The 1960s were the last great decade for Stanley Cup glory in Canada.
Between five Toronto and four Montreal championships, the game and trophy’s native country ruled the NHL in ways it never had before or since. The most cumulative Cups among Canadian franchises in any other calendar decade was eight in the 1920s.
The Habs made a habit in this decade of clinching back-and-forth six-game semifinal sets on the road in overtime. The Leafs paved multiple roads to the title with season-saving Game 6 victories.
Fittingly, the national rivals staged one of those triumphs apiece at each other’s expense. In addition, they met in the last Stanley Cup Final before the league’s first modern wave of expansion in 1967.
Afterwards, while they still have not taken Lord Stanley on parade, the likes of Minnesota and St. Louis were quick to taste compelling playoff drama themselves. They and other “Next Six” franchises fit into the greatest 1960s playoff highlights along with the Original Six as follows.
10. 1969: Montreal vs. Boston
The Bruins blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads en route to overtime losses in Games 1 and 2, respectively. Back home for Game 3, they made this semifinal a series again with a 5-0 steamroll, then eked out a 3-2 nailbiter.
Home ice continued to hold sway through Game 5. But after raising a 3-0 advantage, the Canadiens needed to avert their own fall-from-ahead falter. They let the lead shrivel to 3-2 before Claude Provost bagged the lone third-period goal, cementing a 4-2 victory.
Facing elimination at home, Boston struck first at 2:29 of Game 6’s opening frame. The difference held up until Montreal’s Serge Savard converted a power play at the 70-second mark of the third period.
The first resultant overtime did not suffice, and the fifth period spilled over into a 12th minute. But then Jean Beliveau snapped the home-ice trend and clinched the Canadiens’ third come-from-behind sudden-death win, along with the series.
9. 1965: Montreal vs. Toronto
As they would against Boston four years later, the Habs claimed the first two games at the Forum. Toronto came back from a pair of one-goal deficits to take Game 3 in overtime, 3-2. Trailing by a pair from early in the first period through the 16th minute of the second, the Leafs perked up again for four unanswered goals in Game 4.
Back at the Forum, the Habs had their turn coming from behind. They flipped a 1-0 deficit to a 2-1 edge, which they widened to 3-1 in the final minute of regulation.
At home for the elimination contest, the Leafs struck for three of the first four goals, all between 2:10 and 3:49 of the first period. But penalty trouble gradually nipped at the Buds over the rest of regulation.
Jacques Laperriere converted a Montreal power play in the second, then Bobby Rousseau another in the third. The resultant 3-3 draw stagnated through 16:33 of the first overtime, when Provost clinched the series for the Habs.
8. 1968: Minnesota vs. Los Angeles
Had the North Stars not broken loose midway through Game 7 toward a 9-4 runaway, this series would rank higher. But that comparative letdown aside, this was a stellar postseason debut for these freshman franchises.
After falling short in 2-1 and 2-0 decisions to start, Minnesota perked up its offense upon returning home. The North Stars trailed twice in the opening frame of Game 3 before running up a 6-3 advantage. Los Angeles closed the gap before a dose of insurance put Minnesota back in the series, 7-5.
Each team subsequently claimed a 3-2 victory in their respective buildings, putting the Kings in a position to clinch. But after trailing by two goals at the second intermission, the North Stars staged their third come-from-behind win. A 4-3 overtime decision at the Met Center forced the aforementioned anticlimactic Game 7 in L.A.
7. 1964 Stanley Cup Final
Another comparatively anticlimactic Game 7 holds this series back. After a heart-stopping overtime road win in Game 6, the Leafs cruised to a 4-0 clincher back home. Otherwise, this would rank higher than Toronto’s other triumph in the 1964 tournament.
Of the first six games, only the fourth ended in a multi-goal differential. And that was only because Frank Mahovlich widened the Leafs’ lead to 4-2 within the last two minutes of regulation.
Naturally, this series is best remembered for Bobby Baun’s gutsy goal that helped the Leafs stave off elimination. Home hero Gordie Howe had given Detroit a 3-2 lead with 4:04 left in Game 6. But the Buds regrouped while Baun recovered from a leg injury. In the ensuing overtime, he slugged home the clincher.
6. 1969: Los Angeles vs. Oakland
The first Battle of California in Stanley Cup playoff history did not disappoint. The series lead changed twice, and the visitors prevailed three times out of seven.
To start, the Kings deleted three deficits, then survived a late equalizer to take Game 1 in overtime, 5-4. The Seals seized the lead with back-to-back wins by a cumulative count of 9-4. After falling in Game 4, they pushed L.A. to the brink with a 4-1 home win in Game 5.
