NHL Final Goes to Seventh Game

Apr. 29, 1965 - Doug Mohns, the 31-year-old veteran who was an also-ran at Boston for 11 seasons before being traded to Chicago, was the man on the spot for the Black Hawks’ winning goal tonight when they edged the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1, and forced the Stanley Cup final to the limit.

His goal came in the ninth minute of the third period as the Hawks retaliated from their 6-0 beating in the sixth game and came from behind for the victory.

Ralph Backstrom had given the Canadiens the lead with his first goal in 11 playoff games late in the second period. But the Hawks tied it up on a goal by defenseman Elmer Vasko in the sixth minute of the finale, and Mohns got the winner two minutes and nine seconds later.

The goal came just seven seconds after Hab defenseman Terry Harper was penalized for holding Bobby Hull. Stan Mikita set it up from the corner faceoff.

“After 12 years, I’m only three periods away from being on a Stanley Cup team. I can’t believe it,” said Mohns in the noisy Chicago dressing room.

The opening period was marred by 56 minutes in penalties, as both teams indicated they had plenty of fight. The total was only four minutes short of the penalty record for one period in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The big blowup came in the 7th minute of play when Terry Harper and Doug Mohns tangled twice in the same set-to, and Dick Duff squared off against Stan Mikita.

“I think we deserved to win this one,” said Chicago coach Billy Reay. “If it hadn’t been for Charlie Hodge’s fine goaltending in the first two periods, we certainly wouldn’t have been behind by a goal.

“But that little black thing has to go in the net, and I thought it never would. Sure, that was a deflected goal for the winner, but those are the kind that win playoff games when the checking is heavy.”

Said Montreal coach Toe Blake: “We didn’t have as many chances tonight as we had in previous games. We still have to win four games, that’s all. What difference does it make now?”

Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s