andy Hebenton scored at 7:45 to give the home team the lead, and then Camille Henry scored his second goal of the game (and his career-high 35th of the campaign) at 13:37 to give them a two-goal gap with just six minutes left. But things started to go awry for the Ranger defence when Gordie Howe broke through the defense for a breakaway with four minutes to go and scored to cut the lead to one, and NY fell apart in the final minute. With the goalie pulled for a sixth skater Warren Godfrey slammed the puck home from the point to tie the game, but it seemed as if at least a point was safe for New York with only fourteen seconds left on the clock. But, incredibly, Detroit won the ensuing faceoff and a quick chip into the Ranger zone caught the Blueshirts completely flat-footed as Odrowski - with one goal to his credit all season before tonight - skated over the blueline unmarked and drove a shot between Gump Worsley's legs for his second of the game with just eight seconds remaining. [box] [stats]

Gerry Odrowksi triples his goal count with a pair, including the late winner

7 March 1961 - Boston (2) at Detroit (3)

The Red Wings controlled the game against the Bruins, but still required a third-period goal from Norm Ullman to pocket all of the points at the Olympia. Detroit whistled seventeen shots at Bruce Gamble in the opening period, but it was Boston who jumped in front after former Wing Murray Oliver and Don McKenney scored about two minutes apart in the middle of the period. It looked like things might be on the verge of getting worse for the home team when Howie Young was sent off for a slash late in the period, but Alex Delvecchio scored short-handed in the final minute to give the Wings some life and the weight of possession finally began to tell in the second period as Gordie Howe tied the game with an even-strength wrist shot at 13:39. Boston tried to park the bus in the final period and play for the tie away from home, holding the Wings to six shots, but Ullman whipped one of those beyond Gamble's reach at 8:40 to put Detroit in front and the visitors had nothing to offer in response. The four Detroit defensemen combined for ten hits, and Pete Goegan added a pair of assists. [box] [stats]

Norm Ullman (#7) finishes the Detroit comeback with a third-period winner

8 March 1961 - Chicago (1) at New York (5)

This one was probably going to decide ownership of the final spot in this season's playoffs, with the Rangers looking to avoid a third-straight season without a postseason and the Hawks attempting to qualify for the third straight year after a long period in the NHL wilderness. Both clubs were trying to exercise the demons which had arisen from more than two decades without hoisting a Stanley Cup, but the drama and excitement in Manhattan over those significant stakes didn't last long - Camille Henry scored just two minutes into the game, and New York followed with three more first-period goals (two from Andy Hebenton to reach the 30-goal mark) to run Chicago out of the building and, probably, out of contention. While Stan Mikita would get one back from Chicago early in the second, NY slammed the door shut behind Andy Bathgate's score at 17:31 and the visitors went to their fate meekly with only six third-period shots which Gump Worsley handled easily. [box] [stats]

Andy Hebenton scored twice to reach thirty tallies for the second time

9 March 1961 - Detroit (2) at Boston (5)

André Pronovost and Don McKenney each scored twice, and the Bruins scored four of the first five goals of the game to distance themselves from the Red Wings in Boston and earn a split of their home-and-home series. Pronovost and McKenney scored two minutes apart in the middle of the first period to put Boston on top by two, and McKenney (six goals in his last four games) added a shortie early in the second to restore the two-goal lead after Allan Johnson had notched a power-play goal for Detroit late in the first. As the second period expired, with Detroit outshooting Boston but  the Bruins doing the scoring, Pronovost set up Doug Mohns creeping in from the right point for a slapshot goal at 19:33 and the Bs were in the driver's seat. Johnson scored his second of the game seven minutes into the final period to briefly restore some semblance of drama, but the Bruins were dominating play late in the game and Pronovost finished it off by finishing his own brace two minutes later with Marcel Pronovost (no relation) in the box for holding. [box] [stats]

André Pronovost scored twice in a comfortable Boston win

9 March 1961 - New York (3) at Montréal (3)

Jack McCartan stopped 39 Montréal shots and Don Marshall's late goal evened the honors at the Forum, as both clubs moved one point closer to locking up their place in the playoffs. It took the Canadiens almost the full twenty minutes to get their reward for an opening period which they controlled, when Henri Richard finished a give-and-go with Bill Hicke at 17:38. Jean-Guy Gendron's goal thirty seconds into the second made it 2-0 and it was starting to look like a long night for the young American netminder but Bill Gadsby got one of the goals back five minutes later and, by the end of the second, it was still 2-1 and McCartan seemed to have turned the corner from shaky to sharp, having already blocked 28 pucks. The two hottest forwards on the Rangers' roster pulled them back in the third, Andy Hebenton scoring inside of three minutes to tie the score and Camille Henry putting New York ahead with four-and-a-half minutes to play. As good as McCartan had been (especially given that he came into the game with a dreadful 0.817 save percentage, and hadn't played in an NHL game since mid-November), he came up a single save short as Marshall (G, A, seven SOG) beat him with 1:20 remaining just as Jacques Plante was heading to the Canadiens' bench. Andy Bathgate remained among the League shots on goal leaders by teeing up nine pucks for the Rangers. [box] [stats]

