Game 6 of the 1961 Stanley Cup final series was played on April 26, 1961 at Detroit Olympia. The Chicago Blackhawks went into the match with a 3-2 series lead. It was the Red Wings that got on the board first with a first period goal by Parker MacDonald, assisted by Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio.
Reggie Fleming’s shorthanded marker at 6:45 of the second switched the momentum to Chicago’s favour. At 18:49 of the second, Ab McDonald put his second of the playoffs past Detroit goalie Hank Bassen with help from Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita. That goal made the score 2-1 and held on to be the game, series and Stanley Cup winner in the 5-1 win for the Blackhawks.
In net, Glenn Hall faced just 22 shots and turned away all but one in the win. Chicago put a modest 25 shots on Bassen and came away with the five goals. Chicago got scoring from five different players and no one player had more than a point in the team effort.
To get there, Chicago ousted the Montreal Canadiens in six games. Game 3 needed triple overtime while games five and six were both 3-0 shutouts. The Red Wings needed just five games to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs. The first match was won in double overtime by Toronto and game three was a 2-0 shutout win with Terry Sawchuk stopping all 29 shots.