VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Game 1:
Gretzky does it all in Montreal
The Great One scores five points tonight in leading the Wanderers to a 6-3 opening game shootfest against the Leafs in front of a soldout crowd at the Montreal Forum. The series started fast with each team playing an up-tempo, fast-paced style characteristic of their respective coach. Mike Bossy scores unassisted 2:58 in on a 40-foot slapshot over Hainsworth's left shoulder. The right winger would finish the game with a team-high 5 shots. Shortly after the next face-off, won by the Leafs, Conacher hits Andreychuk hard and fast into the boards, drawing the ire of Horton, who at 5'10 doesn't hesitate to knock the 6'2 Wanderers captain down. On the ensuing powerplay, Gretzky sets up Hull who one-times a shot which beats Vernon but rings off the post to the far boards, where Pronger recovers and scores on a screened shot to tie the game. Before the period is out Conacher takes a penalty for fighting with Baun, getting an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct in challenging the ref's call. Gretzky scores the go-ahead shorthanded and gets another at even strength on a breakaway in the last minute of the first period. The second continues where the first left off with a goal by Hull from the right slot, on a perfect behind-the-net backhand chip by Gretzky over the stick of the oncoming Horton. Nighbor and Noble combine for a beautiful give-and-go at 11:51 of the second to put the Wanderers up 5-1 and prompting Maurice to call for a goaltending change, Vernon going 16 for 21. Alec "The Fireman" Connell lived up to his day job nickname and stopped all Wanderers sharpshooters, 17 for 17, the last Montreal goal coming as an empty netter by Burch from Gretzky on an Ovechkin turnover. Sundin and Niedermayer scored on an early third period Leafs rally which proved to be too little, too late. Leafs coach Maurice was happy with his team's energy but not with the results. "Line changes killed us," he admitted. "As the home team they get the last change and we have to be able to handle that. It'll take a team effort." Iafrate was minus-3 and Hay a minus-2 on just seven minutes of ice time.
Three stars of the game: 1. Gretzky 2. Conacher 3. Bossy
Game 2:
Leafs take away home ice advantage
Special teams and opportunistic scoring was the difference as the Leafs split the opening two games on the road with a 3-2 OT win over the Wanderers tonight. The scoreless first period saw little of the up-tempo, fast break play of the previous game, largely due to the continual march to the penalty box, 11 in all. The second period continued the trend, Wanderers Pronger serving two for crosschecking Alfredsson into the side of the net. But Leafs captain Gilmour finally capitalized on his team's fifth powerplay of the night on a Bossy rebound off of Hainsworth blocker. Gretzky tied it up at the 17:49 mark with a wrister past Vernon, whom had played the fake pass to Noble, the scoring coming on an odd-man rush generated from a botched line change which had prompted a tired #99 to stay on for one more surge. Gretzky scored the go-ahead goal on a wraparound early in the third, with Horton having rushed to flush him out from his office behind the net. Carbonneau scored the tying goal to send the game into overtime when he stripped "The Flying Dutchman" Nighbor of the puck and immediately took a shot which deflected off of Kevin Hatcher's skate past Hainsworth with 3:10 remaining in the third. Horton scored the winner on the first powerplay of extra time, on a rebound shovel into an empty net after the Wanderers goalie had made two spectacular saves against Bossy and Niedermayer, giving up a fat rebound, ending up on his back. Wanderers coach Brooks thinks his team played too tentative tonight. "We stopped skating. And with that bad things happen. Now we got to take our game to the other guys' building. And we need to get back on track," an allusion perhaps to "The Big Train", captain Conacher, who spent 8 minutes in the penalty box and appeared listless at times amid rumours he might have hurt his shoulder in trying to sucker punch Wendel Clark in a fight along the boards. The Leafs coach didn't address rumours that the ineffective fourth line might be reshuffled, with Darcy Tucker as a possible entry in the series.
