April 11, 1936 – The Detroit Red Wings won their first-ever Stanley Cup. The final game of the series was played at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario where Detroit went on to defeat the hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2, and take the best of five with a 3 games to 1 series victory.
The game was well attended and in fact, the 14,728 that watched was the second-largest crowd ever at an NHL game in Toronto at that point in time according to the Montreal Gazette’s April 13, 1936 story.
Two quick goals in the second period by the Red Wings proved to be too much for the Leafs as Detroit’s Ebbie Goodfellow and Marty Barry scored moments apart in the middle of the second to overcome Toronto’s 1-0 lead to that point off of a Joe Primeau late first-period lamplighter that sent the home crowd into a frenzy.
Utility man Pete Kelly netted the third goal for the visitors to make it 3-1 before Bill Thoms scored the second goal for Toronto.
To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.
