Game 084
Maple Leafs 4, Canadiens 2
Saturday, November 17, 1928
Arena Gardens, Toronto, Ontario
No professional hockey display offered to Toronto fans for several seasons could have been more satisfying than that in which the Maple Leafs defeated the Montréal Canadiens at Arena Gardens Saturday night.
The score was 4 to 2, and there was nothing fluky about the locals’ triumph. It was a well earned victory, replete with speed and sensational plays, and the crowd, which packed the rink from every viewpoint, obtained its full measure of excitement and departed highly pleased. Such exhibitions of the great winter pastime are all too few and far between in NHL circles. If the Leafs can perform as pleasingly in future contests, the local club will not lack for supporters, and the question of a larger arena will be forced upon the owners of the present structure.
The Flying Frenchmen can always be depended upon for that dashing, open style of play in which speed is predominant. That the Leafs kept pace with them, outspeeded them at times and outplayed them for the greater portion of the game is indicated by the score. The victory gave the locals undisputed possession of first place in their group.
The front line regulars of the Toronto team divided the scoring, Cox and Bailey getting one goal each, and Carson the other two. Morenz and Joliat produced the pair of counters for the Canadiens. Joliat’s goal was a lucky one. It was shot from the corner of the rink across the face of the goal, the puck striking Chabot’s stick and deflecting into the net.
The Leafs got off to a good start in the opening period by running in a couple of goals while their opponents were kept off the score sheet. Howie Morenz, than whom there is no flashier performer in professional ranks, reduced this lead early in the second period by a brilliant solo effort that provided one of the feature plays of the night. But the Leafs were able to shake off the threatened rally of the Frenchmen, and they regained the margin before the period ended. In the final period, Joliat’s goal kept the visitors within one of tying the score, but again, the Leafs were able to stand off the visitors’ desperate sorties, and they added another before the period ended to put the game safely in the bag.
Three of the Leafs’ scoring efforts were the direct result of combination play. Bailey notched the first one when he, Carson and Cox broke away together, Carson passing to Bailey as they hit the visiting defence, the right wing player sailing in for a close up shot that Hainsworth failed to block. Three minutes later, Carson broke away alone with only Leduc to pass. The latter tried to trip him, but the Toronto man kept his balance and bore in on Hainsworth to give the goalkeeper no chance. It was a pretty play.
Following Montréal’s goal in the second period, the front line men bore down on the Canadiens’ defence, Cox passing to Carson, who drew Hainsworth out and lodged the puck into the net. Bailey, Cox and Carson also produced the final tally. Bailey passed to Cox after the Montréalers’ defence had been pierced, and Cox lifted the puck over Hainsworth’s pads into the corner of the goal.
The Leafs’ recruit forward line, which proved formidable on Thursday night against Chicago, did not figure in the scoring, but Lowrey, Blair and Horne, assisted by Clancy and Primeau, were highly effective. They backchecked like fiends and broke up the visitors’ rushes repeatedly by clever stickwork. The regulars were also highly effective in breaking up the combination attempts of the visitors. Duncan, Day, Smith and Arbour were all used on the defence, and they formed body bumping combinations that the Canadiens found particularly formidable. Chabot, in goal, did all that was required of him, and the fans are satisfied that the Leafs are well protected between the posts.
The Canadiens showed a weakness on the defence. Gerald Carson, brother of Dr. Bill, was used for a time in the opening period, and both Toronto’s goals in that session were scored while he was on the ice. He was not used thereafter. The Canadiens miss Gardiner. Mantha worked hard, as did Burke, but both lacked something in effectiveness.
Leduc and Lesieur, a new player secured from the Providence Club of the American League, relieved on the defence. The latter showed little. Leduc was in the penalty box when the final Toronto goal was scored. Gagné and Lépine did not show much on the Canadiens’ forward line, Morenz and Joliat, as usual, carrying much of the attack. Gaudreault and Patterson, the latter the former Toronto player, were used often, but were just ordinary.
The game was cleanly played for the most part, the players sticking closely to business, and there was no deliberate rough work, nor any of the mixups that sometimes occur when these teams meet. The temperamental Joliat did not draw a penalty. Of the thirteen penalties imposed, the Canadiens drew eight and the Leafs five. Smith was given a major for tripping Morenz in the opening period, when the latter was right in for what looked like a certain score.
Miss Helen Kingsley, star of the Victoria Players Musical Comedy Company, playing at the Victoria Theatre, dropped the puck for the opening faceoff.
Story originally published in The Globe, November 19, 1928
BOXSCORE
1st Period
TOR GOAL – 16:00 – Bailey (Carson)
TOR GOAL – 19:00 – Carson (Day)
TOR PENS – Bailey, Horne
MTL PENS – Burke, Gagné
2nd Period
MTL GOAL – 07:20 – Morenz
TOR GOAL – 18:45 – Carson (Bailey, Cox)
TOR PENS – Day, Smith
MTL PENS – Burke, Mantha, Patterson
3rd Period
MTL GOAL – 02:50 – Morenz (Joliat)
TOR PP GOAL – 14:00 – Cox (Bailey)
TOR PEN – Bailey
MTL PENS – Leduc (2), Joliat, Morenz, Patterson
GOALTENDERS
TOR – Chabot (W)
MTL – Hainsworth (L)
ROSTERS
TOR – Goaltenders: Lorne Chabot. Defence: Jack Arbour, Hap Day (C), Art Duncan, Art Smith. Forwards: Ace Bailey, Andy Blair, Bill Carson, Danny Cox, Alex Gray, George Horne, Gerry Lowrey, Joe Primeau.
MTL – Goaltenders: George Hainsworth. Defence: Marty Burke, Gerry Carson, Albert Leduc, Art Lesieur, Sylvio Mantha (C). Forwards: Art Gagné, Leo Gaudreault, Aurèle Joliat, Pit Lépine, Howie Morenz, George Patterson.
TEAM RECORDS
TOR – 2-0-0 (1.000)
MTL – 1-1-0 (.500)
Two Solitudes 