This Day in Hockey History – February 3, 1944 – Syd’s Six

Ten days after the Detroit Red Wings obliterated the New York Rangers 15-0, they set a few more records in a 12-2 victory on February 3, 1944. The two scores totaled 27 goals against the Rangers, which was an NHL record for goals against a specific team. However, the big news of the night was Syd Howe, who scored half of Detroit’s tallies. The Detroit Free Press hailed, “Goal glory unparalleled in hockey history came to Syd Howe Thursday night – and how!”

Howe (no relation to Gordie’s family) played center or left wing, even defense if need be. He began his NHL career with Ottawa in 1930. On February 11, 1935, he was traded to Detroit, where he helped win three Stanley Cup championships (including one in 1943), before his career ended in 1946.

The Olympia Stadium crowd of 8,147 gave a standing ovation after Howe’s performance in February 1944. The 32-year-old scored back-to-back goals in every period for a total of six in 38 minutes. In the first period, the goals came at 11:27 and 11:45. For the initial goal, he “cut in front and banged in a pass from Don Grosso,” and for the second, he had a “fifteen-foot shot off a rebound.” At the end of the second period, Howe scored at 17:52 and 18:54 with a “behind-the-net pass from Cully Simon” and then having stolen the puck, he “passed to Grosso and took a return pass.” Finally, at 8:17 and 9:14 of the third, Howe made good on passes from Grosso.

The record for most goals in one game had been set at seven by Joe Malone on January 31, 1920. Cy Denneny had scored six for the Ottawa Senators on February 7, 1921. As Howe later commented, “I had a good chance to break the all-time record but I couldn’t do it.” Still, since then, only two players have even managed six goals in a game – Red Berenson of the St. Louis Blues (November 7, 1968) and Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs (February 7, 1976).

Although the news focused on Howe’s achievement, the Detroit Free Press also pointed out a few other records set that same game. Thanks to Grosso having assisted on six goals and scoring one of his own, he matched two benchmarks. The assists tied Elmer Lach’s high from the previous winter, and the points tied the highs of Carl Liscombe and Max Bentley. A teammate of Howe and Grosso, Mud Bruneteau, scored his 26th goal of the season, giving him the Detroit franchise record for most goals in a season. Finally, the poor Rangers finally managed to score at 13:57 of the third period. This meant that they had gone 180 minutes and 29 seconds without scoring on Detroit, and that length of time gave the Red Wings an NHL record for longest time preventing a single team from scoring.

Additional Sources:

• Mike Commito, Hockey 365: Daily Stories from the Ice (Toronto: Dundurn, 2018), kindle edition.
• John N. Sabo, “Here’s How: Howe, Howe, Howe, Howe, Howe, Howe – and How!” Detroit Free Press, 4 Feb. 1944, p. 14.
• https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-det/1944/02/03/1943020100#game=1943020100,game_state=final
• https://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p196505&type=Player&page=bio&list=ByName