1968 NHL Playoffs
1st Round
East
Toronto, inexplicably, starts
Jacques Plante in their series vs
Montreal.
Plante has 4 heat, and
Sawchuk has 1. That’s not good enough though.
Sawchuk has a historically great season, while Plante played in 4 games after the trade, and won once. VERY VERY DISAPPOINTING for the game to do this. I like FHM, but this is the most disappointed I’ve been. Can’t say ill purchase next year, as that AI just won’t work for me.
Anyway,
Montreal wins the first two games on
Leafs soil, but the
Buds get a overtime win in game three, and then limit
Montreal to 38 shots combined in game 4 and 5 wins.
Terry Sawchuk returns to the net for game 6, and makes 27 saves as the first star as the
Leafs win the series in 6.
Bobby Orr is out for the
Rangers with a knee injury.
New York manages to scores just once in the opening two games, and lose game three when after blowing a 4-0 lead. The
Bruins close out the series sweep with a 2-1 win in game four.
West
The
Blues and
Kings treated their fans to playoff hockey for the first time. Trailing three games to two,
LA was able to force a game 7 when
Mike McMahon scored a pp goal halfway through overtime of game six. Game seven would need overtime as well.
Joe Szura’s 4th of the series would send the
Blues to the next round!
The road team won each of the first 4 games before
Oakland broke through with the upset in game five!
Bruce MacGregor had a goal and an assist, and helped the
Seals limit
Philly to just 13 shots, eliminating the
Flyers in game 6. 20 win
Oakland is through to the 2nd round!
Round 2
Eastern Final
Toronto vs Boston
The
Bruins come out on fire, winning their 5th straight playoff game, and giving the
Leafs their worst home ice loss of the year.
Boston led 4-1 after a period,
Johnny Bucyk had 5 points.
Bruins win the opener 6-1.
Jacques Plante starts game 2 against his old team, and the
Leafs hold a 2-1 lead after a period. The lead is extended to 4-1 just minutes into the 2nd, but
Boston would come back to tie the game midway through the third. In overtime, the
Bruins complete the comeback on
Jim Neilson’s 3rd playoff goal. 5-4
Bruins!
Bucyk has 5 points in game one!
Jacques Plante starts game three.
Terry Sawchuk was 48-10, with a 1.49 GAA and a .935 sp. Just gonna leave that here… A wild first period has
Toronto up 3-2.
Bobby Hull gets his 6th of the playoffs. He’s just a playoff performer.
Johnny Bucyk ties it in the 2nd, and with 30 seconds remaining in the third,
Norm Ullman crushes
Leaf fans everywhere with his 4th, the winning goal. 4-3
Boston, they lead the series 3-0!
Plante is again in net for game four.
Terry Sawchuk was 48-10, with a 1.49 GAA and a .935 sp. Just gonna leave that here…
Toronto again scores first, and second, but the game is tied after a period.
Ken Hodge gets his first goal of the playoffs against his former team late in the 2nd, breaking a 3-3 tie.
Andy Bathgate gives
Toronto some insurance early in the third, but they wouldn’t need it. 5-3
Toronto stays alive.
Ken Hodge extends the series with the game 4 winner for Toronto!
Jacque Plante starts game 5 for
Toronto.
Terry Sawchuk was 48-10, with a 1.49 GAA and a .935 sp. He sits.
Toronto goes up 2-0 with goals from
Arnie Brown and
Garry Unger.
Ron Ellis though, scores twice for
Boston to tie it.
Toronto though gets the winner halfway through the 3rd, off the stick of
Brian Smith. 3-2,
Leafs stay alive again.
Jacques Plante starts game 6 for
Toronto.
Terry Sawchuk was 48-10, with a 1.49 GAA and a .935 sp. He sits. The
Leafs dominate the first 40 minutes.
Garry Unger scores twice.
Bobby Hull and
Jean Ratelle get 2 points each. It’s 5-0 heading into the third.
Plante makes 10 saves in the final period to conserve the shutout.
Leafs win it 5-0 and force a game 7!
Ungar scores three times in games 5/6 to help force the series to seven!
Game 7
Jacque Plante starts game 7 for
Toronto.
Terry Sawchuk was 48-10, with a 1.49 GAA and a .935 sp. He sits.
Plante has outplayed his
Boston replacement
Marv Edwards badly. He’s a much better goalie and he's showing it.
Toronto opens the scoring again.
Carol Vadnais gets his point shot through
Edwards. 1-0
Toronto.
Norm Ferguson makes it 2-0
Leafs early in the 2nd.
Garry Unger converts a
Ken Hodge rebound before making it 3-0
Leafs.
Unger's third straight game with a goal.
Hodge himself makes it 4-0 before the period ends.
Toronto is on the verge of erasing a 3-0 series deficit. But this same script was written 2 years ago against
Montreal and it didn’t finish well. Can they change the ending?
Vadnais got Toronto on the board!
This
Bruins team isn’t
Montreal though. They don’t have the players, or the depth the
Habs had, and they finish the third with just 21 shots on net.
Plante gets another shutout against his old team. The
Leafs complete the amazing comeback with a 4-0 win.
Toronto wins the series!
Western Final
St. Louis vs Oakland
Oakland gets a 3 goal third period to beat the
Blues in game one, 3-1.
Glen Sather is the first star with 2 points. Game 2 is a defensive battle which sees just one goal.
Bob Pulford is the goal scorer, giving the
Blues the 1-0 win to tie the series.
Cesare Maniago gets the shut out.
Pulford scores the only goal of game two!
Bob Pulford and
Henri Richard team up to give
St. Louis a 2-1 lead after two periods in game three.
Al MacNeil makes it 3-1 with an insurance marker, which was needed as
Leon Rochefort scored with a minute left.
Oakland does not have another in them.
Blues win it 3-2. Game four is the second 1-0 game of the series. The winning goal isn’t scored until the final seconds of the game.
Gerry Odrowski is the
Seals hero!
Gerry Cheevers earns the egg. 1-0
Oakland ties the series.
Odrowski scores the only goal of game 4!
The
Blues hold
Oakland to just 9 shots, but the teams are tied at one in the third.
St. Louis then breaks through,
Mike Laughton scores twice, and
Ray Cullen assists on 3 goals in the period.
St. Louis wins 4-1. With the teams tied at one in the third period of game six,
Bob Pulford breaks the tie, and
Danny O’Shea puts the game, and series away late. 3-1
St. Louis.
Blues win the series in six!!