Three stars of the game: 1. Horton, 2. Gretzky 3. Gilmour
Game 3:
Vernon steals a game
After giving up four goals and six points to Gretzky through the first two games, Vernon stops the only two shots Gretzky manages tonight and holds him to one point, a powerplay assist, in a 2-1 Leafs win heavy on defensive play, led by alternate captain Carbonneau. "We played as we wanted to play tonight," Carbo said after the game. "We executed our assignments and played a good team game." The Leafs were outshot 26-19 but the best chances clearly were by the home team. Ryan Smyth and Darcy Tucker each had a shot on their first shift and they would later combine for the game winner in the second period when Smyth scoops up the puck from Heatley's skates and feeds a double-shifted Gilmour after Tucker had crossed the rink to lay a full-body check to cause the turnover in the first place. Sundin and Poulin had scored to end the first period tied 1-1.
Three stars of the game: 1. Carbonneau 2. Vernon 3. Gretzky
Game 4:
Horton fights Conacher and loses
A hot temper exploded as Horton dropped his gloves to take on Conacher over halfway through the scoreless game. Although the Wanderers captain had four inches on him and was a pugalist who had even taken on Jack Dempsey in the ring, Tim Horton proved to be a handful as Conacher left the game having landed the most blows but suffering the bloodiest face, both players receiving a major and a game misconduct. Wanderers coach Brooks thought that Horton should have gotten an instigator penalty but instead the period ended without any powerplays whatsoever. The only goal of the game came at 7:29 of the third, by Cameron from Gretzky and Pronger shortly after a powerplay expired. The 1-0 win gives the Wanderers a 2-2 split heading home for game five.
Three stars of the game: 1. Conacher 2. Horton 3. Gretzky
Game 5:
Gilmour hat trick topped by Gretz
Montreal fans were treated to a top line showdown as Wanderers coach Brooks consistently put Gretzky's line out against Gilmour's, away from Carbonneau's for all but 1:08 minutes of play, and not often with Horton on the ice, and the result was a clinic in offensive skill. Hull scores on a tip in a mere 47 seconds into the game as he scoots past Andreychuk and receives a tape-to-tape pass from Gretzky that was so fast that Niedermayer later admitted he hadn't even seen it: "I thought he was shooting on net." On the very next face-off Gilmour scores again as he wins the puck and sticks it to Bossy before heading up ice, deking Cameron and burying the rebound as he crashes into the net. A couple of minutes later Alfredsson receives a goaltender interference penalty and Gilmour scores a shorthanded tally on a breakaway assisted by a lucky bounce off the boards to mid-ice on a Chara clearing shot. Clark scored to make it 2-2 before the game was ten minutes in on the pass of the series as Gretzky did a quick stop pivot to avoid the clutches of Horton, backhanding the puck over Niedermayer's stick to give Wendel his first goal of the series. In the second period Gilmour got his third goal of the game and Gretzky his third assist as the teams traded goals to enter the third all knotted up at 3. Bossy put the Leafs up with eight minutes remaining after Horton capitalized on a turnover to send Mike in alone. Three minutes later Gretzky evened things up with his fourth point and first goal of the game. On his very next shift, with two minutes remaining, Gretzky parked himself behind the Leafs net and when Chara came to check him, #99 banked a shot off of Vernon's calf into the net. Wanderers win 5-4. The Leafs now head back to Toronto down 2-3 for a home stand effort to try to force a seventh and deciding game.
Three stars of the game: 1. Gretzky 2. Gilmour 3. Bossy
Game 6:
The Team Rides The Big Train
Canada's athlete of the half-century showed his strength, skill and stamina in setting up the winning goal, recording a game-high six hits and blocking three shots as Conacher paced the Wanderers to a hard-fought 2-0 win in Toronto. Young Lindbergh recorded the shutout after subbing for an injured Hainsworth halfway through the second. "Coach [Brooks] told me I couldn't win this, that I was too young, too damn young," says the 25 year old Swede. "But he said it with a smile." The Wanderers backup faced only 14 shots. The Leafs outshot the Wanderers 31-18 overall as they tried often to recover from the early two-goal deficit on goals by Montreal's Nighbor and Poulin. Gretzky was held pointless for the first time in the series.
Three stars of the game: 1. Conacher 2. Nighbor 3. Horton
Montreal Wanderers win the series in six games.
