Game 442
Canadiens 4, Maple Leafs 2
Thursday, October 18, 1962
Forum de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
The Montréal Canadiens, not nearly as enfeebled as earlier reports had suggested, scored twice in the third period here tonight to produce a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in a National Hockey League game.
The Leafs, whose pursuit of a victory in the Forum here has been beset by frustrations, had the extraordinary luxury of a 2-0 lead early in the game. They achieved it with a minimum of effort and they protected it the same way. As a result, the Canadiens, without expending much energy, had little difficulty coming from behind once they sorted out a few problems.
This was a different Montréal team than fans have been accustomed to seeing in recent seasons. The Canadiens traveled at normal speed, their checking was on the polite side and the general impression early in the game was that they could be taken. The Leafs played a casual, uninspired game and, in the end, the Canadiens’ class carried them through to a win.
A crowd of 14,132 sat in polite silence when the Leafs established a 2-0 lead before the game was five minutes old. They maintained an insufferable poise as if they had a copy of the script.
The Canadiens, who normally do not require any handouts, got an unexpected assist from the Leafs in the second period that enabled them to tie the score at 2-2. The Leafs’ goalkeeper Johnny Bower is still perplexed, trying to distinguish friend from foe.
Jean Béliveau, Montréal’s king sized centreman, broke in on right wing and launched a lazy, blooped shot that Bower had difficulty fielding. The Toronto goalie came out to block the shot, but Béliveau recovered the puck and threw a lateral in front of the Toronto goal. Leafs defenceman Bobby Baun had the embarrassing experience of steering it into the Toronto net.
Béliveau was credited with the goal. Other Montréal goals were scored by Henri Richard, Bernie Geoffrion and Ralph Backstrom. Thoroughly outplayed in the first period, when they had only three shots on the Toronto goal, the Canadiens scored twice in each of the final two periods.
Dick Duff and rookie defenceman Kent Douglas, one of the Leafs’ more impressive players, scored their goals.
Cesare Maniago played in goal for the Canadiens, a replacement for the ailing Jacques Plante. Defenceman Tom Johnson, recovering from a knee injury, also sat this one out for the Canadiens. The Leafs were without centre Red Kelly, who is still suffering from an attack of the flu.
Duff gave the Leafs the lead early in the first period on a Toronto power play – he tipped in Tim Horton’s shot from the right point. Douglas made it 2-0 39 seconds later with his first NHL goal – he lashed a slap shot from the left point that beat Maniago. The Leafs seemed to be in complete control at the time, but that was their scoring quota for the game.
Richard broke away all by himself to score the Canadiens’ first goal in the second period. From out on right wing, he drove a 30-foot shot into the far side of the net. Then Béliveau tied it up with assistance from Baun.
Geoffrion gave the Canadiens the lead for the first time in the third period. He stabbed the puck past Bower, finishing off a goalmouth pass from Gilles Tremblay. Backstrom scored the clincher, a 40-foot slapper that caught Bower unprepared. The puck knifed between his pads.
In four games, the Canadiens have won two and lost two. The Leafs won their first game of the season in Chicago last week. Since then, they have tied one and lost two.
Story originally published in The Globe & Mail, October 19, 1962
BOXSCORE
1st Period
MTL PEN – 03:56 – G. Tremblay, boarding
MTL PEN – 03:56 – Geoffrion, misconduct
TOR PP GOAL – 04:18 – Duff (Horton, Armstrong)
TOR GOAL – 04:52 – Douglas (Stewart, Pulford)
TOR PEN – 07:10 – Harris, interference
TOR PEN – 12:34 – Douglas, tripping
TOR PEN – 13:16 – Brewer, holding
MTL PEN – 13:41 – Richard, holding
2nd Period
MTL GOAL – 06:22 – Richard (Provost, Talbot)
TOR PEN – 09:50 – Brewer, boarding
MTL GOAL – 16:49 – Béliveau
TOR PEN – 18:42 – Shack, roughing
MTL PEN – 18:42 – Backstrom, roughing
3rd Period
TOR PEN – 04:07 – Horton, hooking
MTL PEN – 05:27 – Geoffrion, spearing
MTL GOAL – 08:34 – Geoffrion (G. Tremblay, Marshall)
MTL GOAL – 09:50 – Backstrom (Berenson, Gauthier)
GOALTENDERS
MTL – Maniago (W, 28-30)
TOR – Bower (L, 22-26)
SHOTS ON GOAL
MTL – 3+10+13 = 26
TOR – 9+7+14 = 30
ROSTERS
MTL – Goaltenders: Cesare Maniago. Defence: Lou Fontinato, Jean Gauthier, Jean-Guy Talbot, J.C. Tremblay. Forwards: Ralph Backstrom, Jean Béliveau (C), Red Berenson, Bernie Geoffrion, Phil Goyette, Bill Hicke, Don Marshall, Dickie Moore, Claude Provost, Henri Richard, Bobby Rousseau, Gilles Tremblay.
TOR – Goaltenders: Johnny Bower. Defence: Bobby Baun, Carl Brewer, Kent Douglas, Tim Horton, Allan Stanley. Forwards: George Armstrong (C), Dick Duff, Billy Harris, Dave Keon, Ed Litzenberger, Frank Mahovlich, Jim Mikol, Bob Nevin, Bob Pulford, Eddie Shack, Ron Stewart.
TEAM RECORDS
MTL – 2-2-0 (.500)
TOR – 1-2-1 (.375)
ATTENDANCE
14,132
Two Solitudes 