Game 124
Maple Leafs 3, Canadiens 1
Saturday, January 5, 1935
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario
With all the scoring confined to the third period, the Maple Leafs registered their sixteenth victory of the season at Maple Leaf Gardens on Saturday night, when they inflicted a 3 to 1 defeat on the Montréal Canadiens. The official attendance was 8,742.
It was the Canadiens’ eleventh defeat of the present NHL campaign, but only some stellar stoppings by George Hainsworth in the Toronto net kept the Habitants off the score sheet in the first two periods. The visitors looked as good as the Leafs for most of the game, and even after the locals had taken a 2 to 0 lead in the final frame, they launched such speedy sorties on the Toronto net that the Leafs had to resort to shooting the puck down the ice to relieve the pressure.
With two players in their lineup who had played in three successive games previously, and Roger Jenkins, one of their best defence players laid up with injuries, the visitors deserve plenty of credit for their showing. They were further handicapped in the third period when Sylvio Mantha, their star defence player, was forced to retire with an injury. During a scramble in a corner near the Montréalers’ net, Harold Cotton’s stick accidentally struck Mantha in the face and put a large bruise under his eye. Mantha was partially blinded by the blow and did not return again to the game. It was after he retired that the Leafs got their three goals.
The game was remarkable in one respect. According to the official scorer, Billy Graham, a new record was set for stops in play, 9 being recorded in all. This is the largest total for a regulation three period game in the local statistician’s memory, but he declares that this figure has been exceeded in overtime contests.
It wasn’t the fault of the referees. The players of both teams ignored the blue lines persistently, and about 99 percent of the whistle tooting was necessary for blue line infractions.
It was tame hockey for the most part. There were few penalties, and these only for minor infractions. There wasn’t a great deal of bodychecking either. The second period was probably the best of the three, although more excitement was stirred up in the final period because of the scoring, and the Canadiens’ desperate efforts to overcome Toronto’s lead.
Art Jackson, Charlie Conacher and Bill Thoms were the successful snipers for the Leafs. Armand Mondou netted the Canadiens’ only tally. It was Art Jackson’s first tally in the NHL.
The younger Jackson pocketed the puck four minutes after the third period started, when King Clancy led a Toronto charge down the ice. Clancy passed to “Pep” Kelly, who relayed the puck to Jackson. The last named was uncovered about 15 feet out from Cude, and his fast, low shot beat the visiting goalkeeper cleanly. Cude made a number of stops during the game, but was given better protection than that accorded Hainsworth.
The Leafs’ defence was not so good in covering up in front of the net, and two or three times Hainsworth was at the mercy of a Canadien player who picked up a pass close in and had only the goalkeeper to beat. McGill and Runge both lost scoring chances when in such an advantageous position, Hainsworth rushing out to deflect their shots.
The Leafs added to their one goal lead shortly after the 16 minute mark of the third period. Joe Primeau and Conacher making an effective passing attack, with Charlie King taking the last pass and beating Cude from close range. Some minutes previously, Conacher had skated in on the net and stickhandled his way almost to the goalmouth. With Cude out of position, the puck rolled off the end of Conacher’s stick and went wide of the cage as he attempted to swoop it in.
Following the Leafs’ second goal, the Canadiens put everybody but Cude on the attack, and were finally rewarded when Mondou picked up Goldsworthy’s pass inside the Toronto defence and blazed a waist high shot that Hainsworth failed to stop. While they were launching more attacks and keeping the Leafs pretty much hemmed in by the force of their drives, Thoms, Kilrea and Boll broke away, and finally Thoms banged the puck past Cude after the goalkeeper had stopped shots from Boll and Kilrea. Only 33 seconds of play remained, and though they battled it out to the end, the Canadiens were unable to cut down the lead.
The Leafs’ third line, composed of Cotton, Kelly and Art Jackson, looked as good as any of the others, and they were given a hand every time they left the ice. Blair was used only briefly.
Joe Primeau worked like a Trojan to put some scoring punch in the Leafs’ most powerful attacking line, and only Cude’s good work kept this trio out of the scoring until the third period. Boll missed several fine chances to score, Cude beating him on a couple of occasions when he was close in, while on the other, the Saskatchewan youth was erratic in his shooting. “Red” Horner and “Hap” Day were the outstanding players for the Leafs on the defence.
The Canadiens’ best appeared to be G. Mantha, Larochelle, Lépine, Runge and McGill.
Story originally published in The Globe, January 7, 1935
BOXSCORE
1st Period
TOR PEN – 01:00 – A. Jackson
TOR PEN – 02:00 – B. Jackson
MTL PEN – 03:00 – Runge
2nd Period
TOR PEN – 01:00 – Boll
TOR PEN – 02:00 – Cotton
MTL PEN – 03:00 – Larochelle
3rd Period
MTL PEN – 01:00 – G. Mantha
TOR GOAL – 04:13 – A. Jackson (Kelly, Clancy)
TOR GOAL – 16:38 – Conacher (Primeau)
MTL GOAL – 17:34 – Mondou (Goldsworthy)
TOR GOAL – 18:29 – Thoms (Boll, Kilrea)
GOALTENDERS
TOR – Hainsworth (W, 27-28)
MTL – Cude (L, 39-42)
SHOTS ON GOAL
TOR – 10+14+18 = 42
MTL – 8+9+11 = 28
ROSTERS
TOR – Goaltenders: George Hainsworth. Defence: King Clancy, Hap Day (C), Flash Hollett, Red Horner. Forwards: Andy Blair, Buzz Boll, Charlie Conacher, Baldy Cotton, Art Jackson, Busher Jackson, Pep Kelly, Hec Kilrea, Joe Primeau, Bill Thoms.
MTL – Goaltenders: Wilf Cude. Defence: Léo Bourgault, Gerry Carson, Georges Mantha, Sylvio Mantha (C), Tony Savage. Forwards: Leroy Goldsworthy, Aurèle Joliat, Wildor Larochelle, Pit Lépine, Jack McGill, Armand Mondou, Paul Raymond, Jack Riley, Paul Runge.
TEAM RECORDS
TOR – 16-4-1 (.786)
MTL – 5-11-3 (.342)
ATTENDANCE
8,742
Two Solitudes 