1956 NHL Playoffs
Montreal Vs Detroit
With
Johnny Bower as the undisputed starter in
Detroit, I think…. The
Red Wings are able to shut out the first place
Habs in game one.
Bower stops 20 shots, and
Milt Schmidt is the first star with 2 assists. 3-0
Detroit.
George Armstrong and
Dickie Moore make sure
Montreal isn’t shutout again scoring early in game two, but that lead won’t hold.
Detroit is able to tie the game at 2’s to force overtime. In OT,
Bobby Baun finds the back of the net on the power play, tying the series with a 3-2
Montreal win.
Bower with the game one shut out!
Down 2-1 in the third period of game three,
Montreal’s Billy Harris tied the game, then
Gerry Melnyk pots the winner with 75 seconds remaining. 3-2
Montreal, they lead the series 2-1.
Detroit needs to win game four at home. They come out of the gate like they needed to.
Pete Conacher scores twice, and
Rudy Migay adds another for a 3 goal first period. The
Wings coast the rest of the way to tie the series with a 6-2 win.
Conacher gets the hat trick.
Pete Conacher with a hatty!
Gordie Henry(I saw
Henry playing all season and assumed it was
Sugar Jim! Guess not) and
Johnny Bower each make 32 saves in game five, and allow just a single goal a piece in regulation, but something had to give.
Red Kelly broke the deadlock at the 4:52 mark of OT, winning it 2-1 for
Montreal. With elimination looming, the
Wings again got off to a good start, leading 2-0 after a period.
Montreal is able to bounce back and tie the game early in the third. New
Red Wing Don McKenney’s 3rd of the playoffs is the go ahead marker, and the eventual winning goal. 4-2
Detroit forces a game 7.
Gordie Henry is playing net in Montreal
In game 7, both teams need their starts to step up.
Gordie Howe and
Ted Lindsay have combined for 2 goals and 4 assists. Not the production expected.
Don McKenney opens the scoring, his 4th. What a great trade picking him up!!
If the first period belonged to
Detroit, the 2nd is owned by
Montreal who record 17 shots, but can’t get one past
Bower. 1-0 after two.
Just seconds into the third,
Milt Schmidt takes a penalty, and the
Habs take advantage.
George Armstrong ties it at 1.
Halfway through the frame, someone steps up! It’s
Gordie Howe!! His 2nd of the playoffs gives
Detroit the 2-1 lead with 9 minutes left! 2 minutes later,
Montreal’s big man replies!
Ted Lindsay scores on a breakaway! 2-2! 30 seconds later,
Red Kelly beats
Bower on the short side! 3-2
Montreal leads! It’s their first lead of the game.
Detroit is gonna regret this one. They had this game and 30 seconds was enough to blow it.
Montreal holds on to take game seven, 3-2, and wins the series in 7!!
Chicago Vs Boston
Newly acquired
Ron Stewart scored the first goal of the series, but then
Chicago’s biggest problem crept up again. Lack of depth. They couldn’t get another one past
Jacques Plante.
Boston was able to beat
Glenn Hall 3 times though. 3-1
Bruins win the opener.
Tod Sloan had a goal and an assist.
Boom Boom Geoffrion,
Vic Stasiuk and
Fleming Mackell all also scored for
Boston….In the first period!! That was enough to hold up. 4-2 was the final. 2-0 series lead for the
Bruins.
Jacques Plante has his Bruins up 2-0.
Boston waited until the third period to score some goals this game.
Doug Harvey got the winning goal as part of a three goal 3rd. 4-2
Bruins. Facing elimination,
Chicago’s offense again couldn’t produce much, but their defense was great, holding
Boston to 16 shots. They do manage to get 2 by
Plante, enough to win it 2-1.
Hall has no margin for error.
Game 5 is a different story.
Geoffrion and
Pronovost get
Boston up early, and the
Blackhawks had no answer.
Jacques Plante gets the shutout, as
Boston eliminates
Chicago with a 3-0 win!
Jean Beliveau does get 4 points in the series, but that alone can't be enough to win. Chicago needs to continue building depth.
