Jan. 20, 1965 - Dick Duff (pictured #8) had to wait a long time for his first goal against the Maple Leafs, but it paid large dividends as it gave the Montreal Canadiens a 2-1 triumph over the home side before 14,357 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens tonight.
“That’s my first against the Leafs since they traded me to New York last Feb. 22,” said Dick. “It’s been too long in coming, but it was a winner, and I have to be glad about that.
“I’m not going to pull a Ted Lindsay and say I’d play against the Leafs just for kicks. I like to get paid. But that red light sure threw a warm glow in my direction because I’m still trying to convince [Leaf coach and general manager] Punch Imlach that I’m a goal-scorer.
“I got the breaks on it. I darted in quick, and Bobby Rousseau’s pass from the faceoff hit my skate and then glanced in off my stick. Bob made the big play in winning the draw in the Leaf zone.”
Canadiens coach Toe Blake, as happy as Duff, said: “We didn’t have any passengers out there. That was the story of that victory. The first goal [by Claude Larose] gave us the jump on them, and we managed to hang on to it in what I considered a tough, fast, exciting game.”
The Gardens has been Larose’s happy hunting ground this season. He has fired four into the Leaf net and now has 14 goals.
Imlach, most unhappy over the loss, refused to single out a goat. He figured his men played well enough to get a tie.
“That’s the fourth time they’ve beaten us in five starts on our own ice,” he said. “Those eight points are the reason they’re leading the National Hockey League and we’re back in third place.”
Tonight was the Canadiens’ third straight win since Gump Worsley replaced Charlie Hodge in goal, and he has allowed only five goals.
“I had a break coming,” said Gump. “The last time I played this rink, they had to help me off with a pulled hamstring muscle, and I wound up in the minors.”
It looks as if the Gumper will be around a long time now.

Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s
Comments