Boston Bruins win Stanley Cup
The 1941 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven series between the Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings.
Boston would win the series 4–0 to win their third Stanley Cup.
Boston defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in a best-of-seven 4–3 to advance to the finals. The Red Wings had to play two best-of three series; winning 2–1 against the New York Rangers, and 2–0 against the Chicago Black Hawks.
In the third best-of-seven series, Boston became the first to sweep the series in 4 games.
The Boston Bruins finished the 1940-41 season in first place for a third straight season, led by the scoring of Bill Cowley. Boston had gone to the Stanley Cup finals against New York in 1939-40, but it was the Rangers who had taken the Cup. The Bruins met the second place finisher Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs. It took Boston seven games, but they defeated Toronto to win a berth in the finals once again. Meantime, Detroit eliminated the Rangers two games to one and Chicago eliminated Montreal in three games. As a result, the Red Wings and Black Hawks met to decide the team that would meet the Bruins for the Stanley Cup. The Red Wings took the best of three with two straight wins. In the Stanley Cup final, the Bruins rolled over Detroit, winning the Stanley Cup in four straight games, outscoring them 12 to six. Its lethal Kraut Line consisting of Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer paced Boston. The troika would account for 13 points in the finals.
The 1940–41 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 17th season in the National Hockey League, and they were coming off of a successful season in 1939–40, leading the NHL in points for the third season in a row, as they finished with a 31–12–5 record, accumulating 67 points. However, the Bruins lost to the New York Rangers in the NHL semi-finals, ending their chances for a second-straight Stanley Cup. This year, the Bruins repeated as regular-season champs and returned to the Final, and defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to none to win the organization's third Stanley Cup.
In the playoffs, Boston would have a first-round bye, advancing straight to the NHL semi-finals, where they would face the second place Toronto Maple Leafs in a best of seven series. The Bruins finished 5 points ahead of the Leafs during the regular season. The series opened at the Boston Garden, with each team winning a game, before moving to Maple Leaf Gardens for games three and four. The Leafs took a 2–1 series lead with a big 7–2 victory, however, Boston evened the series up at two games each with a solid 2–1 win in game four. Game 5 shifted back to Boston, but it was Toronto who took a 3–2 series lead, with a 2–1 overtime victory. The series moved back to Toronto for the 6th game, and with Boston facing elimination, the Bruins would hold off the Leafs for a 2–1 win to force a 7th and deciding game in Boston. The Bruins once again would fend off Toronto, hanging on for a 2–1 win, to take the series 4–3, and earn a spot in the Stanley Cup final.
The Bruins opponent was the Detroit Red Wings, who finished the regular season with 53 points, 14 less than Boston. Detroit had defeated the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks to earn a spot in the final. The series opened in Boston, with the Bruins winning the first 2 games by close scores of 3–2 and 2–1 to take a 2–0 series lead. The series moved to the Detroit Olympia for the next 2 games, but Boston would complete the sweep, winning games 3 and 4 by scores of 4–2 and 3–1 to become the first team in NHL history to sweep a 4 game series, and win their 2nd Stanley Cup in 3 seasons, and their 3rd in franchise history.