Jack McCartan recaptured some of his Olympic glory with 39 saves

11 March 1961 - Boston (1) at Montréal (5)

After dropping a point to the Rangers two nights ago, the Canadiens were in no mood for toying around with the Bruins who, while pesky, had only won five of their thirty-two road games as the team bus pulled up at Sainte-Catherine Street. Boston worked the corners and the boards aggressively to start, short-circuiting Montréal's skating game, but the Canadiens were prepared to make the necessary sacrifices as they out-hit and out-blocked the visitors. The style of play brought the grinders to the fore, and the bottom six for Les Habitants responded - Ralph Backstrom gave them the lead late in the first period, Phil Goyette doubled that midway in the second, and Don Marshall made it 3-0 early in the third while Jacques Plante was holding the Bs off of the scoresheet entirely. Charlie Burns finally broke the whitewash bid at 8:01, but Henri Richard countered two minutes later and Jean-Guy Talbot capped the scoring with Montréal's fith at 12:01. That final goal came off a pass from Jean Beliveau, and the assist gave Le Gros Bill a 100-point season for the first time in his already prolific and decorated career. [box] [stats]

Jean Beliveau's 100th point was the highlight of a Canadiens win over Boston

11 March 1961 - Chicago (4) at Toronto (3)

Another late-season game with something on the line for both teams - the Leafs needing a win to stay tucked into Montréal's wake at the top of the standings, and the Hawks teetering on the edge of elimination from the Cup playoffs. Chicago looked like they needed it more than Toronto after the puck was dropped, outshooting the home team 11-3 in the opening period, but Eric Nesterenko's early goal was canceled out when Pierre Pilote was called for tripping midway through the period; not only did the call put Pilote atop the League leaders in penalty minutes, it more importantly gave Frank Mahovlich the chance to score on the man advantage and tie the game. The middle period saw no scoring, and not much in the way of action, but things broke apart in the third. Bobby Hull scored (28) inside of three minutes to put the Black Hawks back in front, Murray Balfour backed that up four minutes later, and Nesterenko scored his second to send Chicago up 4-1 with a little over seven minutes left. Of course, nothing has come easy for Chicago this season and this would not, either - Bert Olmstead made a Jack Evans penalty hurt with a PPG within a minute of Nesterenko's goal, and Mahovlich scored again (his 47th) with forty-five seconds to go and the crowd on its feet pleading for more. But there was no more to come as Glenn Hall and the Hawks held on, and left the Leafs staring up at a three-point deficit to the top with just four games left on the schedule. Chicago meted out eleven hits in the evening, Stan Mikita leading the charge with three. [box] [stats]

Bobby Hull had two points, a hit and seven shots in Chicago's win

Standings as of 11 March 1961

Team	GP	W	L	T	PTS	Pct	GF	GA
Montréal Canadiens	66	39	17	10	88	0.667	260	174
Toronto Maple Leafs	66	38	19	9	85	0.644	225	164
Detroit Red Wings	66	31	25	10	72	0.540	193	175
New York Rangers	66	23	34	9	55	0.417	201	241
Chicago Black Hawks	66	22	36	8	52	0.394	156	194
Boston Bruins	66	18	40	8	44	0.333	163	250

League Leaders

Goals	Team	G
Mahovlich, Frank	Toronto	47
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	44
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	40
Henry, Camille	New York	37
Moore, Dickie	Montreal	33

Assists	Team	A
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	56
Kelly, Red	Toronto	54
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	50
Nevin, Bob	Toronto	48
Harvey, Doug	Montreal	44

Points	Team	PTS
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	100
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	90
Kelly, Red	Toronto	79
Mahovlich, Frank	Toronto	77
Ullman, Norm	Detroit	74

Penalty Minutes	Team	PIM
Pilote, Pierre	Chicago	146
Fleming, Reggie	Chicago	145
Talbot, Jean-Guy	Montreal	123
Richard, Henri	Montreal	121
Shack, Eddie	Toronto	110

Plus/Minus	Team	+/-
Johnson, Tom	Montreal	59
Beliveau, Jean	Montreal	52
Langlois, Albert	Montreal	52
Geoffrion, Bernie	Montreal	49
Kelly, Red	Toronto	46

Goals-Against Average	Team	GAA
Hodge, Charlie	Montreal	2.37
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	2.41
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	2.61
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	2.65
Plante, Jacques	Montreal	2.84

Save Percentage	Team	PCT
Hodge, Charlie	Montreal	0.921
Bower, Johnny	Toronto	0.919
Bassen, Hank	Detroit	0.912
Sawchuk, Terry	Detroit	0.909
Hall, Glenn	Chicago	0.904

(Boxscores and stats from the BlueLynx hockey spreadsheet.)