Paul Henderson’s reputation as a clutch goal scorer continues to grow. The fleet Detroit Red Wings winger was at it again last night in Toronto. He scored the tying goal with one second left on the clock as the visiting Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs skated to a 3-3 tie. The game in Toronto was one of three NHL games on the schedule. In the other two contests, the New York Rangers bombed the Boston Bruins 9-2 and Montreal and Chicago sawed one off, 2-2.
Henderson: Right Place, Right Time
Henderson, who has eight game-winning goals this year, was in the right place at the right time for his dramatic tying goal last night. The Red Wings pulled goalie Roger Crozier in the final minute for an extra attacker. They managed to force a faceoff in the Toronto zone with about six seconds left. Norm Ullman picked up the puck in the corner and as the clock wound down, he fired a pass to the front of the goal to Henderson.
The pass was deflected and struck the handle of Henderson’s stick, directly between his two gloved hands. The puck bounced directly off the stick and into the net past Leaf netminder Terry Sawchuk, who had no chance on the play. The goal was Henderson’s second of the game.
Leafs, who saw it another way, were upset with referee Vern Buffey. Toronto protested that Henderson had kicked the puck into the net, but Buffey was having none of that.
Ullman scored Detroit’s other goal. He opened the scoring at 1:36 of the second period on a nice combination play with Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio. Leafs were a man short at the time.
Toronto scorers were Dave Keon, Ron Ellis and Frank Mahovlich. Mahovich’s goal had given the Leafs a 3-2 lead with less than seven minutes to play.
Despite Henderson’s two goals, the real star for Detroit in this one was Crozier. He faced 41 Toronto shots and made some spectacular saves. He was especially great in the first period. The Leafs could have put the game far out of reach had it not been for Crozier.
Nevin, Ratelle Lead Rangers
Bob Nevin and Jean Ratelle scored two goals each to lead the New York Rangers to a lopsided 9-2 thrashing of the Boston Bruins last night in New York. The Rangers completely dominated the Bruins,, outshooting them 42-16.
New York led only 2-0 after the first, but fired three second-period markers to go up by five. They were ahead 9-0 in the final frame when they backed off a bit and allowed the Bruins a couple of late tallies.
Besides Nevin and Ratelle, the other Ranger goal getters were Vic Hadfield, Reg Fleming, Bill Hicke, Earl Ingarfield and Garry Peters.
Pit Martin and Ron Stewart connected for Boston.
Hull Injured in Hawks Tie
Bobby Hull scored his 45th goal of the season for the Chicago Black Hawks, but was also injured in their tie game against Montreal last night in Chicago. Hull injured his knee in a freak accident.
The incident occurred in the second period and was the result of a strange collision between the Golden Jet and Montreal’s Claude Provost. Hull was carrying the puck in his own zone, as is so often the case, Provost was chasing him.
Hull changed direction while coming out of the corner and suddenly decided to go behind his own net. Provost moved to pass in front of the Chicago goal. Somehow their skates locked and both men crashed into the net. Provost went down heavily and struck his head on the ice. He ended up inside the net.
Hull’s leg wrapped around the goal post as he went down. Amazingly, both players managed to regain their feet, with the help of trainers. Hull played only one more shift in the game. It was a valuable one, as he scored Chicago’s first goal before retiring the for the night. After the goal, he left the game and went directly to hospital for x-rays. Ken Hodge took Hull’s place for the rest of the game.
Pierre Pilote, the all-star Chicago defenseman who is out with a broken thumb, had a good view of the whole thing. He said he had never seen anything like it:
It’s a miracle one of them wasn’t killed.
Provost played the rest of the game and was one of Montreal’s best on the night.
After a scoreless first period, Montreal opened the scoring with Dick Duff’s 10th goal of the season. It was also a milestone marker for Duff – the 200th of his NHL career. He appeared to catch Chicago goalie Glenn Hall napping. He beat Hall with a quick 50-foot wrist shot.
Hull’s goal left the score tied 1-1 at the end of two.
Henri Richard gave Montreal a 2-1 lead at 11:45 of the final frame, Fifty-six seconds later, Chicago’s Kenny Wharram connected for his 18th of the year to make the final 2-2.
London Coach, Manager Suspended
A strange story is unfolding in London as the Nationals of the Ontario Hockey Association Junior A league have had their coach and manager suspended. The pair were suspended after a player revolt over an incident in a game Friday night at Treasure Island Gardens in London. Arena manager Ebbie Bishop has taken over behind the bench for the time being.
General manager Art Lawson and Coach Jack McIntyre were suspended by team president R. L. Bonnie as a result of the player revolt. Bill Hanley, secretary-manager of the Ontario Hockey Association said Lawson was banned by the league because of gestures he made at referee Merle Glassford during Friday’s game.
Problems had existed between McIntyre and Lawson since mid-season. Whatever the disagreement was, it reached a breaking point during Friday’s game against the Montreal Junior Canadiens. Apparently the players had enough.
A player delegation led by captain Neil Clark went to Bishop’s office demanding their views be heard. Their dissatisfaction had been intensified when Lawson was banished from the London bench late in the game.
Bonnie explained the situation as best he could:
The players were not happy with what happened. But basically they were torn between two loyalties – the manager and the coach.