1971 NHL Playoffs
1st Round
East Division
Toronto vs Montreal
The
Leafs are able to shut down
Montreal in the first 2 games of the series with 5-1 and 3-1 wins. The
Habs come back on home ice to tie the series. The teams then split a pair of 3-0 victories to force a game seven. In game seven, the
Habs came back from a 3-1, third period deficit with 3 straight goals to grab a lead.
Toronto is able to tie it and force overtime. A minute and 30 secs in,
George Morrison ended the series, 5-4
Toronto!
New York vs Boston
After losing game one to
Boston, the
Rangers flexed their muscles and won four straight games.
Bill Goldsworthy was a unlikely source of offense, putting up 7 points, and
Bobby Orr got his first playoff action since his rookie year in 67. He had 3 points in the 5 games.
West Division
Philadelphia vs California
Philly dominated the opening two games, with 5-0 and 6-0 blowouts. After that, things got very close. The
Seals broke through with a 4-3 home ice win in game three. The two teams needed overtime settle the next two games.
Jude Drouin would score the winning goals in both games, giving the
Flyers the series victory in 5 games.
Minnesota vs Chicago
These two teams go back and forth in what would be a full on seven game series.
Phil Esposito showed no signs of rust, getting 10 points. But
North Stars rookie
Darryl Sittler out-shown the superstar.
Sittler gets 9 goals and 5 assists, to lead the opening round in scoring. Former
Hab Bob Nevin, a great summer acquisition I ignored, complemented
Sittler with 8 points of his own. In game 7, the
North Stars built a 4-1 lead.
Chico Maki cut the lead to one midway through the third, but the
Hawks could get no closer.
Minnesota wins their first series with a the 4-3 win!
Semi Finals
Crossover A
E1 Toronto vs W2 Minnesota
No rest for either team, who both won a game 7 yesterday.
Toronto didn’t have to travel though, and they start out the game on fire.
JP Parise scores 46 seconds in, followed by 2 goals off the stick of
Frank Mahovlich. It’s 4-0 after a period, and a 6-0 final. A little rest helped the
North Stars in game two. A shorthanded goal from
Bob Kelly gave
Minny the lead. It’s a lead they held until
JP Parise tied the game at three in the third. Overtime took only 13 seconds, something I notice happens a lot in this world.
Mike Robitaille scores for the
Stars, and they tie the series, winning 4-3!
Robitaille ties the series in overtime!
Bob Nevin and
Darryl Sittler score in the first to give the
North Stars a 2-1 lead.
Toronto poured the shots on, outshooting
Minnesota 40-18, but
Nevin set up two more
Minnesota goals in the third, giving them the 4-2 win and the series lead! Is there an upset brewing? Maybe, but not yet.
Toronto turned it on in game four, limiting
Minny to just 7 shots.
Bobby Hull has a goal and 2 assists, and
Toronto ties the series with a 4-1 win.
Nevin's big game three helped Minnesota to a brief series lead!
Back on home ice, the
Leafs jumped out to a 2-1 lead, and extended it to 4-1 in the 3rd period on goals by
Rick Ley and
Jean Ratelle. While the game seemed over,
Minnesota scored with 22 seconds remaining, and then again 8 seconds later. While they couldn’t get that tying goal with the remaining 14 seconds, they may have grabbed some momentum and belief in themselves. 4-3
Leafs.
The momentum doesn’t go to the
North Stars, it goes to the stick of
Bobby Hull. He scores 3 goals by the halfway point of game six, giving the
Leafs a 3-1 lead. The
North Stars fight back in the third. After cutting the lead to one, former
Leaf Pilote trophy winner,
Arnie Brown, after a tough, injury plagued season, scores to tie the game with 3 minutes remaining. With the
Minnesota crowd on their feat, the
North Stars force overtime. In the OT, the
Stars dreams are dashed by
Ken Hodge, who gets his 7th of the post season. 4-3
Leafs win to eliminate
Minnesota!
Crossover B
W1 Philadelphia vs E2 New York
The Spectrum in
Philadelphia hosts game one of the first ever series between these real life rivals. They needed overtime to settle this one, and halfway through the extra frame,
John Ferguson deflected a
Dick Redmond point shot! 3-2
Flyers.
Bobby Orr plays his best playoff game so far in game two. He opens and closes the scoring in an impressive 5-2
Rangers win.
John Ferguson wins game one for the Flyers!
Game three is a rough affair, as the teams combine for 70 penalty minutes.
Bobby Orr was kicked out of the game early in the third for an illegal check to the head. By that time though, the scoring was already done.
Bill Fairbairn had 2 points, and
Gary Edwards stopped all 30 shots he saw. 3-0
Rangers win it. The rough play didn’t continue in game 4, which maybe
Philly needs, as they had nothing in this one.
Pete Mahovlich had 5 points, while
Stan Mikita had 3 assists.
Rangers blow it out, 8-1!
Pete with a huge 5 point game!
The
Flyers get back to playing with an edge, and spend 18 minutes in the box during game 5.
Bobby Orr gets his 6th of the playoffs to open the scoring. It took a while, but
Dave Dunn would tie it with 6 minutes remaining. Overtime coming up. In OT,
Bill Goldsworthy is the hero, ending the run of the reigning champs. 2-1
Rangers win the series in 5!
