Game 176
Maple Leafs 4, Canadiens 2
Thursday, November 13, 1941
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario
Old Man Jinx waved his vicious “hoodoo” sign over the Toronto Leafs again at Maple Leaf Gardens last night. The Leafs breezed through and around a disjointed band of Montréal Canadiens for a 4-2 National Hockey League victory, but added another casualty to their hospital list along the way.
For the third home stand in succession, the Leafs came out of the competition with an injured workman. Last night it was Don Metz, the sturdy right winger. He sustained a fractured right ankle. He will be lost to the club for at least six weeks, according to coach Hap Day.
Metz stumbled and fell against the boards in the Toronto end zone late in the third period. His right skate caught in the ice. Kampman and Chamberlain, wrestling over a loose puck, fell on top of him and the damage was done. He was helped from the rink. X-ray examination later in the evening disclosed the fracture.
Don is the third successive casualty, reading from left to right, upside down and backwards. Schriner suffered a broken toe in the opener against the Rangers. Nick Metz, brother of Don, came out of the second game against the Boston Bruins with a twisted knee. He is still a casualty, not likely to be back on skates before the middle of next week.
When that fellow wrote about “hell having no fury like a woman scorned,” he didn’t know about Sweeney Schriner. A couple seasons back Dick Irvin, then coach of the Leafs, was both inwardly and outwardly disturbed by the way his new left winger, Schriner, was operating. “Get going or hang up your skates,” the usually placid Richard declared. Then he benched the fugitive from Red Dutton’s Americans’ “Madhouse.”
Last winter Schriner, sizzling from the criticism he remembered so vividly, rammed home five goals in six games against the Canadiens, now coached by his old boss. And he loved it.
Last night, Schriner came through with two nifty pieces of puck manipulating and play finishing to register the first and fourth goals in the Toronto victory. In both instances, he was out in open country to work solo for the big points. He got the first early in the opening period, while Bucko McDonald was in the cooler.
“Sweeney” broke up a Montréal ganging attack at the Toronto blue line, and sailed through unguarded territory to beat Bert Gardiner with a quick flip to a high corner of the cage.
Late in the third period, he was the marksman on the receiving end of a well-rehearsed Leaf play. Off a faceoff, Kampman tipped the puck to Billy Taylor in the Toronto end zone. Billy drifted a lazy pass far up the rink, and Schriner carried out his assignment by trailing it. He beat Gardiner in a race for the puck thirty feet from the Montréal basket, stickhandled around the heavily padded netminder, and dumped the thing into an unguarded cage.
Terry Reardon, with the “luck of the Irish” definitely on his side, accounted for both Montréal goals. Even coach Irvin confessed that his boys cashed in on “breaks.” Terry tied the score at 1-1 in the first period, answering Schriner’s goal with a pot shot from the side of the rink that caromed in off Bob Davidson’s leg.
In the second period, Lorne Carr came up with the hockey Toronto fans had been looking for from his department, by snaking his way in from left wing, drifting easily past Red Goupille, and beating Gardiner with a sharp angle shot that the Montréal goalie couldn’t nail. It was strictly a solo effort, and a smart one. Irish Reardon answered with his second goal. Syl Apps tried to knock down his high shot from inside the Toronto blue line, and deflected it past Broda.
Gord Drillon shook off goalmouth attention to give the Leafs the 3-2 edge in the second period. Kampman and Apps were the helpmates, according to vital statistics.
Johnny Quilty broke away from a Toronto attacking pack for a goal that was called offside after the visiting protests after Drillon’s tally.
Early in the first period, Drillon hit a goalpost with a rebound of his own shot. A penalty shot was called when a Montréaler smothered the puck in the goalmouth. Goldup took the shot, Gardiner missed it with an outstretched skate, but the puck hit a goalpost.
Bert Gardiner came through with a fine display for the visitors in a game that was far from nerve tingling at any stage. He got poor defence protection most of the evening.
Story originally published in The Globe & Mail, November 14, 1941
BOXSCORE
1st Period
TOR PEN SHOT – Goldup missed
TOR SH GOAL – 06:03 – Schriner
MTL GOAL – 06:47 – Reardon (Demers, Blake)
2nd Period
TOR GOAL – 00:31 – Drillon (Apps, Kampman)
MTL GOAL – 01:20 – Reardon
TOR GOAL – 05:30 – Carr
3rd Period
TOR GOAL – 18:13 – Schriner (Taylor, Kampman)
Penalties
TOR – McDonald (2), Davidson, Taylor
MTL – Portland (2), Chamberlain, Getliffe, O’Neil
GOALTENDERS
TOR – Broda (W)
MTL – Gardiner (L)
ROSTERS
TOR – Goaltenders: Turk Broda. Defence: Reg Hamilton, Bingo Kampman, Bucko McDonald, Wally Stanowski. Forwards: Syl Apps (C), Lorne Carr, Bob Davidson, Gordie Drillon, Hank Goldup, Pete Langelle, John McCreedy, Don Metz, Sweeney Schriner, Billy Taylor.
MTL – Goaltenders: Bert Gardiner. Defence: Butch Bouchard, Red Goupille, Jack Portland. Forwards: Joe Benoit, Toe Blake (C), Murph Chamberlain, Bunny Dame, Tony Demers, Ray Getliffe, Tony Graboski, Rod Lorrain, Jim O’Neil, John Quilty, Terry Reardon.
TEAM RECORDS
TOR – 2-1-0 (.667)
MTL – 0-2-1 (.167)
Two Solitudes 