1948 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 1948 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL), began with four teams on March 4, 1948. It concluded on April 14, with the Toronto Maple Leafs defeating the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.

Series

All dates in 1948

Semifinals

The first round of the playoffs saw third place Boston Bruins matched up with first place Toronto Maple Leafs and fourth place New York Rangers against second place Detroit Red Wings.

Toronto vs. Boston

Toronto beat Boston 4 games to 1. Although Boston kept it close. Three of the five games were decided by one goal.

March 24	Boston Bruins		4-5	OT	Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
Murray Henderson (1) - 1:18		First period			11:29 - Bill Ezinicki (1)
Ed Harrison (1) - 8:39		Second period			17:33 - Max Bentley (1)
Pat Egan (1) - 2:35 Ken Smith (1) - 8:38		Third period			12:03 - Syl Apps (1) 15:34 - Jimmy Thomson (1)
No scoring		First overtime period			17:03 - Nick Metz (1)
Frank Brimsek		Goalie stats			Turk Broda

March 27	Boston Bruins		3-5		Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
Johnny Peirson (1) - pp - 8:39		First period			5:41 - Ted Kennedy (1) 19:54 - pp - Ted Kennedy (2)
Pete Babando (1) - pp - 2:16		Second period			6:34 - Ted Kennedy (3) 12:24 - Ted Kennedy (4)
Milt Schmidt (1) - 10:43		Third period			7:37 - Max Bentley (2)
Frank Brimsek		Goalie stats			Turk Broda

March 30	Toronto Maple Leafs		5-1		Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	Recap
Howie Meeker (1) - 3:40 Bill Barilko (1) - 12:28		First period			No scoring
Ted Kennedy (5) - 9:24		Second period			1:10 - Milt Schmidt (2)
Garth Boesch (1) - 7:00 Nick Metz (2) - 17:49		Third period			No scoring
Turk Broda		Goalie stats			Frank Brimsek

April 1	Toronto Maple Leafs		2-3		Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	Recap
No scoring		First period			2:47 - Ed Sandford (1)
Bill Ezinicki (2) - 1:36		Second period			7:31 - Johnny Peirson (2)
Syl Apps (2) - 15:08		Third period			13:24 - Johnny Peirson (3)
Turk Broda		Goalie stats			Frank Brimsek

April 3	Boston Bruins		2-3		Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
Jimmy Peters (1) - pp - 5:20		First period			8:41 - Vic Lynn (1) 16:13 - Les Costello (1)
Ken Smith (2) - 12:08		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			5:52 - Ted Kennedy (6)
Frank Brimsek		Goalie stats			Turk Broda

Toronto won series 4–1

NY Rangers vs. Detroit

It looked initially to be a close series as, after the Blueshirts lost the first two games, the Wings Production line got lazy. But wingers, Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe chose follow Lindsay's recent quote —

“In this game, you have to be mean, or you're going to get pushed around.”

(Glenn Liebman, Hockey Shorts: 1,001 of the Game's Funniest One Liners" (Contemporary Books, 1996) ) —

Detroit was now pursuing Lord Stanley's Mug for the fourth time in six years.

March 24	New York Rangers		1-2		Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
No scoring		First period			15:04 - Ted Lindsay (1) 19:06 - pp - Jim Conacher (1)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Tony Leswick (1) - 3:35		Third period			No scoring
Chuck Rayner		Goalie stats			Harry Lumley

March 26	New York Rangers		2-5		Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
Edgar Laprade (1) - 14:53		First period			4:00 - Jim McFadden (1)
No scoring		Second period			4:57 - Jim McFadden (2) 8:18 - pp - Marty Pavelich (1)
Neil Colville (1) - 10:51		Third period			10:04 - Leo Reise (1) 14:49 - Marty Pavelich (2)
Chuck Rayner		Goalie stats			Harry Lumley

March 28	Detroit Red Wings		2-3		New York Rangers	Madison Square Garden III	Recap
No scoring		First period			3:32 - Phil Watson (1) 10:35 - Phil Watson (2)
Ted Lindsay (2) - 19:40		Second period			No scoring
Jack Stewart (1) - 16:03		Third period			9:02 - Tony Leswick (2)
Harry Lumley		Goalie stats			Chuck Rayner

March 30	Detroit Red Wings		1-3		New York Rangers	Madison Square Garden III	Recap
Jim McFadden (3) - 3:41		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			10:08 - pp - Bryan Hextall (1) 10:41 - Eddie Kullman (1)
No scoring		Third period			13:32 - Tony Leswick (3)
Harry Lumley		Goalie stats			Chuck Rayner

April 1	New York Rangers		1-3		Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
No scoring		First period			4:02 - pp - Red Kelly (1)
No scoring		Second period			14:13 - pp - Pete Horeck (1)
Buddy O'Connor (1) - 12:49		Third period			13:55 - Red Kelly (2)
Chuck Rayner		Goalie stats			Harry Lumley

April 4	Detroit Red Wings		4-2		New York Rangers	Madison Square Garden III	Recap
Red Kelly (3) - pp - 13:46 Gordie Howe (1) - pp - 14:30 Pat Lundy (1) - 17:51		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Jim McFadden (4) - 10:49		Third period			12:49 - Don Raleigh (1) 19:08 - Don Raleigh (2)
Harry Lumley		Goalie stats			Chuck Rayner

Detroit won series 4–2

Finals

Main article: 1948 Stanley Cup Finals

April 7	Detroit Red Wings		3-5		Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
Jim McFadden (5) - 7:20		First period			8:21 - Harry Watson (1) 9:04 - Joe Klukay (1) 18:24 - Syl Apps (3)
No scoring		Second period			14:31 - Gus Mortson (1) 19:21 - Howie Meeker (2)
Jim Conacher (2) - 4:28 Ted Lindsay (3) - 5:25		Third period			No scoring
Harry Lumley		Goalie stats			Turk Broda

April 10	Detroit Red Wings		2-4		Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
No scoring		First period			13:31 - Max Bentley (3)
Pete Horeck (2) - 18:18		Second period			3:38 - pp - Bill Ezinicki (3) 17:16 - pp - Max Bentley (4) 18:50 - Harry Watson (2)
Fern Gauthier (1) - pp - 17:18		Third period			No scoring
Harry Lumley		Goalie stats			Turk Broda

April 11	Toronto Maple Leafs		2-0		Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Harry Watson (3) - 19:42		Second period			No scoring
Vic Lynn (2) - 15:16		Third period			No scoring
Turk Broda		Goalie stats			Harry Lumley

April 14	Toronto Maple Leafs		7-2		Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
Ted Kennedy (7) - pp - 2:51 Garth Boesch (2) - sh - 5:03 Harry Watson (4) - 11:13		First period			No scoring
Syl Apps (4) - 4:26 Ted Kennedy (8) - 9:42 Harry Watson (5) - sh - 11:38		Second period			2:41 - Leo Reise (2)
Les Costello (2) - pp - 14:37		Third period			18:48 - Pete Horeck (3)
Turk Broda		Goalie stats			Harry Lumley

Toronto won series 4–0

Playoff bracket

	Semifinals					Stanley Cup Finals
	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
	3	Boston Bruins	1
						1	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
						2	Detroit Red Wings	0
	2	Detroit Red Wings	4
	4	New York Rangers	2

Playoff scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Ted Kennedy	Toronto Maple Leafs	9	8	6	14
Max Bentley	Toronto Maple Leafs	9	4	7	11
Pete Horeck	Detroit Red Wings	10	3	7	10
Jim McFadden	Detroit Red Wings	10	5	3	8
Syl Apps	Toronto Maple Leafs	9	4	4	8
Harry Watson	Toronto Maple Leafs	9	5	2	7
Milt Schmidt	Boston Bruins	5	2	5	7

See also

• 1947–48 NHL season
• List of Stanley Cup champions