Mike Walton Awarded Penalty Shots In Consecutive Games (1967-68)

Mike Walton took three penalty shots over his NHL career, scoring on one. Two of those penalty shots occurred a day apart. The first, against the Detroit Red Wings, was unique in it's own way.

Mike Walton Penalty Shot 1 (vs. Detroit Red Wings)

On March 9, 1968 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, the home team held a slim 6-5 lead with 3:20 left in the game. That's when Walton was give the penalty shot. In an interesting move, Detroit pulled starting goaltender Roy Edwards and replaced him with Roger Crozier, just for Walton's attempt.

Shakey scored on the cold Crozier for his 27th of the 1967-68 NHL season to make the score 7-5 for the Maple Leafs. Edwards came back in to the game and Crozier's official line was zero saves on one shot with no actual game time.

For Mike, it was the only one of seven shots on net that night resulting in a goal. He led all skaters in that category with Toronto putting a total of 38 shots on Edwards in the game. Walton also added an assist on a Ron Ellis goal earlier in the period for a two point night. Ron's goal was part of some rapid fire offense by both teams that saw five goals scored over a span of 4:12.

Mike Walton Penalty Shot 2 (vs. Chicago Blackhawks)

The next night, March 10, the Maple Leafs were at Chicago Stadium to play the Blackhawks. At 2:49 of the second period, Walton was hauled down by Doug Jarrett on a breakaway and again was awarded a penalty shot.

This time, Shakey was thwarted in the attempt, stopped by Chicago goalie Jack Norris. It was one of 27 shots Norris stopped in the game, earning a 4-0 shutout. 

Despite causing the penalty shot, Doug Jarrett played a prominent role in the win for the Blackhawks. He led all skaters with seven shots and had a three point game with a goal and two assists. His first assist was on a Ken Wharram goal at 17:21 of the first period, the goal that turned out to be the game winner. 

After the Maple Leafs pulled Johnny Bower late in the game and Chicago's Pit Martin scored into the empty net to make the score 3-0, Jarrett popped one past Bower for his third of the season with just nine seconds left. That goal was assisted by Doug Mohns and Stan Mikita.

Mike Walton Penalty Shot 3 (vs. New York Islanders)

Walton had one more penalty shot during his NHL career, over a decade after the missed attempt in Chicago. Interestingly, by this time he was playing for the Blackhawks. On April 20, 1979 in game three of a quarter-final series between Chicago and the New York Islanders, Dave Lewis was assessed the penalty for covering the puck in the crease. Walton was chosen to take the shot.

This time, it was Glenn Resch who shut the door. In fact, Resch shut the door on the whole Blackhawks team in a 4-0 shutout win to put the Islanders up 3-0 in the series. Denis Potvin led the Isles offensively with three points on a goal and two assists while Ed Westfall had a pair of helpers.

Darryl Sittler: The Trades

Darryl Sittler was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft, eighth overall. The junior star with the London Knights was picked behind seven players: Gilbert Perreault, Dale Tallon, Reg Leach, Rick MacLeish, Ray Martyniuk, Chuck Lefley and Greg Polis. Of the 115 players taken in the 1970 draft, just Sittler and Perreault reached the 1,000 game plateau. 

Leaving Toronto

On January 20, 1982, the Maple Leafs traded their captain and centerpiece to the Philadelphia Flyers. Rick Costello and a 1982 draft pick that turned out to be Peter Ihnacak went to Toronto. Sittler played the rest of the 1981-82 NHL season with the Flyers, following by two more full campaigns. In 1982-83, he scored an impressive 43 goals, the fifth and final time he surpassed the 40 goal plateau.

Rich Costello played a total of 12 games for Toronto, ten in 1983-84 and two in 1985-86. Peter Ihnacak provided a little more value, appearing in 417 regular season and 28 playoff games in the NHL between 1982-83 and 1989-90, all with the Maple Leafs. 

Off To Detroit

Just prior to the start of the 1984-85 NHL season, on October 10, 1984, Darryl was on the move again. This time, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Murray Craven and Joe Paterson. Sittler finished out the year with the Wings, playing 61 games and collecting 27 points, before retiring as a player.

The trade was definitely won by the Flyers. Craven, a first round pick in 1982 out of the Medicine Hat Tigers, stayed with the Flyers until 12 games into the 1991-92 season before moving on to the Hartford Whalers. Murray played 1,071 regular season and 118 playoff games in the NHL between 1982-83 and 1999-00 with the Red Wings, Flyers, Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks.

Joe Paterson played just eleven regular season and 17 playoff games with the Flyers before moving on to the Los Angeles Kings. Another London Knights grad, Paterson played 291 regular season and 22 playoff games in the NHL between 1980-81 and 1988-89 with the Red Wings, Flyers, Kings and New York Rangers.

After 3 Years In The Minors, Gregg Sheppard Bursts Onto Scene With The Bruins In 1972-73

It looked like it would be four years in the minors for Gregg Sheppard. He started the 1972-73 season in the AHL with the Boston Braves. However, after posting ten points in eight games, the NHL Bruins finally gave Sheppard a shot at the big show.

Gregg's first game was Boston's tenth of the 1972-73 NHL season and his performance was pretty lackluster in a 3-2 Bruins win against Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens. In game two, however, Sheppard got the ball (puck) rolling.

Hat Trick In Second Game

Against the expansion New York Islanders at Boston Garden, Sheppard recorded his first of six NHL career hat tricks, putting three goals on six shots past New York goalie Billy Smith. The Bruins came out on top in a 9-1 blowout.

Was it a lucky game against a team that had played just a handful of games in their young NHL existence? Sheppard was about to have a month of November that would prove he deserved to stay with the Bruins. 

More on that game in our Facebook Article: Gregg Sheppard 2nd Game Hat Trick

Hot November

Sheppard played 13 games for the Bruins in November, 1972. The rookie scored eight goals over that time while adding nine assists for 17 points. He had three more three point games to go with his second game hat trick. 

Against the California Golden Seals on November 3, Gregg had two goals and an assist in a 6-6 tie. He scored the first and last goals of a six goal second period. Both were scored on Gilles Meloche and both were assisted by Don Marcotte. In that second frame, he also assisted on a Garnet Bailey goal. The only player to outscore him in the game was Joey Johnston of the Golden Seals who scored a hat trick and added an assist.

On November 19, 1972, the Bruins hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs and won 6-5. Sheppard scored a pair on Ron Low, including the game winning goal at 8:21 of the third. Again, both his goals were assisted by Marcotte. Gregg added an assist on a Mike Walton goal for the three point game.

On November 26, the Bruins took out the Philadelphia Flyers 6-4 at the Boston Garden. Gregg scored Boston's sixth goal of the game at 4:20 of the second period on Doug Favell, unassisted. That made the score 6-1 and resulted in Favell being replaced by Michel Belhumeur. The goal went with assists on markers by Bobby Orr and Don Marcotte for his last three point game of the month.

The Rest Of The 1972-73 NHL Season

That would it for the three point games in 1972-73 for Sheppard. However, he finished up the campaign with 24 goals and 26 assists for 50 points over 64 games. This got him some consideration for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year, finishing tied for sixth in voting with Phil Russell of the Chicago Blackhawks. 

Taking the Calder that year was Steve Vickers of the New York Rangers. It was a fairly tight race with runner-up Bill Barber of the Philadelphia Flyers not far behind. Also in the running were Billy Harris, Jim Schoenfeld and Dan Bouchard.