Three stars of the series: 1. Gretzky 2. Horton 3. Gilmour
Gretzky does it all in Montreal
The Great One scores five points tonight in leading the Wanderers to a 6-3 opening game shootfest against the Leafs in front of a soldout crowd at the Montreal Forum. The series started fast with each team playing an up-tempo, fast-paced style characteristic of their respective coach. Mike Bossy scores unassisted 2:58 in on a 40-foot slapshot over Hainsworth's left shoulder. The right winger would finish the game with a team-high 5 shots. Shortly after the next face-off, won by the Leafs, Conacher hits Andreychuk hard and fast into the boards, drawing the ire of Horton, who at 5'10 doesn't hesitate to knock the 6'2 Wanderers captain down. On the ensuing powerplay, Gretzky sets up Hull who one-times a shot which beats Vernon but rings off the post to the far boards, where Pronger recovers and scores on a screened shot to tie the game. Before the period is out Conacher takes a penalty for fighting with Baun, getting an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct in challenging the ref's call. Gretzky scores the go-ahead shorthanded and gets another at even strength on a breakaway in the last minute of the first period. The second continues where the first left off with a goal by Hull from the right slot, on a perfect behind-the-net backhand chip by Gretzky over the stick of the oncoming Horton. Nighbor and Noble combine for a beautiful give-and-go at 11:51 of the second to put the Wanderers up 5-1 and prompting Maurice to call for a goaltending change, Vernon going 16 for 21. Alec "The Fireman" Connell lived up to his day job nickname and stopped all Wanderers sharpshooters, 17 for 17, the last Montreal goal coming as an empty netter by Burch from Gretzky on an Ovechkin turnover. Sundin and Niedermayer scored on an early third period Leafs rally which proved to be too little, too late. Leafs coach Maurice was happy with his team's energy but not with the results. "Line changes killed us," he admitted. "As the home team they get the last change and we have to be able to handle that. It'll take a team effort." Iafrate was minus-3 and Hay a minus-2 on just seven minutes of ice time.
Three stars of the game: 1. Gretzky 2. Conacher 3. Bossy
Game 2:
Leafs take away home ice advantage
Special teams and opportunistic scoring was the difference as the Leafs split the opening two games on the road with a 3-2 OT win over the Wanderers tonight. The scoreless first period saw little of the up-tempo, fast break play of the previous game, largely due to the continual march to the penalty box, 11 in all. The second period continued the trend, Wanderers Pronger serving two for crosschecking Alfredsson into the side of the net. But Leafs captain Gilmour finally capitalized on his team's fifth powerplay of the night on a Bossy rebound off of Hainsworth blocker. Gretzky tied it up at the 17:49 mark with a wrister past Vernon, whom had played the fake pass to Noble, the scoring coming on an odd-man rush generated from a botched line change which had prompted a tired #99 to stay on for one more surge. Gretzky scored the go-ahead goal on a wraparound early in the third, with Horton having rushed to flush him out from his office behind the net. Carbonneau scored the tying goal to send the game into overtime when he stripped "The Flying Dutchman" Nighbor of the puck and immediately took a shot which deflected off of Kevin Hatcher's skate past Hainsworth with 3:10 remaining in the third. Horton scored the winner on the first powerplay of extra time, on a rebound shovel into an empty net after the Wanderers goalie had made two spectacular saves against Bossy and Niedermayer, giving up a fat rebound, ending up on his back. Wanderers coach Brooks thinks his team played too tentative tonight. "We stopped skating. And with that bad things happen. Now we got to take our game to the other guys' building. And we need to get back on track," an allusion perhaps to "The Big Train", captain Conacher, who spent 8 minutes in the penalty box and appeared listless at times amid rumours he might have hurt his shoulder in trying to sucker punch Wendel Clark in a fight along the boards. The Leafs coach didn't address rumours that the ineffective fourth line might be reshuffled, with Darcy Tucker as a possible entry in the series.
