Game 264
Canadiens 5, Maple Leafs 3
Thursday, November 24, 1949
Forum de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
A two goal Leaf lead at the halfway mark faded under Canadien pressure tonight, and the Flying Frenchmen sped to a 5-3 triumph. Two Habitant tallies in the final frame before an all-time Forum hockey record crowd of 13,805 vaulted the winners over the Leafs in second place.
The Leafs, travel weary after an all day train ride from Boston, arrived here 30 minutes late and the game was 20 minutes behind schedule in starting. They looked good enough to win in the first frame, but they started to fade late in the second and never could get their second wind.
With the game tied at 3-3 in the third, speedster Norm Dussault notched what proved the winner on a close in backhander, taking a pass from Rocket Richard after 8:34.
Richard, best of the Habs, made it certain on a backhander five minutes later. The puck appeared to have bounced in off rearguard Bill Juzda’s stick.
Earlier, Howie Meeker, Juzda and Sid Smith had netted for the Leafs, while Glen Harmon, Léo Gravelle and Billy Reay were Canadien marksmen. As an example of how the Habs took over the play, goalie Turk Broda had 30 shots on goal, while Bill Durnan had 19, after Durnan stopped 11 to 8 by Broda in the first.
The Leafs, leading 1-0 at the end of the first on a goal while they were shorthanded, had grabbed a 3-1 margin by 12 minutes of the second, but couldn’t hold it. Two tallies, little more than a minute apart, tied it at 3-3 and set the picture for the third frame.
Meeker, who had had only about three shots on goal in the last couple of games and has been moaning about it, scored when his drive caught the corner after a neat Habitant play with Harry Watson and Jim Thomson. Juzda was in the jug for high sticking Richard, a gent he previously had tossed over his shoulder with rare abandon.
The initial goal by a Habitant rearguard this season tied the game just 40 seconds after the second period started. It was a long shot by Harmon that whizzed past a couple of players who obstructed Broda’s view.
Ted Kennedy stole a puck from Harmon behind the net to set the Leafs up for a 2-1 margin four minutes later. Kennedy passed it in front, and Flem MacKell and Smith each had a bang at it before Smitty knocked it past a prostrate Durnan. A loose puck that rolled out to Juzda put the Leafs ahead 3-1. Juzda drilled a long one for his first goal of the season.
Then, with the crowd stamping, the Habs started to pour it on. Léo Gravelle clicked at 15:42 on a weird shot from the side that appeared to hit Turk’s outstretched stick and bounce in. One minute and 16 seconds later, Reay batted down a high pass from Harmon and waltzed in alone to deke the Turk. That tied it 3-3.
NOTES: The Leafs gave a much better display on the whole than they did in losing to Boston the previous night. They’ve won only two of their last eight games…Tonight’s tilt, somewhat rough in spots, had fisticuffs only once. That was late in the second, when Gus Mortson and Knobby Warwick grabbed each other, then started swinging. No hard blows were struck before they were separated and given minor penalties while players swarmed about…The Leafs left for home immediately after the game…In the second frame, there were 14 shots on Broda to four on Durnan. It was 8-3 in favour of the Habs in the third.
Story originally published in The Globe & Mail, November 25, 1949
BOXSCORE
1st Period
MTL PEN – 02:46 – Riopelle, interference
MTL PEN – 04:09 – Reardon, charging
TOR PEN – 10:42 – Juzda, high sticking
TOR SH GOAL – 11:26 – Meeker (Watson, Thomson)
MTL PEN – 13:59 – Harvey, elbowing
TOR PEN – 19:42 – Mortson, tripping
2nd Period
MTL PP GOAL – 00:40 – Harmon (Reardon, Richard)
TOR GOAL – 04:36 – Smith (Kennedy, MacKell)
TOR PEN – 06:12 – Timgren, holding
MTL PEN – 10:01 – Laycoe, tripping
TOR GOAL – 12:05 – Juzda (Kennedy)
MTL GOAL – 15:42 – Gravelle
MTL GOAL – 16:58 – Reay (Harmon)
MTL PEN – 17:54 – Warwick, roughing
TOR PEN – 17:54 – Mortson, elbowing
TOR PEN – 19:54 – Mortson, roughing
3rd Period
MTL GOAL – 08:34 – Dussault (Richard)
MTL PEN – 10:17 – Harmon, interference
MTL GOAL – 13:14 – Richard (Lach, Riopelle)
MTL PEN – 14:30 – Dussault, high sticking
TOR PEN – 14:30 – MacKell, high sticking
GOALTENDERS
MTL – Durnan (W, 15-18)
TOR – Broda (L, 25-30)
SHOTS ON GOAL
MTL – 8+14+8 = 30
TOR – 11+4+3 = 18
ROSTERS
MTL – Goaltenders: Bill Durnan. Defence: Butch Bouchard (C), Glen Harmon, Doug Harvey, Hal Laycoe, Roger Leger, Ken Reardon. Forwards: Norm Dussault, Bob Fillion, Léo Gravelle, Elmer Lach, Calum MacKay, Kenny Mosdell, Gerry Plamondon, Billy Reay, Maurice Richard, Rip Riopelle, Grant Warwick.
TOR – Goaltenders: Turk Broda. Defence: Garth Boesch, Bob Dawes, Bill Juzda, Gus Mortson, Jimmy Thomson. Forwards: Max Bentley, Bill Ezinicki, Ted Kennedy (C), Joe Klukay, Vic Lynn, Fleming MacKell, Howie Meeker, Sid Smith, Ray Timgren, Harry Watson.
TEAM RECORDS
MTL – 7-6-4 (.529)
TOR – 7-8-3 (.472)
Two Solitudes 