MAURICE RICHARD

March 23, 1944 montreal 5, toronto 1

MAURICE ‘ROCKET’ RICHARD WAS accustomed to hearing his name announced as one of the three stars following a game, but the night of March 23, 1944, was special because Richard was awarded all three stars after a 5-1 playoff victory over the Toronto.

Richard scored all of his team’s goals to become the first player in the modern era to score five times in a playoff game. Toe Blake assisted on each, Elmer Lach had four helpers and coach Dick Irvin helped Richard by triple-shifting him to keep him away from Bob Davidson, who was shadowing the Canadiens superstar.