Game 55: Detroit 2 at Chicago 4

Detroit Red Wings suffered a blow to their playoff hopes with yet another loss to last-place Chicago Black Hawks, 4-2 at Chicago Stadium.

Jack McIntyre scored two power play goals as Black Hawks finished their season series with Detroit, 3-0-1. Black Hawks (4-14-1) are 1-14-0 versus the rest of the league.

With the loss, Red Wings (6-10-3) remain tied in points with New York Rangers for the fourth and final playoff spot, but Rangers have a game in hand. Rangers host Montreal later this week.

If Red Wings and Rangers finish tied in points, Detroit will go to the playoffs based on season series (2-1-1).

But the loss by Red Wings means that Rangers can clinch the playoffs if they manage three points in their final two games---versus Montreal and at Boston.

McIntyre's first goal came with just five seconds remaining in the first period and gave Black Hawks a 2-0 lead.

McIntyre made it 3-0 with his second goal at 3:49 of the second period as Detroit's Red Kelly was serving a five-minute major for spearing.

John Bucyk beat Al Rollins at 9:56 of the second period to draw Detroit to within two goals, but Ken Mosdell answered 1:23 later to restore the three-goal cushion. The goal was Mosdell's first point of the season.

Red Wings managed just 19 shots on goal for the entire game.

Alex Delvecchio scored at 9:10 of the third period but Red Wings could get no closer.

1st Period
CHI- Kennedy (Skov, Ingram) 11:40
CHI- McIntyre (Mortson, Litzenberger) PPG 19:55

2nd Period
CHI- McIntyre (Mortson, Litzenberger) PPG 3:49
DET- Bucyk (Pronovost, Kelly) 9:56
CHI- Mosdell (Martin, Watson) 11:19

3rd Period
DET- Delvecchio (Howe, Kelly) 9:10

SOG
DET 4-5-10 = 19
CHI 8-9-6 = 23

PP: DET 0-1; CHI 2-4

Goalies
DET- Hall
CHI- Rollins


McIntyre's two PPGs were the key to Chicago's win

Game 54: Chicago 1 at Toronto 3

Barry Cullen's goal with 1:12 left in the second period broke a 1-1 tie and proved to be the game winner as Toronto Maple Leafs defeated Chicago Black Hawks, 3-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens.

The win lifted Toronto (10-6-2) into second place with two games remaining in the season. Maple Leafs lead Boston Bruins by one point, with the two teams meeting in Boston in their next game.

Maple Leafs killed off seven Black Hawk power plays, including a five-minute major early in the third period. On top of that, Toronto made good on one of their two power plays.

Cullen's goal came from 40 feet out, above the face-off circle. His wrist shot somehow made it through several players and eluded goalie Al Rollins to the stick side.

Chicago's Wally Hergesheimer tied the game at 5:51 of the second period when he deflected Nick Mickoski's shot past Ed Chadwick.

Dick Duff opened the scoring at 9:02 of the first period, redirecting Bob Baun's shot past Rollins.

Chicago had 14 shots on goal to Toronto's four in the third period, but Maple Leafs tallied the only goal---Ron Stewart's power play marker at 10:48.

1st Period
TOR- Duff (Baun, Morrison) 9:02

2nd Period
CHI- Hergesheimer (Mickoski, Pilote) 5:51
TOR- Ba. Cullen (Morrison, Baun) 18:48

3rd Period
TOR- Stewart (Sloan, MacNeil) PPG 10:48

SOG
CHI 8-10-14 = 32
TOR 11-9-4 = 24

PP: CHI 0-7; TOR 1-2

Goalies
CHI- Rollins
TOR- Chadwick



Cullen's 40-foot wrist shot somehow made it past Rollins for the game-winning goal

Game 53: Boston 0 at Montreal 4

Montreal Canadiens clinched first place with a 4-0 victory over Boston Bruins at the Forum.

Canadiens (14-4-0), who started the season 0-2, scored two power play goals, and Jacques Plante made 30 saves.

Bruins (10-7-1) dropped their second straight game and lead third place Toronto by just one point, with Maple Leafs having a game in hand.

Dickie Moore and Jean-Guy Talbot scored power play markers, while Bud MacPherson and Don Marshall rounded out the scoring. MacPherson's goal was his first point of the season.

