Ralph Backstrom had a hand in five of Montreal’s seven goals on November 23, 1967, scoring a hat trick and adding two assists in a 7-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium. The Kirkland Lake, Ontario native also fired ten shots at Denis DeJordy, accounting for nearly a third of the Canadiens’ 32 shots on goal.
Highlights
Montreal defeated Chicago 7-0 at Chicago Stadium on November 23, 1967.
Ralph Backstrom scored three goals and added two assists.
His first two goals came in the opening period.
He completed the hat trick on a second-period power play.
Backstrom recorded ten of Montreal’s 32 shots on goal.
Gump Worsley made 15 saves for his 31st career NHL shutout.
Backstrom and Denis DeJordy later became Los Angeles Kings teammates.
Backstrom entered the game with just four goals through Montreal’s first 18 games of the 1967-68 season. He scored his fifth at 5:47 of the opening period, beating DeJordy with help from Claude Larose. Before the intermission, he struck again, this time assisted by J.C. Tremblay and Dick Duff, to give the Canadiens a 3-0 lead.
The hat trick was complete at 10:28 of the second period. With Chicago defenceman Doug Jarrett serving a tripping penalty, Backstrom scored on the power play with assists from Tremblay and Yvan Cournoyer. After arriving in Chicago with four goals on the season, he had increased his total to seven before the game was halfway through.
Backstrom then turned playmaker. Later in the second period, he helped Larose score his first goal of the season. At 6:44 of the third, he picked up another assist on a Cournoyer goal to complete his five-point performance. DeJordy, the goaltender on the receiving end of that outburst, would later become his teammate with the Los Angeles Kings.
At the other end, Gump Worsley stopped all 15 Chicago shots for his second shutout of the season and the 31st of his NHL career. His first shutout that season had also required just 15 saves, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. This would be the first of two times Worsley blanked the Blackhawks during the 1967-68 campaign.
Hockey’s Best Team Ever: A Chronicle of the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens' Record-Breaking Season
Relive the legendary 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens season, when a powerhouse roster led by Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden, and Larry Robinson set an NHL record with 60 regular season wins before capturing the Stanley Cup.
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