Game 118
Maple Leafs 3, Canadiens 1
Saturday, December 16, 1933
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario
Lorne Chabot’s shutout spell over his former teammates was shattered on Saturday night at Maple Leaf Gardens, when the Leafs defeated the Montréal Canadiens by 3 to 1, and extended their lead over the second place holders in the sectional standing of the National Hockey League.
It was the first triumph the Leafs had registered over the Flying Frenchmen in the current campaign, and it was quite acceptable in view of the present crippled state of the Toronto team.
With 10,355 cash customers looking on, the Maple Leafs were determined that this shutout nonsense of Mr. Chabot’s had gone far enough; but it wasn’t until the second period that they got the puck past him for the first time in three games, and then there was some argument about the legitimacy of the score. But there was no argument about the two goals that were scored in the third period, for both were carried right into the net, Charlie Conacher getting the first one and Harold Cotton the second.
Cotton’s goal was the prettiest of the game. He carried the puck nearly the length of the ice behind some good running interference by Ken Doraty, and he had Chabot so dizzy from watching his stickhandling that by the time Cotton arrived at the Canadiens’ net, he could have autographed the puck before lodging it in the cage.
Harvey Jackson was credited with the first goal. Jackson worked inside his defence from the wing, after taking a long pass from Joe Primeau. Harvey blazed a swift shot from an angle, and the puck appeared, from the press box, to strike the top part of the net just inside the goal post. The rubber rebounded back out on the ice, but the goal judge flashed the red lamp, and, after a brief consultation with the official, referee Rodden accepted the ruling. The Canadiens made a faint protest, and there was some threat of having the goal judge replaced, but no action was taken.
So oftne the puck rebounds when hitting the net just inside the post that the goal judge is really the only individual who is in a position to say definitely whether a goal is scored or not.
The game was not a particularly spirited affair. The Leafs are still feeling keenly the loss of Ace Bailey and the desperate fight he is waging for his life. After a tame first period, in which the visitors outshot the locals by nine to six in probably the lowest total of shots in any one period that has been played here this season, the teams put a little more speed and energy into their work.
Bill Thoms lodged the puck into the net behind Chabot in the opening seconds of the middle period, but the goal was disallowed because Thoms batted the puck in with his stick raised above his shoulder. The puck had rebounded high over the cage from the back boards following a spectacular attack by Hec Kilrea, and Thoms, coming in for the rebound, had to reach up for it.
Some three minutes later, Jackson got the first goal of the game, and that was the signal that started the Canadiens out of their lethargy, and made them play a more wide open game than they had adopted previously.
Aurèle Joliat accounted for the Canadiens’ lone encounter, but Hainsworth helped him to score it. It came about midway through the second period, Joliat sending in a long shot that Hainsworth took on the chest. The little goalkeeper lost his balance as the puck hit him, and in his effort to knock the rubber away, he fell back into the cage, carrying the disc with him.
Alex Levinsky, who was not used at all during the second period because he and Clancy play the same side of the defence and do not team up well, relieved Clancy at about the six minute mark in the third period, and right away started the play that resulted in the Leafs’ winning goal. Levinsky had just jumped onto the ice and was in the centre zone when he got the puck, and laid a neat pass on Conacher’s stick. Conacher was in full stride as he crossed over the Canadiens’ blue line, and he barged his way through the visitors’ defence, carrying the puck with him with his feet. He worked right in on Chabot and stickhandled the disc past the goalkeeper, who went flat on the ice in an effort to smother the shot.
The game was one of the cleanest ever played here. Only one penalty was inflicted, Cotton being the victim of this. Cotton was banished by referee Cameron for interfering with Georges Mantha as the latter swept in on an attack. Cotton had his stick in front of Mantha in such a way the latter could not take a pass or, in fact, do anything but just circle the net, still with Cotton beside him. Body checking was not indulged in to any great extent, although Marty Burke and Conacher appeared to have a little bumping feud on at times.
Doraty was given a big hand by the spectators when he made his first appearance on the ice. He did not figure in the scoring, but he was always a source of danger to the visitors, and they had to keep a watchful eye on him continually.
The Leafs looked much better in the third period than the visitors. Bill Thoms was one of the most aggressive of the Toronto attackers, and he should have had a goal or two. Jackson and Conacher were always prominent also, while Clancy and Day, the former playing 48 minutes and the latter 51, were a big factor in the Leafs’ success. They were strong going both ways.
Blair, Primeau, Cotton, Kilrea and Boll were particularly good in the last two periods, all five of them backchecking to such good purpose that the visitors’ passing attacks seldom got past the blue line. The Canadiens did considerable shooting from long range. When they did get in close, Hainsworth was always in their way. He made several sensational saves. Morenz, Joliat, G. Mantha, Riley and Chabot were the pick of the visitors.
The crowd cheered the announcement made just before the game started that Bailey’s condition was slightly improved, but there was a noticeable depression among the spectators which even this failed to shake off.
Story originally published in The Globe, December 18, 1933
BOXSCORE
1st Period
none
2nd Period
TOR PEN – 01:00 – Cotton
TOR GOAL – 03:05 – Jackson (Primeau, Conacher)
MTL GOAL – 12:55 – Joliat
3rd Period
TOR GOAL – 06:54 – Conacher (Levinsky, Day)
TOR GOAL – 10:16 – Cotton
GOALTENDERS
TOR – Hainsworth (W, 25-26)
MTL – Chabot (L, 24-27)
SHOTS ON GOAL
TOR – 6+9+12 = 27
MTL – 9+10+7 = 26
ROSTERS
TOR – Goaltenders: George Hainsworth. Defence: King Clancy, Hap Day (C), Alex Levinsky. Forwards: Andy Blair, Buzz Boll, Charlie Conacher, Baldy Cotton, Ken Doraty, Busher Jackson, Hec Kilrea, Joe Primeau, Bill Thoms.
MTL – Goaltenders: Lorne Chabot. Defence: Léo Bourgault, Marty Burke, Gerry Carson, Georges Mantha, Sylvio Mantha (C). Forwards: Johnny Gagnon, Sam Godin, Aurèle Joliat, Wildor Larochelle, Pit Lépine, Armand Mondou, Howie Morenz, Paul Raymond, Jack Riley.
TEAM RECORDS
TOR – 11-3-1 (.767)
MTL – 7-7-2 (.500)
ATTENDANCE
10,355
Two Solitudes 