Mar. 8, 1964 - Norm Ullman scored the Red Wings’ first hat trick of the season tonight and left the Detroiters just one victory shy of clinching a Stanley Cup playoff berth. Ullman rallied the crippled Wings from a 3-0 deficit early in the second period with two goals one minute apart and then scored the winner early in the third period as Detroit took a 5-3 victory over the Bruins at Boston Garden.
Detroit is now 11 points up on fifth-place New York. The Wings can turn out the lights on the Rangers’ dim hopes by winning one game themselves, or the Rangers, who have six games left, can end the speculation by losing one. And there’s still that chance for third place as the Wings climbed back two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, who lost to the Chicago Black Hawks.
The Wings went into tonight’s game without Bruce MacGregor and Parker MacDonald, two of their hottest guns of late. MacGregor, who pulled knee ligaments, was sent back to Detroit today for treatment, and MacDonald, who bruised a rib last night in Toronto, skated in the pre-game warmup but couldn’t make it.
Ullman, on top of his hat trick, was also active with his fists, getting into a high-sticking duel with Boston’s Dean Prentice and then mixing it up with the Bruin winger. Both drew minors and majors, and Prentice also picked up a misconduct.
Referee Vern Buffey had a busy night — he also chased Wing trainer Lefty Wilson from the bench early in the second period when Wilson uttered some discouraging words to the referee.
The game wound up a three-game road swing for the Wings, and they won two of the three. Now, four of the last five are at the Olympia.
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