Gilles Villemure Turns Away All 15 Phil Esposito Shots In 1972 Bruins-Rangers Clash

On December 14, 1972, the New York Rangers visited the Boston Garden in a showdown that featured two of the NHL’s biggest names: Phil Esposito and Gilles Villemure.

The 1972-73 season marked the third of four straight years that Esposito led the league in shots, and he showed no hesitation to fire the puck against Villemure. Boston launched 55 shots on goal, with 15 coming from Esposito alone.

Yet despite his relentless attack, Esposito was shut out individually. Villemure turned aside every single one of Espo’s shots. The Bruins still came out on top with a 4-2 victory, but not one of their goals came from their superstar sniper.

This performance set a rare mark in NHL history: most shots in a game without scoring a goal. To this day, only Alex Ovechkin has matched Esposito’s total, doing so in 2015. The overall single-game shots record belongs to Ray Bourque, who fired 19 on the Nordiques in 1991.

Esposito still found the scoresheet, recording two assists in the second period on goals by Wayne Cashman, both also assisted by Bobby Orr. Cashman and Orr each had seven shots, and when combined with Espo’s 15, the trio accounted for 29 of Boston’s 55 shots.

At the other end, Ed Johnston had a relatively calm night, stopping 22 of 24 shots. The Rangers’ goals came from Gene Carr and Jean Ratelle, while Fred O’Donnell scored the game-winner for Boston with help from Gregg Sheppard and Don Marcotte.

About Gilles Villemure

Between 1967-68 and 1976-77, Gilles Villemure played 205 regular season and 14 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks. Along with his 1970-71 Vezina Trophy win (shared with Ed Giacomin), Villemure was WHL rookie of the year in 1962-63 before winning both the Hap Holmes Award and Les Cunningham Award in the AHL for 1968-69 and 1969-70.

The PDF versions of some of our hockey books are now available for free download: Take a look!

NHL Hockey Trivia: Gilles Villemure

Much more NHL hockey trivia can be found at our website: World's Best Hockey Trivia

1. Gilles Villemure spent the majority of his NHL career with which team?

Chicago Black Hawks
New York Rangers
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks

2. Villemure shared the Vezina Trophy in 1971 with which fellow Rangers goalie?

Gump Worsley
Ed Giacomin
Bernie Parent
Rogie Vachon

3. Which season was Villemure’s best statistically, earning him NHL All-Star recognition?

1967-68
1970-71
1973-74
1975-76

4. Before becoming an NHL regular, Villemure was a standout in which minor league?

WHA
AHL
WHL
IHL

5. Villemure finished his NHL career with which team in 1976-77?

New York Rangers
Buffalo Sabres
Chicago Black Hawks
Los Angeles Kings

1967-68 NHL East Division Team Leaders

The 1967-68 National Hockey League season marked the addition of six new teams. Normally, expansion increases offense due to the watered down product on the ice. In 1967-68, that wasn’t really so. Stan Mikita won the Art Ross Trophy for the second year in a row but with ten less points than in 1966-67. Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks led the league with 44 goals. It was one of only five times from 1965-66 to the present when the goal scoring leader had less than 50 goals.

Stan Mikita – Chicago Black Hawks

Stan Mikita, obviously, led the Chicago Black Hawks with 87 points. Mikita played his entire NHL career with the Black Hawks from 1959-60 to 1979-80, contributing a total of 1,467 regular season points and winning the Art Ross Trophy four times. As for the Black Hawks, the team finished fourth in the newly formed East Division and lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup semi-finals.

Phil Esposito – Boston Bruins

Phil Esposito was in his first year with the Boston Bruins after coming over from the Black Hawks and his offensive juices were just starting to run. He led the Bruins with 84 points and finished second in the NHL behind Mikita. In the coming seasons, Esposito would win the Art Ross Trophy on five occasions between 1968-69 and 1973-74. Boston qualified for the post season for the first time since 1959 but lost in the first round.

Gordie Howe – Detroit Red Wings

Gordie Howe led the Detroit Red Wings with 82 points and placed third in the league. Howe had been a Red Wing since the 1946-47 season and would play with the club until the end of 1970-71. Detroit had a dismal season in 1967-68, finishing last in the East Division and out of the post season. In fact, just the Oakland Seals finished with a worst record in the NHL that season with 47 points to Detroit’s 66.

Jean Ratelle – New York Rangers

Jean Ratelle led the New York Rangers, a team that had a great regular season, finishing just four points behind the Montreal Canadiens for first overall. Yet, the Rangers were upset in the opening round by Chicago, a team that finished fourth in the East. Ratelle’s 78 points placed him fourth in the National Hockey League. Jean had just one more point than long time Rangers teammate Rod Gilbert.

Jean Beliveau – Montreal Canadiens

Jean Beliveau led the Montreal Canadiens with 68 points while playing in just 59 of Montreal’s 74 regular season games. Beliveau played his entire NHL career with Montreal, from 1953-54 to 1970-71. He won the Art Ross Trophy in 1955-56. Jean led the Habs to a Stanley Cup victory by sweeping the Bruins in the first round and taking the Black Hawks in five in the second round before sweeping the St. Louis Blues to capture the championship.

Mike Walton – Toronto Maple Leafs

Mike Walton led the Toronto Maple Leafs with just 59 points. Toronto went from winning the Stanley Cup in 1966-67 to not qualifying for the post season in 1967-68. Walton played in the NHL from 1965-66 to 1978-79 with the Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Chicago Black Hawks. Mike also played three years in the World Hockey Association with the Minnesota Fighting Saints and was awarded the Bill Hunter Trophy as the WHA’s top scorer in 1973-74.