This Day in Hockey History – December 18, 1928 and 1955 – Habs Record Shutout Then Shut Out

Dec 18, 2019

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For the Montreal Canadiens, December 18 became a day of shutouts, whether in their favor or not. In 1928, they notched their fifth consecutive road shutout in Chicago. Then in 1955, they became the losers as the Red Wings tallied their third consecutive shutout in Detroit.

Chicago’s Coliseum hosted the Habs in 1928. According to the Montreal Gazette, it was one of the fasted games held there as the Canadiens “outskated, outchecked and outscored” the Hawks. The contract with the Coliseum would expire January 20, and the new Chicago Stadium would not be finished in time. The Blackhawks announced that they would have to play the remainder of their “home” games at Detroit’s Olympia Stadium.

While the Hawks were still actually at home, the Habs were probably happy to be on the road. Their goalie, George Hainsworth, had not allowed any goals from the opposition in the past four road games, since before November 22. The Canadiens won 1-0 at Boston, tied 0-0 at Pittsburgh, won 2-0 at Ottawa, and tied the Maroons 0-0. On December 18, they proceeded to crush the Blackhawks 5-0.

The star of the offensive game was Howie Morenz. He assisted on the third goal of the night and then proceeded to net the final two at 15:45 and 17:55 of the third period. According to the recap, “His first goal was from the blue line and near the boards and his second also from the blue line, but directly in front of the goal.”

Of the 16 away games the Canadiens played throughout the rest of the season, they would blank their opponents in seven of them.

Coincidentally, the Habs and Hawks played each other again on December 17, 1955 with the same results. The Canadiens had a 5-0 shutout. The major difference was that the game was held at Montreal Forum, for a crowd of 13,115. That time, the goalie was Bobby Perreault, who was called up from Shawinigan Falls Cataracts because Jacques Plante was injured. The five goals were scored by five different players, but three of them were on the third line (Floyd Curry, Ken Mosdell, and Claude Provost).

The next day, December 18, the Canadiens travelled to Detroit to play the Red Wings before 13,968 spectators. There, Montreal’s eight-game winning streak came to an end. They had only lost five games all season, but two of them were against the Red Wings. For the first time all season, they were on the losing end of a shutout.

Detroit’s Glenn Hall was on a roll. This was his third-straight shutout on home ice. He blanked the Rangers 2-0 on December 11 and then the Maple Leafs 4-0 on December 15. With 26 saves, he held off the Canadiens too. Peerreault, on the other end of the ice, faced 40 shots but let in two.

Both of Detroit’s goals were made by Alex Delvecchio. The recap described the first goal early in the game: “He fired a routine 60-footer at 2:35 which Montreal defenceman Dollard St. Laurent attempted to clear. Instead he deflected it past the startled Perreault.” At 5:51 of the second period, rookie Henri Richard sat a penalty leaving the Canadiens short-handed. “Delvecchio, at the corner of the cage, took a feed from Red Kelly and slid in a short shot when Perreault attempted to move out and smother.”

Although they had trouble beating Detroit, the Habs managed when it counted. At the end of the 1955-56 season, the Canadiens began their streak of five straight Stanley Cup championships.