Game 416
Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 1
Thursday, November 3, 1960
Forum de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
All star centre Jean Béliveau supervised the scoring as the Montréal Canadiens, not nearly as enfeebled as some reports suggest, defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1, in a decorous National Hockey League game here tonight.
Béliveau scored all three Montréal goals in the first period, two while the Leafs were shorthanded. That outburst raised Béliveau’s production for the season to eight goals.
As a result of the win, the Canadiens moved back into their customary position in front of the league. And, despite their struggles in the first few weeks of the schedule, there was absolutely no indication from this game that the Canadiens will drop any lower.
A crowd of 14,747, tops in Montréal this season, saw the Canadiens resort to a watchful defensive game after building up a 3-0 lead. Goalkeeper Jacques Plante, criticized eve in Montréal for his play this season, contributed several fine stops. The Leafs had 28 shots on goal, the Canadiens 29.
Plante lost his bid for a second shutout of the season with fewer than five minutes of playing time remaining. Rookie right winger Bobby Nevin scored the Leafs’ only goal at 15:11 of the third period.
Pre-game suspicions that it might be a turbulent game proved false. In the last meeting between these teams in Toronto, Canadien Henri Richard was injured when he was hit in the face by a puck fired by Leaf Frank Mahovlich.
The Canadiens charged that it was a deliberate act by Mahovlich, and they hinted that they might take retaliatory action in the next encounter. But tonight’s game was a sedate, orderly affair most of the way. Players on both teams were exceptionally well behaved.
Béliveau scored his first goal shortly after the game started. Leafs defenceman Allan Stanley lost his stick and, technically, the Leafs were shorthanded, when Bernie Geoffrion blocked a Toronto clearing shot near the right point, passed out in front, and Béliveau lashed the puck in the net.
He scored his second goal about 10 minutes later, while Toronto defenceman Bobby Baun was serving a holding penalty. Toronto goalkeeper Johnny Bower stopped a shot from Henri Richard, but Béliveau swooped in to thrust the spinning puck into the net.
The Leafs had two players in the penalty box, the Canadiens one, when Béliveau hammered in his third goal. Parked in front of the Leafs net, he trapped Geoffrion’s drive from the right point and flipped the puck past Bower.
Nevin scored the Leafs’ only goal in the third period, and it came while the Leafs were shorthanded. Nevin picked up a pass from Bobby Pulford, and beat Plante from close in with a low drive.
Story originally published in The Globe & Mail, November 4, 1960
BOXSCORE
1st Period
MTL GOAL – 01:11 – Béliveau (Geoffrion, Langlois)
MTL PEN – 02:55 – Bonin, charging
TOR PEN – 04:02 – Baun, holding
MTL GOAL – 10:55 – Béliveau (Richard, Harvey)
TOR PEN – 10:55 – Olmstead, misconduct
TOR PEN – 13:34 – Pulford, high sticking
MTL PEN – 13:34 – Talbot, high sticking
TOR PEN – 13:50 – Horton, tripping
MTL PEN – 15:50 – Talbot, misconduct
MTL PEN – 20:00 – Hicke, tripping
2nd Period
MTL PEN – 05:30 – Moore, hooking
MTL PEN – 19:09 – Johnson, tripping
3rd Period
TOR PEN – 10:40 – Brewer, slashing
MTL PEN – 13:05 – Provost, tripping
TOR PEN – 13:45 – Duff, high sticking
MTL PP GOAL – 14:37 – Béliveau (Geoffrion, Harvey)
TOR SH GOAL – 15:11 – Nevin (Pulford)
TOR PEN – 16:45 – Stanley, tripping
GOALTENDERS
MTL – Plante (W, 27-28)
TOR – Bower (L, 26-29)
SHOTS ON GOAL
MTL – 8+9+12 = 29
TOR – 11+8+9 = 28
ROSTERS
MTL – Goaltenders: Jacques Plante. Defence: Doug Harvey (C), Tom Johnson, Albert Langlois, Jean-Guy Talbot, Bob Turner. Forwards: Ralph Backstrom, Jean Béliveau, Marcel Bonin, Bernie Geoffrion, Bill Hicke, Don Marshall, Dickie Moore, André Pronovost, Claude Provost, Henri Richard, Bobby Rousseau.
TOR – Goaltenders: Johnny Bower. Defence: Bobby Baun, Carl Brewer, Tim Horton, Red Kelly, Allan Stanley. Forwards: Dick Duff, Gerry Ehman, Billy Harris, Dave Keon, Frank Mahovlich, Bob Nevin, Bert Olmstead, Bob Pulford, Ron Stewart, Johnny Wilson.
TEAM RECORDS
MTL – 7-5-2 (.571)
TOR – 5-5-3 (.500)
ATTENDANCE
14,747
Two Solitudes 