Today in 1951 the Toronto Maples Leafs put the final touches on a 4 games to 1 Stanley Cup Finals victory over the Montreal Canadiens. All 5 games of the series went to overtime with the game 4 winner being scored by Toronto defenseman Bill Barilko, who tragically would die the following summer in a plane crash.
All but one of the 5 games was a 3-2 score, with game 3 the exception, a Toronto 2-1 win. This was the 6 Stanley Cup win for the Maple Leafs since 1942. It would be the last win for the Leafs until 1962, when they would win 3 years in a row.
The leading scorers in the 1951 playoffs were Maurice Richard of Montreal and Max Bentley of Toronto who both had 13 points.