Norm Ullman powered the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-2 win over the Chicago Black Hawks last night and set an NHL playoff record en route. The Wings now lead their best-of-seven semi final with the Hawks three games to two.
Two goals in five seconds
Ullman scored the two fastest goals in Stanley Cup playoff history when he beat Chicago goalkeeper Glenn Hall twice in five seconds late in the second period. With the Hawks leading 2-1 at the time, Ullman’s heroics turned the tide in Detroit’s favour.
Not content with setting that record, Ullman added a third goal with just over two minutes to play to seal the deal for the Wings, putting the Black Hawks squarely on the ropes.
Chicago opened the scoring in an evenly played first period when Eric Nesterenko connected for his first of the series at 8:37. Detroit veteran Ted Lindsay pulled the Wings even in the last minute of the first with his third post-season goal.
Bobby Hull’s seventh goal put the Hawks up 2-1 at 14:59 of the middle stanza. Hull had just escaped the penalty box when he took a pass from Doug Mohns for a clear-cut breakaway on Wings netminder Roger Crozier. Hull faked, Crozier went down and the Golden Jet skated around and slid the puck into the yawning cage. Right there it looked like the Hawks were going to take over the series.
Then, Ullman took matters into his own hands.
He tied the score at 17:35 when veteran Bill Gadsby fed him a perfect pass. Ullman whipped a 45-footer past Elmer Vasko, who may have obscured Hall’s vision just enough. The Chicago goalkeeper was unable to corral the quick snap shot, which entered the net to his right.
The teams returned to centre ice for the faceoff. Ullman won the draw and pushed past Hawks centre Red Hay. The Detroit centreman took about six strides and fired a quick one which caught Hall completely by surprise, likely because he was screened by defenceman Matt Ravlich. He made a last-ditch attempt, but missed the long shot, and Ullman was in the record books. The 15,002 Olympia fans sat momentarily stunned before breaking, almost in unison, into a loud ovation.
The Hawks visibly sagged after that second goal and it was clear that they were going to have great difficulty getting back into this one. They only managed six shots at Crozier in the final frame, none of which proved to be anything more than routine for Crozier.
Ullman netted the only goal of the third at 17:59 to put the game out of reach. Using Hawk defenceman Ravlich as a screen on a rush once again, Ullman caught the short side on Hall, who, as on the two previous goals, did not have a good view of that shot.
Chicago coach Billy Reay wasn’t impressed with Ullman’s game, and bristled at comparisons made between Ullman and Stan Mikita.
“You can’t credit Ullman with a great game tonight. I don’t want to take anything away from him, but he scored two goals on 50-foot flip-shots. Don’t start picking on Mikita. Stan played two strong games in this series.
“Besides, you can’t judge a man’s play solely on the kind of goals Ullman scored. He just flipped them. I’m not discrediting Normie at all, but I wouldn’t say there has been that much difference between the two of them in this series.”
Ullman, always frugal with his words, described his big night thusly:
“I think Hall was screened a little on both goals. I was able to scoot past the defenceman on both. The first went between Pilote and Vasko. On the second Ravlich moved across in front of me just as the puck cleared my stick.”
The win may have been a costly one for Detroit. Defenceman Doug Barkley crashed head-first into the boards after missing an attempted check on Mikita early in the first period. He was knocked unconscious and had to be carried off on a stretcher. He was rushed to an area hospital for skull x-rays and was reported to be suffering a concussion.
OHA: Flyers have Marlies on the ropes
The Niagara Falls Flyers took a three games to none lead over the Toronto Marlboros in their OHA Junior A final series yesterday with a 6-1 shellacking of the reigning Memorial Cup champs.
Six players shared in the Niagara scoring with Don Marcotte, Bill Goldsworthy, Andre Lejeunesse, Ted Snell, Jean Pronovost and Derek Sanderson each counting once. Wayne Carleton was the only Toronto marksman.
It was a rough contest, with referee Hugh McLean kept busy all night. He handed out three game misconducts, three misconducts and four majors.