When the Toronto Maple Leafs visited the Chicago Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium on February 20, 1977, fans expecting a tight defensive contest were quickly proven wrong. The two clubs combined for an astonishing 18 goals in one of the highest-scoring games of the modern NHL era.
Leading the offensive parade was Summerside, Prince Edward Island native Errol Thompson, who delivered a spectacular performance for Toronto. Thompson recorded a hat trick and added two assists, factoring into five Maple Leafs goals. He set up tallies by Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler, helping power Toronto through a wild back-and-forth contest.
One of the most explosive stretches came early in the third period. Chicago’s Pit Martin opened the scoring surge at 1:04. Just 25 seconds later, Sittler buried his 25th goal of the season. Thompson followed with his 14th of the 1976-77 campaign at 2:07 before Grant Mulvey answered for Chicago at 2:40. The four goals in just 1 minute and 36 seconds rank among the fastest scoring bursts in NHL history, though they did not quite set the record.
At the time, the game’s 18 combined goals stood as the highest total in the “modern era” of the NHL. Only a pair of games during the offense-heavy 1943-44 season had surpassed it with 19 goals. The all-time NHL record remains the 21 goals scored in a 1920 matchup between the Toronto St. Pats and the Montreal Canadiens, a very different era of hockey.
Despite the offensive fireworks, the goaltenders faced a heavy workload. Toronto’s Wayne Thomas stopped 38 of 46 shots, while Chicago’s Gilles Villemure surrendered nine goals on 37 shots, with the final tally coming into an empty net.
The night also featured another standout performance from Toronto’s Ian Turnbull, who recorded a goal and four assists for a five-point effort of his own. McDonald added two goals, including the game winner, and two assists for a four-point game.
Stories From The Epic History Of NHL Hockey (Volume IV)
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