1951 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 1951 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 1950–51 season. It began on March 28, 1951. It concluded on April 21, with the Toronto Maple Leafs defeating the Montreal Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup.

1951 Stanley Cup playoffs

Tournament details
Dates	March 28 – April 21, 1951
Teams	4
Defending champions	Detroit Red Wings
Final positions
Champions	Toronto Maple Leafs
Runners-up	Montreal Canadiens
← 1950 1952 →

Playoff seeds

The top four out of the six teams in the league qualified for the playoffs:

1. Detroit Red Wings – 101 points
2. Toronto Maple Leafs – 95 points
3. Montreal Canadiens – 65 points
4. Boston Bruins – 62 points

Playoff bracket

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). In the semifinals, the first-place team played the third-place team, while the second-place team played the fourth-place team. The winners of the semifinals then played for the Stanley Cup.

	Semifinals					Stanley Cup Finals
	1	Detroit	2
	3	Montreal	4
						3	Montreal	1
						2	Toronto	4
	2	Toronto	4
	4	Boston	1

Semifinals

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (3) Montreal Canadiens

The third seed Montreal Canadiens upset first overall Detroit Red Wings in six games.

March 27	Montreal Canadiens		3-2	4OT	Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
Butch Bouchard (1) - 13:35		First period			12:15 - Gordie Howe (1)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Bert Olmstead (1) - 9:08		Third period			1:10 - Leo Reise (1)
Maurice Richard (1) - 1:09		Fourth overtime period			No scoring
Gerry McNeil		Goalie stats			Terry Sawchuk

March 29	Montreal Canadiens		1-0	3OT	Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Maurice Richard (2) - 2:20		Third overtime period			No scoring
Gerry McNeil		Goalie stats			Terry Sawchuk

March 31	Detroit Red Wings		2-0		Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Forum	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Gordie Howe (2) - 16:23		Second period			No scoring
Sid Abel (1) - 13:45		Third period			No scoring
Terry Sawchuk		Goalie stats			Gerry McNeil

April 3	Detroit Red Wings		4-1		Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Forum	Recap
Leo Reise (2) - 8:40 Metro Prystai (1) - 10:10		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			14:28 - pp - Elmer Lach (1)
Gerry Couture (1) - 10:26 Sid Abel (2) - 13:14		Third period			No scoring
Terry Sawchuk		Goalie stats			Gerry McNeil

April 5	Montreal Canadiens		5-2		Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
No scoring		First period			1:09 - Sid Abel (3) 14:27 - Gordie Howe (3)
Billy Reay (1) - sh - 4:04 Bert Olmstead (2) - pp - 11:48 Bernie Geoffrion (1) - 17:51		Second period			No scoring
Maurice Richard (3) - 14:45 Calum MacKay (1) - 18:07		Third period			No scoring
Gerry McNeil		Goalie stats			Terry Sawchuk

April 7	Detroit Red Wings		2-3		Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Forum	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Sid Abel (4) - 7:31 Gordie Howe (4) - 19:15		Third period			6:49 - Billy Reay (2) 9:39 - Maurice Richard (4) 15:45 - Ken Mosdell (1)
Terry Sawchuk		Goalie stats			Gerry McNeil

Montreal won series 4–2

(2) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (4) Boston Bruins

The second seed Toronto Maple Leafs eliminated the fourth seed Boston Bruins in five games.

March 28	Boston Bruins		2-0		Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
Lorne Ferguson (1) - 15:58		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Woody Dumart (1) - 1:12		Third period			No scoring
Jack Gelineau		Goalie stats			Al Rollins, Turk Broda

March 31	Boston Bruins		1-1		Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
No scoring		First period			3:47 - Bill Barilko (1)
Johnny Peirson (1) - 9:26		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Jack Gelineau		Goalie stats			Turk Broda

April 1	Toronto Maple Leafs		3-0		Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Cal Gardner (1) - 3:02 Fern Flaman (1) - pp - 13:11		Second period			No scoring
Max Bentley (1) - 5:30		Third period			No scoring
Turk Broda		Goalie stats			Jack Gelineau

April 3	Toronto Maple Leafs		3-1		Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	Recap
No scoring		First period			7:50 - Dunc Fisher (1)
Sid Smith (1) - pp - 12:17 Max Bentley (2) - 14:33		Second period			No scoring
Bill Barilko (2) - 14:08		Third period			No scoring
Turk Broda		Goalie stats			Jack Gelineau

April 7	Boston Bruins		1-4		Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
No scoring		First period			19:38 - sh - Joe Klukay (1)
No scoring		Second period			11:12 - Fleming MacKell (1)
Bill Ezinicki (1) - 9:53		Third period			4:46 - Joe Klukay (2) 9:15 - Ted Kennedy (1)
Gord Henry		Goalie stats			Turk Broda

April 8	Toronto Maple Leafs		6-0		Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	Recap
Ted Kennedy (2) - 10:16 Joe Klukay (3) - 14:36		First period			No scoring
Fleming MacKell (2) - 12:42		Second period			No scoring
Sid Smith (2) - 6:42 Tod Sloan (1) - 9:42 Joe Klukay (4) - 15:01		Third period			No scoring
Turk Broda		Goalie stats			Gord Henry

Toronto won series 4–1

Finals

Main article: 1951 Stanley Cup Finals

The Stanley Cup Finals was won by the Leafs over the Canadiens, 4–1.

April 11	Montreal Canadiens		2-3	OT	Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
Maurice Richard (5) - 15:27		First period			00:15 - Sid Smith (3) 15:42 - Tod Sloan (2)
Paul Masnick (1) - 4:02		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			5:51 - Sid Smith (4)
Gerry McNeil		Goalie stats			Turk Broda

April 14	Montreal Canadiens		3-2	OT	Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
Paul Masnick (2) - 3:44		First period			No scoring
Billy Reay (3) - 9:24		Second period			16:31 - pp - Sid Smith (5)
No scoring		Third period			8:16 - pp - Ted Kennedy (3)
Maurice Richard (6) - 2:55		First overtime period			No scoring
Gerry McNeil		Goalie stats			Turk Broda

April 17	Toronto Maple Leafs		2-1	OT	Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Forum	Recap
No scoring		First period			2:18 - pp - Maurice Richard (7)
Sid Smith (6) - pp - 5:58		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Ted Kennedy (4) - 4:47		First overtime period			No scoring
Turk Broda		Goalie stats			Gerry McNeil

April 19	Toronto Maple Leafs		3-2	OT	Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Forum	Recap
Sid Smith (7) - 00:38		First period			14:41 - Maurice Richard (8)
Howie Meeker (1) - 1:27		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			13:49 - Elmer Lach (2)
Harry Watson (1) - 5:15		First overtime period			No scoring
Turk Broda		Goalie stats			Gerry McNeil

April 21	Montreal Canadiens		2-3	OT	Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Maurice Richard (9) - 8:56		Second period			12:00 - Tod Sloan (3)
Paul Meger (1) - 4:47		Third period			19:28 - Tod Sloan (4)
No scoring		First overtime period			2:53 - Bill Barilko (3)
Gerry McNeil		Goalie stats			Turk Broda

Toronto won series 4–1

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	11	9	4	13
Max Bentley	Toronto Maple Leafs	11	2	11	13
Sid Smith	Toronto Maple Leafs	11	7	3	10

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions