Stone Cold: 1974-75 Playoffs Revisited
In a recent test of Stone Cold Hockey, we replayed the playoffs. In a nutshell, here is how we got to the finals:
Best of 3
Los Angeles over Toronto: 2-0
Boston over Chicago: 2-0
NY Rangers over NY Islanders: 2-1
Pittsburgh over St Louis: 2-1
Quarterfinals (Best of 5)
Philadelphia over Vancouver: 3-1
Los Angeles over Boston: 3-0
Montreal over Pittsburgh: 3-2
Buffalo over NY Rangers: 3-2 (awesome series!)
Semi-Finals
Montreal over Buffalo: 4-2
Philadelphia over Los Angeles: 4-2
The FINALS: GAME 1: Montreal @ Philadelphia
1st Period
15’ Montreal rush forced defensive error, minor on PHI (Schultz - hooking
14, 13’ KillZone!
12’ Montreal counterattack, Slot save by Parent
7’ Equal Stamina, PHI scored on a Slot chance! 1-0 (Leach, MacLeish, Barber)
3’ Montreal Agitator, crease chance, scored! 1-1 (Lambert, Mahovlich, Lafleur)
2’ Philly, scrum in the crease, scored! Quick answer! 2-1 (Barber, Clarke, Dornhoefer)
———————— PHI 2-1 MTL————————
2nd Period
16’ minor on Montreal (Shutt - slashing)
15’ deflected pass…
14’ crease save, Larocque!
13’ minor on Philly (Kindrachuk - holding)12’ Montreal, rebound, scored! Tied: 2-2 (Savard, Tremblay, Cournoyer)
11’ Philly answers again! 3-2 on a straight-up attack. (Dornhoefer, Clement, MacLeish)
8’ Philly attack forces Montreal error, minor (Larose - high sticking)
7’ Philly slot chance, saved!6’ nada…
2’ Montreal… comeback surge! Tied 3-3! (Lapointe, Wilson, Mahovlich)———————— 3-3 ————————
3rd Period
15’ Montreal defended (Stamina 7+)
11’ Philly, crease chance, save made!8’ Montreal (ATK11) hard wrister, scored! 4-3 (Cournoyer, Shutt, Roberts)
3’ Montreal attack and another forced error on Philly (Kelly-crosschecking). Killed Philly’s comeback chances…
2’ Montreal, crease chance, save made!
1:40 Even strength with the extra attacker on… Philly, defended, high-speed play crashes into the boards
1: 00 Montreal, point chance, saved, penalty expired
0:20 Now 6-on-5, Philly turnover! Montreal counterattack… deadly! 5-3 on the empty-netter (Mahovlich, Lambert, Lafleur)
Final: Montreal 5, Philadelphia 3
GAME 2 : MTL 2 @ PHI 5
Interesting game! Like watching a volcano prepare to erupt….
1st Period: Tremors from the deep. Four penalties in a rough, physical start. No goals. Montreal sets the tone with punishing hits and then played really well on the PKs.
2nd Period: Smoke and ashes. Philly broke through on Montreal’s 3rd penalty. Bill Barber with the goal. Four minutes later, Lapointe answered for the Canadiens. ONE minute later, Leach with the wrap-around! PHI 2-1. As Philly tries to get even in the Hits ledger, the Montreal power play bit back. Bob Gainey nailed one! Tied 2-2 going into the 3rd…
3rd Period: Eruption. Bobby Clarke took over with 2 goals in the 3-minute span! Saleski added a another score to ice the game with 6 minutes remaining.
Enforcers were not called-on in this game, but I sure get the sense that it’s comin’…
Series even as we head to Montreal!
GAME 3: PHI 3 @ MTL 2 (OT)
This was a classic! Holy smokes…. Check it out.
1st Period: My comment about Enforcers at the end of game 2 turned out to be prophetic. First sequence of the game led to the Enforcer chart and a fight between Dupont and Bouchard! Lefleur scored a minute later! MTL 1-0. Late in the period, Bouchard deals an Enforcer Hit, and then Philly responded with 2 Enforcer Hits, both results off the Enforcer table….