Canadiens boast the league's best power play, connecting at a robust 32 percent clip.

Plante was superb, turning back several Boston scoring chances.

Bruins, entering the game, had a slim chance of finishing first---if they won their remaining three games and Montreal lost theirs.

But Canadiens quickly dispelled any thoughts of a Bruins revolt when Moore deflected Maurice Richard's shot past Terry Sawchuk just 4:26 into the first period.

Talbot scored at 6:55 of the second period and Canadiens were on their way to capturing the league title.

The win guarantees Montreal home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

1st Period
MON- Moore (M. Richard, Beliveau) PPG 4:26

2nd Period
MON- Talbot (Harvey, M. Richard) PPG 6:55
MON- MacPherson (Leclair) 10:23

3rd Period
MON- Marshall (Leclair, Talbot) 16:46

SOG
BOS 9-10-11 = 30
MON 15-13-5 = 33

PP: BOS 0-3; MON 2-4

Goalies
BOS- Sawchuk
MON- Plante


Talbot had a goal and an assist as Canadiens clinched first place

Game 52: Detroit 2 at New York 3

Parker MacDonald's goal at 4:15 of the third period lifted New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden.

The win was Rangers' third in a row and vaulted them into a tie for fourth place with Detroit. Both teams have identical 6-9-3 records, but Red Wings hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, having won the season series with Rangers, 2-1-1.

Billy Dea had tied the game, 2-2, with a high wrist shot over Gump Worsley's shoulder at 3:29 of the third period, but MacDonald found the twine just 46 seconds later, burying a low wrist shot that seemed to fool Detroit goalie Glenn Hall.

Red Kelly deflected Gordie Howe's shot past Worsley at 9:15 of the first period to open the scoring. The goal came on Red Wings' lone power play of the game.

Harry Howell scored his first goal of the season with just 15 seconds remaining in the period. Rangers held a 19-8 shot advantage after 20 minutes.

Dave Creighton slapped a rebound past Hall at 12:42 of the second period to put Rangers ahead, 2-1.

There were only three penalties called the entire game, and none after the first period.

Red Wings are 4-9-1 after a 2-0-2 start.

Bill Gadsby and Dean Prentice each had two assists for Rangers.

Rangers' remaining schedule is tougher than Detroit's. New York plays Montreal and Boston, while Red Wings play Chicago and Toronto. However, Red Wings are 0-2-1 against the last place Black Hawks.

1st Period
DET- Kelly (Howe, Delvecchio) 9:15
NY- Howell (Prentice, Gadsby) 19:45

2nd Period
NY- Creighton (Bathgate, Prentice) 12:42

3rd Period
DET- Dea (Reibel, Bucyk) 3:29
NY- MacDonald (Gadsby, Hebenton) 4:15

SOG
DET 8-7-13 = 28
NY 19-7-13 = 39

PP: DET 1-1; NY 0-2

Goalies
DET- Hall
NY- Worsley


MacDonald has six goals but no assists this season

Game 51: New York 5 at Chicago 1

Bronco Horvath scored twice within the last two minutes of the second period, breaking open a close game, and New York Rangers completed a season series sweep of Chicago Black Hawks with a 5-1 victory at Chicago Stadium.

Rangers (5-9-3) are 4-0-0 versus Chicago but 1-9-3 against the rest of the league. Still, Rangers are within two points of fourth place Detroit, and host Red Wings in their next game.

Chicago's (3-13-1) misery continues, as Black Hawks' impotent offense again reared its head.

Rangers fired 40 shots on goal to Chicago's meager 19.

Parker MacDonald, Dave Creighton and Bill Gadsby scored in the first period, staking Rangers to a 3-1 lead.

Harry Watson scored the lone goal for Black Hawks.

One of the few bright spots for Black Hawks was successfully killing off a five-minute major penalty to Ron Ingram (boarding) early in the second period.