A back-and-forth first period in Game 6 saw Oakland fill 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 potholes. The two-way firestorm dissipated afterward, with Bill Flett’s goal late in the middle frame standing as the decider in the Kings’ season-saving 4-3 squeaker.
Back up north, the Seals again responded after falling behind twice. But L.A. finally pulled ahead for good, 3-2, late in the second period. At 7:53 of the third, Lowell MacDonald doubled the lead for the eventual clincher. Each team lit the lamp once more before the Kings cemented a 5-3 victory.
5. 1968: St. Louis vs. Philadelphia
After splitting 1-0 and 4-3 decisions at the Spectrum, the two first-year teams went to a fifth period in Game 3. The host Blues struck at 4:10 of double-OT, then took a commanding 3-1 series lead with a 5-2 romp.
With Rosaire Paiment’s hat trick, including the deciding strike for a 6-1 rout, Philadelphia averted elimination in Game 5. Back on the road, the Flyers were 15 seconds away from falling in a 1-0 final. But Andre Lacroix forced sudden death, and the eventual second double-OT game of the series went to the more desperate party.
Don Blackburn’s goal forced a Game 7 back at the Spectrum, where the Blues eked out a 3-1 win. They safeguarded a 2-1 deficit from 10:45 of the middle frame until the final minute of regulation when Red Berenson tacked on the insurance.
4. 1965: Chicago vs. Detroit
The Blackhawks trailed the Red Wings, 2-0, at the first intermission of Game 7 at the Olympia. They subsequently erupted to tie the score in the second period, then amassed two more unanswered goals to clinch the series.
That was the only road victory for either team in this semifinal set. But that did not make the first six games entirely predictable. The Wings started the series by surmounting 1-0 and 3-2 deficits for a 4-3 squeaker.
Later, in the pivotal Game 5, Detroit overcame 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to take a 4-2 decision. Facing elimination, the Hawks safeguarded a brittle 1-0 lead until a late wave in the third period quadrupled the gap. Their escape from Game 6 set up the aforementioned rubber match back in Motown.
3. 1964: Toronto vs. Montreal
Minus Game 6, no installments of this Stanley Cup semifinal ended with a margin exceeding two goals. And even the Leafs’ 3-0 victory that night had compelling implications, as it forced Game 7.
Toronto trailed its national rival three times in the series, losing after initially leading in Games 3 and 5. But after the Leafs flexed their resilience for the third time, the deciding contest followed a pattern similar to Game 2.
Just as they did when they tied the series at 1-1, the Buds entered the Montreal Forum and opened a 2-1 lead in the opening frame. The Canadiens again retorted in the middle frame, cutting the deficit in half.
But whereas the visitors had to hang on to cement the 2-1 final in Game 2, they gained insurance in the decider. Dave Keon completed his hat trick with 11 seconds left in regulation, clinching the reigning champions’ third straight ticket to the final.
2. 1960: Toronto vs. Detroit
To start this semifinal, the fourth-seeded Red Wings stole a 2-1 decision from Maple Leaf Gardens. That would be the first of three road wins in a series that had all six games determined by two goals or fewer.
A last-minute tally from Bob Pulford was the only reason Toronto took Game 2 by a 4-2 count. In Game 3, the Leafs surmounted a 2-0 deficit, then recovered from two Detroit equalizers to prevail in triple-overtime, 5-4.
The Wings responded with their own OT victory, reducing the series to a virtual best-of-three. At home for Game 5, Toronto stymied several comeback efforts and never trailed in a 5-4 squeaker;
On their first chance to clinch, the Leafs fell behind early, then trailed again by a 2-1 count at the second intermission. But they hushed the Olympia masses with Pulford’s first-minute equalizer and Mahovlich’s go-ahead tally two minutes later. A late dose of insurance from Dick Duff completed the third-period eruption and secured identical 4-2 victories in the game and series.
1. 1968: St. Louis vs. Minnesota
Each side’s first-round seven-game triumph proved an appetizer for their collision in the division final. The North Stars took two 5-1 decisions, but the rest of the games were compellingly close. Moreover, the series saw a pair of lead changes and four successful comebacks in individual games.
St. Louis staged the first of those rallies, turning 1-0 and 2-1 deficits into a 5-3 win in Game 1. The next night Minnesota trailed twice before taking a 3-2 decision in overtime.
Trailing the series, 2-1, and Game 4, 3-0, entering the third period, the Blues reversed the momentum. They filled the pothole late in regulation and then claimed a 4-3 sudden-death victory.
After another OT triumph to take a commanding lead, St. Louis faltered at the Met Center, 5-1. But in the rubber match, the Blues recovered after shedding first blood with 3:11 left in regulation. Dickie Moore responded within 31 seconds of Minnesota’s icebreaker, and Ron Shock scored at 2:50 of the ensuing sudden-death period.
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