The Last NHL Player to Score 4 Goals in a Stanley Cup Final Game: Maurice Richard’s Historic Night

Scoring four goals in a single Stanley Cup Final game is a rare feat, only five players in NHL history have ever done it. The most recent? None other than the legendary Maurice "Rocket" Richard, who accomplished this 67 years ago.

On April 6, 1957, the Montreal Canadiens faced off against the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at the iconic Montreal Forum. The Canadiens had just dispatched the New York Rangers, while Boston earned their spot by eliminating the Detroit Red Wings, despite not making the playoffs the season before.

Boston struck first with a goal from Fleming Mackell midway through the second period. But it didn’t take long for Rocket Richard to take over. He scored two quick goals, with the second becoming the game-winner. Before the period ended, Richard completed his hat trick, pushing Montreal’s lead to 4-1. He capped off the night with his fourth goal in the third period, assisted by his brother, Henri Richard.

All five Canadiens goals were scored on Bruins goalie Don Simmons in a dominant 5-1 victory. Richard’s four-goal explosion made up half of his total goals during the 1956-57 playoffs. Defenseman DougHarvey added three assists, while Henri Richard contributed two.

Montreal went on to win the series in five games, capturing their second of five straight Stanley Cup championships. Maurice Richard’s four-goal performance remains one of the most iconic individual efforts in Stanley Cup Final history.

1957 Stanley Cup Playoffs

In the six team NHL, the Detroit Red Wing finished first overall with 88 points over 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens were next, six points behind the Wings. The Boston Bruins were just two points behind the Habs for third and the New York Rangers rounded out the playoff qualifiers with 66 pionts in 70 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks missed the post season.

Montreal vs. New York (Semi-Final)

Despite the large gap in points between the Canadiens and Rangers, their semi-final series was the tightest. It took Montreal just five games to advance but overtime was needed in games 2 and 5. After the Canadiens won game one, it was the Rangers winning tying up the series with a 4-3 overtime win. In that match at Madison Square Garden, Andy Hebenton scored the game winner on Jacques Plante at 13:38 of the extra frame.

In game 5, New York fell 3-0 after two periods but came back with goals by Parker MacDonald, Red Sullivan and Harry Howell in the third to force the extra frame. Rocket Richard clinched the series with a goal 1:11 into OT on Gump Worsley, assisted by Henri Richard and Dickie Moore.

Boston vs. Detroit (Semi-Final)

This series lacked overtime but was close nonetheless, regardless of the Bruins dispatching the Red Wings in five games. Over the five, Boston outscored the Wings by just a single goal. Like the other semi-final series, the teams were tied after two games. Boston the won three straight and the series.

Game 4 featured a 20 save shutout by Don Simmons with Real Chevrefils scoring the game winner at the 6:00 mark of the first period. Boston eliminated the Red Wings on April 4, 1957 at Detroit Olympia in a tight 4-3 win. Ted Lindsay gave Detroit a 2-1 lead just 36 seconds into the third period but Boston scored three straight with Cal Gardner putting in the game winner. Wings goalie Glenn Hall allowed the four goals on just 15 shots on net.

Montreal vs. Boston (Stanley Cup Final)

Again, the final series went five games before the Montreal Canadiens were crowned Stanley Cup champions. The series featured a shutout for each team. In game 2, Plante stopped all 24 shots put his way while Boston goalie Simmons allowed just one on 23 shots in the 1-0 Habs win. Jean Beliveau scored the lone goal at 2:27 of the second, assisted by Dollard St. Laurent and Bernie Geoffrion.

Simmons got his second blank of the playoffs in game 4, turning away all 21 shots. Plante stopped 27 of 28 with one going into the empty net in the 2-0 Boston win. Fleming Mackell scored both goals for the Bruins in the game.

In the 5-1 Cup clinching win on April 16, 1957 at the Montreal Forum, it was Dickie Moore's goal 14 seconds into the second period that would stand as the game winner. Moore had a three point game, also assisting on third period goals by DonMarshall and Floyd Curry.

Hockey Trivia: NHL Goal Scoring Legend Joe Malone

Often over-looked when it comes to naming the greatest hockey players to ever play the game, Joe Malone is a name ever hockey fan should know. Because he played in the game’s infancy when there was a 24 game schedule, before the days of television broadcasts and in an age of whacky rules that would seem foreign to today’s fans and players, Joe Malone goes relatively unnoticed in the history of the National Hockey League.

The following four questions will test and expand the knowledge of the serious hockey fan and may even shock and amaze.

Q. Joe Malone still holds the NHL record for the highest goals per game average in one season after nearly a century has passed. With which team did Malone accomplish this feat?

A. Joe Malone, as a member of the Montreal Canadiens during the 1917-18 season, scored 44 goals in 20 games for an average of 2.2 goals per game. To put this into perspective, in today’s 82 game NHL schedule, that would equate to a 180 goal season. That was the first season of the NHL after the league transformed from the National Hockey Association. Therefore, Malone was the first ever scoring leader.

The 44 goals scored by Joe would remain a single season National Hockey League record until 1944-45. Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard scored 50 goals that year, but it took him 50 games to do it.

Q. In 1920, Malone set the record for most goals in a NHL game with seven, a record that still stands today. What team did he score his seven goals against?

A. On January 31, 1920, Joe Malone scored seven goals for the Quebec Bulldogs against the Toronto St. Patricks (predecessor to the Toronto Maple Leafs) in a 10-6 win. He also had a six goal game the same year.

To date, just six other players have scored six goals in a single game. Newsy Lalonde accomplished the feat in that 1919-20 season. Corb Denneny of Toronto St. Pats and Cy Denneny of the Ottawa Senators scored six each in games the following season. Syd Howe of the Detroit Red Wings had six in a game during the 1943-44 season. Red Berenson of the St. Louis Blues had six in a 1968-69 game. The last player to accomplish the feat was Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs, nearly 40 years ago, during the 1975-76 season.

Q. What Ontario, Canada based NHL team did Joe Malone play two seasons for?

A. Not the Toronto Maple Leafs or Ottawa Senators. Joe Malone played two years for the Hamilton Tigers, 1920-21 and 1921-22. The Tigers were the result of the Quebec Bulldogs relocating. Malone moved on to the Montreal Canadiens for 1922-23 but his magic was lost. Joe scored just one goal while playing just 29 games over the next two years, his last in the NHL.

The Tigers lasted until the end of the 1924-25 season. For the most part, the Hamilton franchise became the New York Americans for 1925-26. A hard luck story, the Tigers did not qualify for the post season in the first four of their five years of existence. In 1924-25, the team finished first overall in the six team NHL. However, the Hamilton players went on strike and the NHL suspended the team before they could play a single game in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Q. In what year was Joe Malone inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame?

A. Malone entered the Hall in 1950, five years after its creation and over 25 years after his playing career came to an end. Joe was part of a group of eight inducted that year. Included among the other seven was Malone’s teammate with the Canadiens in the first two years of the NHL, Newsy Lalonde.