1st Period
NY- MacDonald (Gadsby, Hebenton) PPG 6:00
NY- Creighton (Bathgate, Prentice) 11:17
NY- Gadsby (Horvath) 17:19
CHI- Watson (Lalande, Pilote) 18:17

2nd Period
NY- Horvath (Murphy, Sullivan) 18:04
NY- Horvath (Murphy, Sullivan) 19:08

3rd Period
No scoring

SOG
NY 12-20-8 = 40
CHI 8-5-6 = 19

PP: NY 1-4; CHI 0-1

Goalies
NY- Worsley
CHI- Rollins


Horvath salted game for Rangers late in the second period

Game 50: Boston 1 at Detroit 2

Ted Lindsay and Alex Delvecchio scored within 22 seconds of each other in the first period, and that was all Detroit Red Wings needed in a 2-1 win over Boston Bruins at Olympia Stadium.

Both Detroit goals were deflections of shots that eluded Boston goalie Terry Sawchuk, whose brilliance kept the game close.

Larry Regan scored at 18:08 of the second period on the power play to draw Bruins within one.

Red Wings outshot Bruins, 38-22 and were able to kill off four out of five Boston power plays. In the game's final minute, with Sawchuk pulled for an extra attacker, Detroit's Glenn Hall made a couple of crucial saves to preserve the victory for Red Wings (6-8-3), who pulled ahead of fifth place New York by four points. Rangers have a game in hand.

The win was much-needed by Red Wings, who came into the game in a 3-8-1 rut. But Red Wings still didn't get any scoring from a line other than Delvecchio, Lindsay and Gordie Howe, an issue that has plagued them for most of the season.

With the loss, Bruins (10-6-1) cling to a one-point lead over Toronto for second place and home ice advantage in the semi-finals.

A key moment came early in the third period.

Boston's Jack Bionda drew a double minor for high sticking, but Red Wings couldn't extend their 2-1 lead---mostly due to Sawchuk's acrobatic saves. Then, less than two minutes after Bionda's penalty expired, Detroit's Billy McNeill was whistled off for tripping. Yet Red Wings penalty killers held the lead.

1st Period
DET- Lindsay (Delvecchio, Arbour) 8:17
DET- Delvecchio (Lindsay, Godfrey) 8:39

2nd Period
BOS- Regan (Stasiuk, McKenney) PPG 18:08

3rd Period
No scoring

SOG
BOS 8-8-6 = 22
DET 11-14-13 = 38

PP: BOS 1-5; DET 0-6

Goalies
BOS- Sawchuk
DET- Hall


Delvecchio's deflection of Lindsay's shot proved to be the game-winner

Game 49: Montreal 3 at Toronto 4

Sid Smith scored two goals and George Armstrong fired in the game-winner with 4:10 left in the third period, as Toronto Maple Leafs upset Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Armstrong finished a nifty 3-on-2 with Tim Horton and Rudy Migay, beating Jacques Plante with a low wrist shot to the glove side. The goal provided Maple Leafs with their only lead of the game.

Toronto (9-6-2), with the victory, moved to within one point of second place Boston, though Bruins have a game in hand.

Montreal (13-4-0) remains five points in front of Boston.

Smith scored in the first and second periods as Toronto matched Montreal, goal-for-goal, all night.

Migay's power play goal, a deflection of Armstrong's shot, tied the game, 3-3, at 18:56 of the second period.

Bert Olmstead got Montreal on the board early, with a goal at 1:43 of the first period.

Smith's first goal tied the game at 5:01.

Jean Beliveau's power play goal at 17:46 put Montreal ahead, 2-1, heading into the first intermission.

Canadiens pulled Plante with just under two minutes to play but despite some intense pressure and near misses, Montreal couldn't net the equalizer.

The game featured just five minor penalties.

Maple Leafs' Tod Sloan suffered a lower body injury that may put him out for the final three games of the regular season and the playoffs.

1st Period
MON- Olmstead (H. Richard, Provost) 1:43
TOR- Smith (Baun, Morrison) 5:01
MON- Beliveau (St. Laurent, Moore) PPG 17:46

2nd Period
TOR- Smith (Morrison, Baun) 1:00
MON- Moore (Beliveau, Harvey) PPG 13:43
TOR- Migay (Armstrong, Duff) PPG 18:56

3rd Period
TOR- Armstrong (Horton, Migay) 15:50

SOG
MON 8-11-12 = 31
TOR 10-10-5 = 25

PP: MON 2-3; TOR 1-2

Goalies
MON- Plante
TOR- Chadwick


Armstrong's goal at 15:50 of the third period was Toronto's only lead