Mar. 16, 1963 - The Toronto Maple Leafs moved into first place tonight in the NHL by beating the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-0. The victory gave the Leafs a point total of 79, while the second-place Hawks have 78. The Hawks are only 2 points ahead of the fast-closing Montreal Canadiens, who beat Detroit tonight, 5-3. The defeat ended a long stay in first place for the Hawks, who had held or shared that position since Dec. 2, 1962. The Leafs added insult to injury in the first period by scoring when the Hawks had a manpower advantage. Toronto's Bob Pulford was in the penalty box for tripping at 7:14, and the Hawks were setting up in their own zone for a rush when the short-handed Leafs stole the puck. Bob Nevin took control of it in the corner and passed it out to Alan Stanley at the point. Stanley's shot was tipped past goalie Glenn Hall (pictured) by Ron Stewart at 8:46. The Hawks got only 5 shots at Don Simmons in the first period, while Hall turned aside 13 Leaf drives. Stewart got another goal in the third period as the Leafs turned in one of their best performances of the year before the season's largest crowd, 14,405, at Maple Leaf Gardens.
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