Jan. 25, 1964 - The suddenly potent Boston Bruins gave the Canadiens a 6-0 drubbing tonight at the Montreal Forum in an upset that produced a third-period brawl with a whopping 54-minute assessment in penalties. It’s perhaps a little premature to launch a cry of “Break up the Bruins” — they overpowered the Maple Leafs, 11-0, in Toronto the previous Saturday night — but something seems to have come over the last-place club. Andy Hebenton, at 34 the oldest of Boston’s forwards, and Gary Dornhoefer, at 20 the youngest, popped in two goals each before a crowd of 14,235.
Part of the explanation for the potency Boston developed on the attack might be that Montreal was unable to employ regulars Bernie Geoffrion, Jean Beliveau, and Claude Provost, all sidelined with assorted injuries. Boston goaltender Eddie Johnston turned in a 28-stop performance for his fourth shutout. His teammates hurled only four more shots at Montreal’s Charlie Hodge, but they were far tougher chances, and Hodge could hardly be faulted for any of the Boston goals. It was Boston’s first win over Montreal in 10 games.
The fist-fighting featured three separate sets of antagonists. No one was injured, but everyone appeared to get in at least a couple of good licks. Rookie John Ferguson of the Canadiens and Guy Gendron of the Bruins were the principals in the melee, and they drew the heaviest penalties — minors, majors and misconducts each. It seemed to start after Gendron jostled Ferguson in front of the Boston net. They tangled and separate battles quickly developed between Terry Harper of Montreal and Forbes Kennedy of Boston, with Billy Hicke of the Canadiens pitted against Bob Leiter of the Bruins. Ferguson got the better of things against Gendron, pulling the Boston player’s sweater off and delivering a number of stiff shots to the head. The other two battles were about even. All four players involved drew five-minute majors.
