Kid to the Rescue


The Reds gave a masterful display of forechecking and backchecking in providing the kid goalie with strong support. Besides letting in a shorthanded goal in the second period by the Barons' Cal Stevens, a 65-footer outside the Reds blueline, Desaulniers got stronger as the game went on. His Reds mates tallied three times to go up 3-1. Chuck Blair scored a second goal for the Barons but that didn't matter, for Zelio Toppazzini scored ahead of him to seal the 4-2 victory. The ovation for Desaulniers was said to be one of the warmest given to any athlete in years at the Arena. The Reds joined in and the kid, lost among his men, almost toppled to the ice each time one of the players struck him on the back. But weary as he was, his face was wreathed with the big smile of a kid who just couldn't believe that it all was real.