Mar. 27, 1964 - The Chicago Black Hawks played it tight and close to the vest last night against the Detroit Red Wings, who skated almost frantically under the mounting pressure and finally broke down under a three-goal avalanche in the third period. It gave Chicago a 4-1 victory in the opener of a best-of-seven Stanley Cup semifinal series.
The dam broke at 6:42 of the final period. It was busted open on a 30-foot shot from right wing by captain Pete Pilote which broke a 1-1 tie. The standing room crowd of 15,697, which jammed Chicago Stadium to the walls, roared the victory cry. The pitch of that roar indicated that even the crowd sensed the eventual breakdown of the Red Wings, who worked hard, scored the first goal of the game — a tip-in by Andre Pronovost off Paul Henderson’s 30-foot back-hander from left wing — but were not able to stand up against a relentless Hawk defense, miraculous goaltending by Glenn Hall, and checking, fore and aft.
It was solid Stanley Cup hockey until Murray Balfour and Stan Mikita (pictured) added the third and fourth Chicago goals.
An estimated 7,400 saw last night’s game on the Black Hawks’ closed-circuit theater T.V. experiment in four Chicago houses and one in Milwaukee. Two of the houses were sold out, and two filled to 60% capacity.
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