-------------- MTL 1 PHI 0 at the break ----------------
2nd Period: A home Agitator result led directly to a power play goal for Montreal (15’ Mahovlich) ! 2-0 lead. The Canadiens kill two power plays and are looking to take the series lead.
-------------- MTL 2 PHI 0 at the break ————————
3rd Period: Philly cranked it up. Larocque has been excellent in this series and stopped another crease chance. Then, out of nowhere, Dupont with a goal, cuts the lead to one! Both teams miss a scoring chance due to low Stamina. It’s tough out there! Minor penalty on Montreal extends into the Empty Net phase. The Canadiens stave-off three attempts during the 6-on-4! Timing die says one last attack sequence. Philly with the puck… Lonsberry! SCORES!! (0:08 remaining). ---------------2-2 and headed for OT ————————
OT: Montreal’s PK kill-zoned a minor. Four minutes later, breakaway for the Flyers… Leach buries it!!! (8:34 remaining. Roll of 22 assigned to the Star player). The Flyers win in overtime, 3-2.
The Flyers take a 2-1 series lead. This game was a thing of beauty. Attrition was a big deal. In the end, PHI stamina was 5 and MTL was 4. Enforcers were a big factor. In addition to the hits and the fight, Dupont and Schultz both contributed offensively. Dupont had 3 points in the game, 1 goal, 2 assists.
GAME 4: PHI 4 @ MTL 1
1st Period: Philadelphia, riding a wave of momentum scored quickly (Leach, 19:05)! Dryden was rattled six minutes later, adding to his lackluster performance thus far, but Montreal turned-up the heat. The Canadiens even it up on a power play (Shutt, 2:40).
—————— 1-1 at the break ——————
2nd Period: Both teams manage to kill penalties and Dryden makes a great save (Crease chance) late.
—————— 1-1 at the break ——————
3rd Period: Andre Dupont on a hot streak! Scores! 2-1 Philly (11:11). A Montreal chance was downgraded due to Stamina, save made… Just moments before the Empty Net phase, Philly with a huge goal to put it out of reach! 3-1 (Kindrachuk, 2:26) Then Leach added an empty-netter for good measure (0:46).
The Flyers with a 3-1 advantage and a chance to close it out at home.
Game 5, Montreal @ Philadelphia (Flyers lead series 3-1)
1st Period: Fast start for the highly-motivated Flyers as they try to close the show on home ice. Bobby Clarke scored first (14’) and MacLeish doubled the advantage (8’), but Montreal rallied with a counterattack goal (from Column D) by Lafleur! Lemaire then even it up only 2 minutes later!
————— 2-2 at the break——————
2nd Period: Montreal has the momentum and Parent makes a big (Crease) save (off the Agitator table). The Canadiens also kill-off a penalty, but MacLeish gets his second goal (on a Crease chance) to regain the lead.
————— PHI 3 MTL 2 at the break——————
3rd Period: It was all Montreal with 5 straight scoring chances. Parent is looking heroic here. Then, a Major penalty on Philly (Schultz - slashing) spelled trouble. Lafleur cashed-in (4’)! Tied 3-3! Parent made a huge (Crease) save to send it to overtime! Holy moly… There’s a lot I’m not telling you.
————— PHI 3 MTL 3 End of Regulation ——————
1st OT: Philly with stamina issues, misses an opportunity. Larocque with a big (Crease) save during a power play and then…. A penalty shot is granted to Philadelphia. DENIED by Larocque! Bouchard makes his presence felt. Montreal with another (Crease) chance… No!
————— PHI 3 MTL 3 ——————
2nd OT: Right out of the gate, Philly rushes! Terry Crisp SCORES!! (19:04) It’s over!! Philadelphia has won the Stanley Cup!
————— FINAL PHI 4 MTL 3 (2OT)——————
