Game 042
Canadiens 6, St. Pats 4
Saturday, February 18, 1922
Aréna Mont-Royal, Montréal, Québec
Coming within challenging distance for second place in the standing of the clubs of the National Hockey League, the Canadiens defeated the St. Patricks at Mount Royal Arena on Saturday night by 6 to 4.
To earn the victory, the Canadiens were forced to serve up just as thrilling a finish as that furnished in the game against Ottawa earlier in the week. In the early stages of the game, the Canadiens were outclassed and outplayed, the score being 4 to 1 at the conclusion of the second period for the visitors. Returning to the ice, the Canadiens started as a soundly beaten team, but within a short time turned the apparent defeat into victory.
The play of the third twenty minutes was a marked reversal of the form shown in the earlier stages, and brought about a nerve-wrecking conclusion to a game that looked to have been tossed away. Corbeau, who replaced Coutu on the defence, started the locals on their victorious march.
Corbeau shot from well out. Stuart raised his stick, and in doing so hit the puck, changing its course so that it dropped into the net unseen by Roach.
That break in luck came at an opportune time, and for the remainder of the period, the Canadiens smothered their visitors with speed, outplaying and outguessing them at all stages until five goals had been tallied, which placed the local team two goals in the lead. Once ahead, the Canadiens’ management made sure of victory by placing three defencemen on the ice and allowing only two forwards to do the attacking.
In an effort to even up the count, the St. Patricks’ management signalled for the two defencemen to play well up on the attack, but they were unable to break down the Habitants’ defence.
From play that was listless and uninteresting, the game developed into one that has been seldom surpassed in Montréal. The finish was most spectacular, and as the score was tied, the spectators settled down in their seats, expecting another overtime game. Determined to bring about an issue, the Canadiens never let up on their attack.
Although close and hard, the game was not rough, the greatest infraction of the rules being committed by Odie Cleghorn, who was given a penalty for cross checking Randall. Cleghorn had passed the St. Patricks’ front line, when Randall came out to stop him. Cleghorn cross checked Randall so that the Toronto player was knocked to the ice and rendered unconscious. In falling, Randall suffered a bad cut on the side of the head, which forced his retirement from the game.
Story originally published in The Globe, February 20, 1922
BOXSCORE
1st Period
MTL GOAL – 00:50 – Berlinquette
TOR GOAL – 11:20 – Noble
TOR GOAL – 15:40 – Stuart
2nd Period
TOR GOAL – 07:30 – Dye
TOR GOAL – 16:00 – Denneny
3rd Period
MTL GOAL – 01:50 – Corbeau
MTL GOAL – 05:00 – Berlinquette
MTL GOAL – 09:50 – Berlinquette
MTL GOAL – 10:20 – O. Cleghorn (Coutu)
MTL GOAL – 14:55 – S. Cleghorn
Penalties
MTL – O. Cleghorn (minor + major), Bouchard, Boucher
TOR – none
GOALTENDERS
MTL – Vézina (W)
TOR – Roach (L)
ROSTERS
MTL – Goaltenders: Georges Vézina. Defence: Sprague Cleghorn (C), Bert Corbeau, Billy Coutu. Forwards: Louis Berlinquette, Edmond Bouchard, Billy Boucher, Odie Cleghorn, Newsy Lalonde, Didier Pitre.
TOR – Goaltenders: John Ross Roach. Defence: Harry Cameron, Billy Stuart. Forwards: Lloyd Andrews, Corb Denneny, Babe Dye, Reg Noble (C), Ken Randall, Rod Smylie.
TEAM RECORDS
MTL – 8-10-1 (.447)
TOR – 10-8-1 (.553)
Two Solitudes 