Game 32: Montreal 8, Red Wings 3

Detroit, MI (12/26/69)- Yvon Cournoyer registered a hat trick and the Red Wings surrendered a season high eight goals as Montreal skated to an easy 8-3 win at Olympia Stadium on Friday night.

"This was by far the worst game we played all season," lamented Red Wings coach Sid Abel. "We didn't check, we didn't skate, we couldn't stop the puck."

The Habs outshot Detroit 47-19.

The game was actually tied, 2-2, after one period, but the Canadiens blitzed the Red Wings with four goals in the middle period and Montreal wasn't challenged after that.

Cournoyer, fittingly, started the scoring just 13 seconds into the game, firing a wrist shot past Roger Crozier from the left face-off circle.

Four minutes later, Henri Richard put in a rebound to make it 2-0.

The Red Wings, though outshot 14-5 in the period, battled back to tie the game with goals from Nick Libett and Frank Mahovlich.

But the Canadiens kept applying the pressure and when John Ferguson scored at 10:53 of the second period to make the score 5-2, Abel replaced Crozier with Roy Edwards---the first time either goalie has been unable to play a complete game this season.


Red Wings goalie Roger Crozier was constantly under siege during Friday's 8-3 loss to Montreal


Jean Beliveau's goal at 2:28 of the third period made it 7-2 and streams of fans started leaving the arena.

Libett scored twice for the Red Wings (15-8-9), losers of three of their past four games.

"We've been sloppy in our own end lately," Abel said. "Tonight it was just Katie bar the door."

Cournoyer, also fittingly, ended the scoring at 11:24 of the third period, flipping a backhand over a sprawled Edwards.

MON 2-4-2 = 8
DET 2-0-1 = 3

1st Period
MON- Cournoyer (Ferguson, Laperriere) :13
MON- Richard (Laperriere, Harris) 4:41
DET- Libett (Connelly, Brewer) 11:48
DET- Mahovlich (Delvecchio) 16:20

2nd Period
MON- Cournoyer (Backstrom, Harper) 6:47
MON- Lemaire (Redmond, Rousseau) 8:27
MON- Ferguson (Cournoyer, Beliveau) 10:53
MON- Mickey (Laperriere, Backstrom) 14:57

3rd Period
MON- Beliveau (Lemaire, Laperriere) 2:28
DET- Libett (Brewer, Unger) 7:26
MON- Cournoyer (Lemaire, Savard) 11:24

Shots on Goal
MON 14-16-17 = 47
DET 5-4-10 = 19

Goalies
Vachon (MON); Crozier, Edwards* (DET)
*10:53, 2nd Period

Power Plays
MON 1-for-4; DET 0-for-2

Penalty Minutes
MON 4; DET 8

Fights
None