Game 374
Maple Leafs 3, Canadiens 1
Thursday, October 31, 1957
Forum de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
A three goal splurge in the second period carried the Toronto Maple Leafs to a surprising 3-1 win over the Montréal Canadiens here tonight. It was the Leafs’ first road win in five attempts, and also the Canadiens’ first loss at home.
Leafs goalkeeper Ed Chadwick, whose work bordered on the supernatural at times, played probably the finest game of his career in holding the hard shooting Habitants to one goal.
A crowd of 14,114, stunned by Chadwick’s excellence, wouldn’t have been surprised after the game had to be floated away on his stick to join the hobgoblins, witches and other ectoplasmic creatures that hovered around on this Halloween.
The Leafs, not in the least disenchanted by their 6-2 loss a night earlier to the Canadiens, fought tigerishly to win this one. They were hard pressed at times as the Canadiens turned on the power as only they know how but, inspired by Chadwick’s great performance, the Leafs refused to crack.
Maurice Richard continued his goal-a-game clip by scoring the Canadiens’ only goal on a power play in the first period. The Leafs came back with three in a seven minute span in the second period, by Billy Harris, Bobby Pulford and Barry Cullen.
The Canadiens, beset by goaltending worries this season, had Charlie Hodge back in goal. Regular netminder Jacques Plante is convalescing from an attack of asthma. Hodge, unorthodox in style, played an effective game, and he had no opportunity to stop any of the three goals that beat him.
Richard lashed in a screened 40-footer for his 10th goal of the season, while the Leafs’ Frank Mahovlich was off for tripping early in the first period.
Harris tied the score for the Leafs at 5:32 of the second period. Tod Sloan fished the puck out of the corner, slid it to Harris, who was parked near the Canadiens’ left goal post, and Harris described a half circle before ramming the puck between Hodge and the post.
Pulford rifled in a high 30-footer, after taking a pass from Brian Cullen for the Leafs’ second goal. Barry Cullen showed some clever stick handling for the Leafs’ third goal. He came all the way from centre ice, shifted around Marcel Bonin and Dollard Saint-Laurent, and picked the far side of the cage from about 15 feet out.
As in Toronto a night earlier, the Leafs’ most effective line was the Cullen brothers and Pulford. They kept flying at the Canadiens all night. Brian, despite some hard knocks from the Canadiens, annoyed them tremendously with his forechecking.
There were other Leafs who played themselves almost into exhaustion. George Armstrong’s defensive play and his puck carrying consistently relieved pressure on Chadwick. And the Leafs’ defence of Marc Réaume, Ron Stewart, Bobby Baun and Jim Morrison was especially vigilant.
But it was Chadwick who confounded the Canadiens with his brilliance. Jean Béliveau had a breakaway in the second period, but Chadwick stopped his close-in shot, and he smothered a rebound from Bernie Geoffrion.
In the third period, when the Canadiens roamed around the Leaf goal for minutes on end, Chadwick was like a revolving door in front of the Toronto net, stopping shots from all angles. Four times he stopped Geoffrion from directly in front of the Leaf net.
This was only the Canadiens’ third loss of the season, but they remain in first place with a healthy margin. It was the Leafs’ third win in nine games.
Story originally published in The Globe & Mail, November 1, 1957
BOXSCORE
1st Period
TOR PEN – 06:40 – Mahovlich, tripping
MTL PP GOAL – 07:11 – M. Richard (H. Richard)
TOR PEN – 12:20 – Morrison, tripping
2nd Period
TOR GOAL – 05:32 – Harris (Sloan)
TOR GOAL – 09:56 – Pulford (Br. Cullen, Ba. Cullen)
TOR GOAL – 12:19 – Ba. Cullen (Harris, Migay)
3rd Period
MTL PEN – 04:04 – Geoffrion, tripping
MTL PEN – 06:08 – Geoffrion, roughing
TOR PEN – 06:08 – Armstrong, roughing
GOALTENDERS
TOR – Chadwick (W, 33-34)
MTL – Hodge (L, 29-32)
SHOTS ON GOAL
TOR – 15+11+6 = 32
MTL – 10+12+12 = 34
ROSTERS
TOR – Goaltenders: Ed Chadwick. Defence: Bobby Baun, Jim Morrison, Marc Réaume. Forwards: George Armstrong (C), Barry Cullen, Brian Cullen, Dick Duff, Billy Harris, Frank Mahovlich, Rudy Migay, Bob Pulford, Tod Sloan, Sid Smith, Ron Stewart.
MTL – Goaltenders: Charlie Hodge. Defence: Doug Harvey, Tom Johnson, Dollard Saint-Laurent, Jean-Guy Talbot, Bob Turner. Forwards: Jean Béliveau, Marcel Bonin, Bernie Geoffrion, Phil Goyette, Don Marshall, Dickie Moore, Bert Olmstead, André Pronovost, Claude Provost, Henri Richard, Maurice Richard (C).
TEAM RECORDS
TOR – 3-6-0 (.333)
MTL – 6-2-2 (.700)
ATTENDANCE
14,114
Two Solitudes 