Three stars of the game: 1. Horton, 2. Gretzky 3. Gilmour
Game 3:
Vernon steals a game
After giving up four goals and six points to Gretzky through the first two games, Vernon stops the only two shots Gretzky manages tonight and holds him to one point, a powerplay assist, in a 2-1 Leafs win heavy on defensive play, led by alternate captain Carbonneau. "We played as we wanted to play tonight," Carbo said after the game. "We executed our assignments and played a good team game." The Leafs were outshot 26-19 but the best chances clearly were by the home team. Ryan Smyth and Darcy Tucker each had a shot on their first shift and they would later combine for the game winner in the second period when Smyth scoops up the puck from Heatley's skates and feeds a double-shifted Gilmour after Tucker had crossed the rink to lay a full-body check to cause the turnover in the first place. Sundin and Poulin had scored to end the first period tied 1-1.
Three stars of the game: 1. Carbonneau 2. Vernon 3. Gretzky
Game 4:
Horton fights Conacher and loses
A hot temper exploded as Horton dropped his gloves to take on Conacher over halfway through the scoreless game. Although the Wanderers captain had four inches on him and was a pugalist who had even taken on Jack Dempsey in the ring, Tim Horton proved to be a handful as Conacher left the game having landed the most blows but suffering the bloodiest face, both players receiving a major and a game misconduct. Wanderers coach Brooks thought that Horton should have gotten an instigator penalty but instead the period ended without any powerplays whatsoever. The only goal of the game came at 7:29 of the third, by Cameron from Gretzky and Pronger shortly after a powerplay expired. The 1-0 win gives the Wanderers a 2-2 split heading home for game five.
Three stars of the game: 1. Conacher 2. Horton 3. Gretzky
Game 5:
Gilmour hat trick topped by Gretz
Montreal fans were treated to a top line showdown as Wanderers coach Brooks consistently put Gretzky's line out against Gilmour's, away from Carbonneau's for all but 1:08 minutes of play, and not often with Horton on the ice, and the result was a clinic in offensive skill. Hull scores on a tip in a mere 47 seconds into the game as he scoots past Andreychuk and receives a tape-to-tape pass from Gretzky that was so fast that Niedermayer later admitted he hadn't even seen it: "I thought he was shooting on net." On the very next face-off Gilmour scores again as he wins the puck and sticks it to Bossy before heading up ice, deking Cameron and burying the rebound as he crashes into the net. A couple of minutes later Alfredsson receives a goaltender interference penalty and Gilmour scores a shorthanded tally on a breakaway assisted by a lucky bounce off the boards to mid-ice on a Chara clearing shot. Clark scored to make it 2-2 before the game was ten minutes in on the pass of the series as Gretzky did a quick stop pivot to avoid the clutches of Horton, backhanding the puck over Niedermayer's stick to give Wendel his first goal of the series. In the second period Gilmour got his third goal of the game and Gretzky his third assist as the teams traded goals to enter the third all knotted up at 3. Bossy put the Leafs up with eight minutes remaining after Horton capitalized on a turnover to send Mike in alone. Three minutes later Gretzky evened things up with his fourth point and first goal of the game. On his very next shift, with two minutes remaining, Gretzky parked himself behind the Leafs net and when Chara came to check him, #99 banked a shot off of Vernon's calf into the net. Wanderers win 5-4. The Leafs now head back to Toronto down 2-3 for a home stand effort to try to force a seventh and deciding game.
Three stars of the game: 1. Gretzky 2. Gilmour 3. Bossy
Game 6:
The Team Rides The Big Train
Canada's athlete of the half-century showed his strength, skill and stamina in setting up the winning goal, recording a game-high six hits and blocking three shots as Conacher paced the Wanderers to a hard-fought 2-0 win in Toronto. Young Lindbergh recorded the shutout after subbing for an injured Hainsworth halfway through the second. "Coach [Brooks] told me I couldn't win this, that I was too young, too damn young," says the 25 year old Swede. "But he said it with a smile." The Wanderers backup faced only 14 shots. The Leafs outshot the Wanderers 31-18 overall as they tried often to recover from the early two-goal deficit on goals by Montreal's Nighbor and Poulin. Gretzky was held pointless for the first time in the series.
Three stars of the game: 1. Conacher 2. Nighbor 3. Horton
Montreal Wanderers win the series in six games.
Three stars of the series: 1. Gretzky 2. Horton 3. Gilmour
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