Oh, the inconsistency of youth.
Only 24 hours after practically standing on his head in beating the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston rookie goaltender Jack Norris surrendered 10 goals as the Detroit Red Wings drubbed the Bruins 10-3 at the Olympia in Detroit.
Norris, replacing the injured Ed Johnston in goal for Boston, is certainly learning about the ups and downs of big-league hockey in his rookie season. After an inauspicious debut in which he had to use Johnston’s gear because he lost his equipment in Toronto, he has had stretches where his play has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous. This week is a perfect example.
To be fair, the kid did face 57 Detroit drives last night as the Red Wings put on an inspired performance. The Bruins seemed to be spent after their emotional win over the Black Hawks in Chicago the night before and offered little resistance to the Red Wing attack. Norris was completely on his own for much of the night.
It’s a very unusual night when an NHL team manages to score 10 goals, and to make the occurrence even more out of the ordinary, 10 different Detroiters scored the goals. Norm Ullman was the best of the Wings, as he added four assists to his goal for a five-point night. That moves Ullman into second place in the NHL scoring derby.
The Red Wings scored early and often to end the first period leading 5-1. Gordie Howe opened the scoring at 2:05 and was followed by markers from Pit Martin, Val Fonteyne, Floyd Smith and Gary Bergman. Reggie Fleming’s 18th goal of the season got the Bruins on the board late in the period.
The onslaught continued in the middle frame, with Ron Murphy and Alex Delvecchio adding a couple of more Wing goals. Teddy Green had a goal for the Bruins in between those two.
In the final 20 minutes, Tommy Williams scored early for Boston before the Wings fired three more. Defenceman Doug Barkley, Ted Lindsay and Ullman finished out the scoring giving the Wings their highest one-game goal total since March, 1953.
The win moves the Red Wings into a three-point lead in the NHL standings over Montreal, who climbed into second place by downing Toronto 4-1.
Habs wear down listless Leafs
One would think that as the NHL season winds down, the defending Stanley Cup champions would be rounding into form, priming themselves for a defence of their title. That doesn’t appear to be the case for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who now have one win and two ties in their last 11 games. Last night’s game against the Canadiens in Montreal was basically a microcosm of the entire 1964-65 season.
The Leafs skated right with the Canadiens for the first period, which ended scoreless. Referee Vern Buffey whistled eight penalties in the opening frame, four to each club, but neither could cash in on the power play opportunities. The penalty situation kept the play fairly even, and that was reflected in the shots on goal, which were 9-8 in favour of Montreal.
Montreal took over the game in the second period. They outshot Toronto 16-8, but managed to score only once, thanks mainly to the fine work of Leaf netminder Terry Sawchuk. Former Maple Leaf Dick Duff opened the scoring only 45 seconds into the middle stanza.
Toronto completely fell apart in the final 20 minutes as Canadiens pumped three more goals past a beleaguered Sawchuk. Jean Beliveau scored the final two Habs goals after John Ferguson had scored what proved to be the game-winner. Don McKenney had the only Toronto goal, briefly making the score 2-1 for Montreal.
Ferguson, whose rough-and-tumble style belies his scoring ability, has been a real Leaf-killer this season. His goal last night was the sixth time this season he has bulged the twine behind a Toronto goalkeeper. It came off a 25-footer that picked a corner on Sawchuk.
Ferguson described his goal and bemoaned the loss of another:
“I had lots of room to let that one go. I just missed another after that when Carl Brewer managed to step in front of my high flip.”
Ferguson also thought that right wing Claude Larose deserved an assist on his goal:
“Claude shot the puck in before it hit Baun’s skate. Any other rink the guy gets an assist.”
Beliveau’s second goal was the only power play goal of the night. It came after Sawchuk had been given a minor penalty for slashing rookie Gary Peters, and then a misconduct was tagged on when he argued a bit too strenuously with Buffey. The final straw for Buffey was when Sawchuk gestured with his stick towards the referee.
Peters pleaded innocent at the notion of any wrongdoing on his part that prompted the Sawchuk slash nd subsequent tantrum.
“I guess Sawchuk was pretty sore. I accidentally hit him on the back of the legs when he was behind the net. He did not connect with the goalie stick. I got my glove up in time.”
Charlie Hodge played a tidy game in goal for Montreal, making 26 saves. The win moves Montreal into second place, one point up on the third-place Black Hawks.
OHA playoffs – Petes eliminate St. Catharines
The Peterborough Petes were the first OHA team to claim victory in a playoff series this year as they eliminated the St. Catharines Black Hawks with a 6-1 win to take their quarter-final series four games to one. Meanwhile, in Oshawa the Generals evened up their series with the Niagara Falls Flyers at 1-1 as they downed the Flyers 5-3.
Redmond leads Petes
Mickey Redmond was the scoring star for Peterborough with a pair of goals. Danny Grant, Dale Watson, Leo Thiffault and Andre Lacroix added the others. Wayne Maki of the Hawks ruined Chuck Goddard’s shutout bid.
Buchanan hat trick shoots down Flyers
Ron Buchanan’s three goals paced the Oshawa attack against Niagara Falls. Linemate Bill Bannerman scored the other two General goals. Derek Sanderson, Gilles Marotte and Bud Debrody replied for the Flyers.
