Game 085
Maple Leafs 3, Canadiens 1
Tuesday, December 4, 1928
Forum de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
Toronto’s crippled Maple Leafs scored their first victory on foreign ice this season, when they defeated the Canadiens 3 to 1 tonight at the Forum before a crowd of over 10,000 spectators. The win incidentally sent Toronto into first place in the standing of the Canadian section of the National Hockey League.
The Leafs, without the services of Doc Carson, regular centre player, and with big Art Duncan, defenceman, in none too good condition, were consistently outplayed on the attack by Montréal’s “Flying Frenchmen,” but their tight backchecking game, backed by Chabot’s brilliant goaltending, earned them the evening’s laurels.
George Hainsworth, the Canuck goaler, was erratic, two of the Leafs’ goals proving of the easy variety. Bailey scored two for the visitors and Duncan one. Leduc obtained the Canadiens’ lone counter.
Bailey opened the scoring late in the second period, when his “hopper” from the right side of the net bounced over Hainsworth’s stick into the net. Soon after the start of the third session, Art Duncan blazed one from the blue line, which caught the local goaler off guard. The Canucks then got back into the fight on Leduc’s goal on a passout from Joliat. Bailey cinched the contest for his team in the dying moments of the game, when he took Cox’s pass to whip the puck past Hainsworth from fifteen feet out.
The Canadiens were in from the opening faceoff, but Gagné was forced behind the net. As the players began to warm to the game, the Leafs got in several likely looking attacks. Danny Cox got right through, but Hainsworth blocked his backhand shot from a few feet out.
Mantha got right through and when Chabot partially blocked the shot when he fell to his knees, the disc rolled past the outside of one of the goalpost. Danny Cox got a cheer from the crowd for a neat piece of stickhandling around the Canucks’ defence, but he lost the disc before he could get his shot away.
The Canucks looked to have a slight advantage in offensive play, but the Leafs were playing a strong backchecking game, thus keeping the majority of attacks well away from Chabot.
The Canadiens opened the second period on the attack. Gagné broke through, but a good save by Chabot robbed the local right winger of a goal. Duncan drew the first penalty of the game, a minor for holding. With a one man advantage, the Red Shirts attacked. A Burke to Joliat attack split the weakened Leaf defence, but Chabot was in top form and turned back the close-in drive on goal. The Leafs held on until Duncan’s return, but were soon at a disadvantage again when Bailey spilled Burke and drew a minor. Bailey came back on, but the locals kept up the pressure.
Patterson and Mantha went off for successive charging offences, but the Leafs could do nothing with their two man advantage. Duncan then drew his second penalty of the period, and while he was off it was not the Canadiens that scored, but the Leafs, Irvin Bailey doing the trick when his shot from the wing bounded over Hainsworth’s stick.
Two minutes and ten seconds after the start of the final session, the Leafs made it 2 to 0 when Art Duncan beat Hainsworth with a long drive from the Canucks’ blue line. It was another comparatively easy goal for the visiting blue shirts. Less than three minutes later, the Canadiens got back into contention when Leduc shot the disc past Chabot on Joliat’s passout.
The Canucks then went on the attack. Their offensive efforts, however, broke against a solid Toronto defensive system backed by Chabot’s good goaltending.
Mantha got the first penalty of the period. He was soon joined by Bailey. Both returned before any additional scoring was done. The Canucks were invariably on the attack, and led by Joliat, they buzzed around the Toronto net. The visitors held on, however, and a few seconds from the final bell, made their victory sure when Bailey scored from twenty feet out on a pass from Cox.
Story originally published in The Globe, December 5, 1928
BOXSCORE
1st Period
none
2nd Period
TOR GOAL – 17:20 – Bailey
TOR PENS – Duncan (2), Bailey
MTL PENS – Mantha, Patterson
3rd Period
TOR GOAL – 02:10 – Duncan
MTL GOAL – 03:45 – Leduc (Joliat)
TOR GOAL – 19:40 – Bailey (Cox)
TOR PEN – Bailey
MTL PEN – Mantha
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, Danny Cox, George Horne, Gerry Lowrey.
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 – 5-3-0 (.625)
MTL – 3-3-2 (.500)
Two Solitudes 