Berenson’s Barrage Six Goals In A Game

Early in every hockey season, scorers wonder if somewhere between May and October they might have misplaced their shooting touch. It was that way for Gordon (Red) Berenson 25 years ago on Sunday.

Berenson had led the expansion St. Louis Blues in scoring in 1967, their first NHL season, with a modest 22 goals. This was the era before goal-flation when a 20-goal season was considered a pretty good accomplishment.

Still, Berenson had some doubters. He had prepped for the NHL at the University of Michigan, eschewing the traditional junior hockey route to the NHL. Hockey people frowned on that, suggesting that collegiate competition might not be proper preparation for the grind of the NHL.

The next season, Berenson began wondering, too, when the puck wouldn’t go in the net for him. He had three goals in the first month. “I’d been playing well but not scoring,” he said.

The Blues won a game in Detroit in early November and went on to Philadelphia for a game the next night against the Flyers. Berenson and roommate Ab McDonald were greeted by a hotel room in which the lights did not work. “It didn’t matter,” he said. “We just went to bed.”

The next night at the Spectrum, Berenson made up for that dark hotel room.

Late in the first period, the Flyers and Blues were scoreless when Berenson swept into the Philadelphia zone, went around defenseman Ed Van Impe, circled the net and put a shot in the top corner behind goalie Doug Favell.

“I said to myself, ‘Thank God, I can still score,”’ Berenson said. “I hadn’t exactly been on a roll.”

The game remained 1-0 until midway through the second period. Then, in rapid-fire fashion, Berenson scored at 10:26, 14:42, 15:14 and 19:35. Four goals in a period tied an NHL record. Four goals in nine minutes was unheard of, especially for a guy who never had scored more than seven in his first six NHL seasons.

“It’s funny the way things happen sometimes,” said Berenson, now in his 10th year coaching hockey at Michigan. “Some nights you can do no wrong and some nights nothing goes right. I had better games. But that night, every shot had something on it.

“Each of those goals came in 5-on-5 situations. There were no power plays, no short-handed goals, no rebounds, no scrambles. The puck just kept coming to me. One goal was on a breakaway. Another was on a 3-on-2 rush.

“I wasn’t impressed. I was pleased, but we still had to win the hockey game.”

In the dressing room after two periods, the Blues were sitting on 5-0 lead, all of the goals scored by Berenson. Defenseman Doug Harvey sauntered over to the center and offered an observation. “You know,” he said, “this would be a great game if you weren’t playing.”

In the third period, Berenson zeroed in on Favell again and hit the post with what might have been goal No. 6. “My stick cracked and I went to another one,” he said. “It felt like a club.”

Berenson’s wasn’t the only broken stick that night. “Van Impe must have broken three of them over my arm,” he said. “If you’re gonna score, though, you’ve got to pay the price.”

Goals by Terry Crisp and Camille Henry--on an assist by Berenson--made it 7-0. Then Berenson took one final shot, a slap shot from the top of the circle. “It was the best shot of my life,” he said. “It took off and caught the top corner.”

In the game’s last minute, Philadelphia fans, never particularly friendly to visitors, were chanting, “We Want Red! We Want Red!” and Scotty Bowman, the Blues’ coach, was urging Berenson to take one last shift. “It was unbelievable,” Berenson said.

Six goals in a game tied an NHL record, achieved six other times but just once since 1921. Despite the scoring pyrotechnics of modern shooters, Darryl Sittler of Toronto is the only player since Berenson to score six in a game. And that was 17 years ago.

Berenson recalled goalie Glenn Hall, finishing a Hall of Fame career with the Blues, helping keep things in perspective after his big game by concentrating, as goalies always do, on the defensive aspects of the achievement.

“He said to me,” Berenson said. “‘Well, at least you were a plus tonight.’ ”

The scoring summary for Red Berenson’s six-goal game, Nov. 7, 1968:

First Period--1, St. Louis, Berenson (McDonald, Picard) 16:42. Penalties--Picard (StL) 3:27; Picard (StL) 6:57; Crisp (StL) 13:20; Gendron (Phi) 13:20.

Second Period--2, St. Louis, Berenson, 10:26. 3, St. Louis, Berenson (Henry, Picard) 14:42. 4, St. Louis, Berenson (Henry) 15:14. 5, St. Louis, Berenson (McCreary) 19:35. Penalties--None.

Third Period--6, St. Louis, Crisp (Sabourin), 3:46. 7, St. Louis, Henry (McDonald, Berenson) 9:59. 8, St. Louis, Berenson, 14:04. Penalties--None.

Shots on goal--St. Louis 7-11-12--30. Philadelphia 7-9-10--26.

Power-play Opportunities--St. Louis 0 of 1; Philadelphia 0 of 3.

Goalies--St. Louis, Plante (26 shots-26 saves). Philadelphia, Favell (30-22).

A--9,164.

Referee--Friday. Linesmen--Armstrong, Norris.