The Bruins jumped out to an early lead with an even strength goal by Leo Boivin at 1:35 of the first period. Before the period would end, Doug Mohns would add to the Bruins advantage with a power play goal at the 18:12 mark. Before the period would end, Cal Gardner
of Boston would be whistled for a penalty with just ten seconds
remaining that would put Montreal on the power play to start the second
period.
With Montreal already with a man advantage, Hal Laycoe
would be called for a penalty at the 16 second mark that would change
the way the game would be played forever more. The Canadiens relished
any opportunity to play with a man advantage, for the previous season
they led the league in goals with 228 in 70 games, the only team to
average more than 3 per game and 24 more than their closest pursuer
thanks to their notoriously potent power play.
Montreal controlled the puck following the face-off and Doug Harvey fed Bert Olmstead who got the puck to center Jean Beliveau who redirected it past Bruins goaltender Terry Sawchuk at the 42 second mark to cut the Bruins lead to 2-1.
After the ensuing face-off, with Montreal still on the power play, Maurice Richard worked to get the puck to Olmstead, who again fed Beliveau who once more beat Sawchuk on a similar play just 26 seconds later to even the score at 2-2.
Now,
in this day and age, the first Montreal goal would have freed Gardner
from the penalty box while the second tally would have set Laycoe free,
ending the Montreal man advantage, but this was not the case back in
1955, as any penalized player was required to serve the full length of
his penalty, regardless of how many goals were scored while his full
time was being served.
So, with
both Gardner and Laycoe still serving their full sentence with no parole
in the offing, Montreal remained on a two-man advantage with 42 seconds
remaining. After controlling the puck once again, Harvey again found
Olmstead who knew exactly what to do with it - get the puck to Beliveau.
"Le Gros Bill" found the twine to complete his hat trick at 1:26, his
third goal with the two man advantage in the span of just 44 seconds!
Gardner
was finally able to escape the penalty box 24 seconds later after
having to helplessly watch the carnage created by his departure, and
Laycoe's freedom finally arrived 26 seconds later, but not until he was
forced to watch a 2-0 Boston lead turned into a 3-2 lead for the
Canadiens while he was away.
While
there were no further power play goals during the contest, Beliveau
would score his fourth goal of the night at 15:53 of the third period at
even strength, assisted by Olmstead once again and Bernie Geoffrion for a final score in favor of Montreal 4-2 thanks to the talents of Beliveau and the remarkable Canadiens power play.
Beliveau displays the four pucks from his stellar evening and
is joined by Olmstead, who assisted on all four of his goals
is joined by Olmstead, who assisted on all four of his goals
Beliveau
would go on to go on to win the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion and
the Hart Trophy
as league MVP at the conclusion of the season, thanks
in part to the opportunity to score multiple goals on a single power
play.
Such was the dominance
of the Montreal power play, having scored more than once with the man
advantage eight times that season, that a new rule was put into effect
in time for the start of the 1956-57 season to minimize the distinct
offensive advantage enjoyed by the Canadiens, as any penalized player
serving a two-minute minor would be freed immediately following any goal
scored against his team in an effort to keep games more competitive.
Predictably, the vote was 5-1 in favor of the new rule change.
While
Montreal was able to capture the Stanley Cup in 1956 with the ability
to score seemingly at will with the man advantage, how did the new rule
affect the competitive balance for the time period immediately after the
new rule was put into effect? Very little, in fact, as the Canadiens
would reel off four more consecutive titles from 1957 to 1960 for a
dynasty like no other, as no team before or since would ever win five
consecutive Stanley Cups.
Today's featured jersey is a 1955-56 Montreal Canadiens Jean Beliveau jersey.
Believau was a staggering ten time Stanley Cup champion with Montreal in his 20
years with the club. Beliveau also won
the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion in 1956, the Hart Trophy as MVP in 1956 and 1964 and the inaugural Conn Smythe Trophy in 1965. Had the Conn Smythe Trophy been in existence
prior to the 1965 finals, odds are that Beliveau would have won at least
one other one, particularly in 1956 when he led the Canadiens in
playoff scoring with 12 goals and 19 points in just ten games.
This
exact variation of the Canadiens jersey arrived in 1947 when the red
shoulders no longer encroached into the blue arm stripes and would be
worn until 1956 when further detail changes were introduced.
Today's video selection is the wonderful Legends of Hockey profile of Beliveau.
