| 1972–73 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 7, 1972 – May 10, 1973 |
| Games | 78 |
| Teams | 16 |
| TV partner(s) | CBC,CTV,SRC (Canada) NBC (United States) |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Billy Harris |
| Picked by | New York Islanders |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Montreal Canadiens |
| SeasonMVP | Bobby Clarke (Flyers) |
| Top scorer | Phil Esposito (Bruins) |
| Playoffs | |
| PlayoffsMVP | Yvan Cournoyer (Canadiens) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | Montreal Canadiens |
| Runners-up | Chicago Black Hawks |
| NHL seasons | |
← 1971–72 1973–74 → | |
The1972–73 NHL season was the56thseason of theNational Hockey League. Sixteen teams each played 78 games. Two new teams, theNew York Islanders and theAtlanta Flames (who relocated toCalgary in 1980 and are now known as theCalgary Flames), made their debuts. TheMontreal Canadiens won theStanley Cup by beating theChicago Black Hawks four games to two in theStanley Cup Finals.
Prior to the start of the season, the1972 Summit Series took place. It was the first ever meeting betweenSoviet Union and NHL calibre Canadian ice hockey players. Canada expected to easily beat the Soviets, but were shocked to find themselves with a losing record of one win, two losses, and a tie after four games in Canada. In game four, which Canada lost 5–3,Vancouver fans echoed the rest of Canada's thoughts of Team Canada's poor performance by booing them off the ice. The final four games were played in the Soviet Union. Canada lost game five, but won the last three for a final record of four wins, three losses, and a tie.
For the first time since the collapse of theWestern Hockey League in1926, the National Hockey League had serious competition. A new professional hockey league, theWorld Hockey Association, made its season debut with 12 new teams, half of which were based in cities with existing NHL teams. Unlike the Western Hockey League, though, the new World Hockey Association would not challenge for theStanley Cup. In response to the new league, the NHL hastily added two new teams in an unplanned expansion, theNew York Islanders andAtlanta Flames, in an attempt to exclude the WHA from newly constructed arenas in those markets. The1972 NHL expansion draft was held on June 6 to fill the rosters of the two new teams.
In February 1972, theMiami Screaming Eagles of the WHA signedBernie Parent to a contract,[1] and whenBobby Hull was signed on June 27, 1972, to play with theWinnipeg Jets, the Chicago Black Hawks sued, claiming a violation of thereserve clause in NHL contracts. Others soon followed Hull to the WHA, including,J. C. Tremblay,Ted Green,Gerry Cheevers andJohnny McKenzie. In the expansion draft, the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames made their picks and eleven Islander players skipped off to the WHA. The California Golden Seals, chafing under the unorthodox ownership of the unpopularCharlie Finley, were also a victim of the WHA, losing eight key players.
The1972 NHL amateur draft was held on June 8 at theQueen Elizabeth Hotel inMontreal,Quebec.Billy Harris was selected first overall by the Islanders.
The Montreal Canadiens took over first place in the East Division and the league from the Boston Bruins while for the third consecutive season the Chicago Black Hawks dominated the West Division.
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 52 | 10 | 16 | 329 | 184 | +145 | 120 |
| 2 | Boston Bruins | 78 | 51 | 22 | 5 | 330 | 235 | +95 | 107 |
| 3 | New York Rangers | 78 | 47 | 23 | 8 | 297 | 208 | +89 | 102 |
| 4 | Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 37 | 27 | 14 | 257 | 219 | +38 | 88 |
| 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 78 | 37 | 29 | 12 | 265 | 243 | +22 | 86 |
| 6 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 27 | 41 | 10 | 247 | 279 | −32 | 64 |
| 7 | Vancouver Canucks | 78 | 22 | 47 | 9 | 233 | 339 | −106 | 53 |
| 8 | New York Islanders | 78 | 12 | 60 | 6 | 170 | 347 | −177 | 30 |
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 78 | 42 | 27 | 9 | 284 | 225 | +59 | 93 |
| 2 | Philadelphia Flyers | 78 | 37 | 30 | 11 | 296 | 256 | +40 | 85 |
| 3 | Minnesota North Stars | 78 | 37 | 30 | 11 | 254 | 230 | +24 | 85 |
| 4 | St. Louis Blues | 78 | 32 | 34 | 12 | 233 | 251 | −18 | 76 |
| 5 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 78 | 32 | 37 | 9 | 257 | 265 | −8 | 73 |
| 6 | Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 31 | 36 | 11 | 232 | 245 | −13 | 73 |
| 7 | Atlanta Flames | 78 | 25 | 38 | 15 | 191 | 239 | −48 | 65 |
| 8 | California Golden Seals | 78 | 16 | 46 | 16 | 213 | 323 | −110 | 48 |
No teams in the playoffs swept their opponents, the last time this would happen until1991, and no playoff series went to a decisive game, the last time this has happened to date. In addition, the Chicago Black Hawks reached the Stanley Cup Finals without a captain, the last time this would happen until2014.
The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. In each round, teams competed in abest-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series).
In the quarterfinals, the fourthseeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. The semifinals were then inter-divisional matchups, with winner of each #1 vs. #4 series playing the winner of the #2 vs. #3 series in the other division. The winners of the semifinals then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Montreal | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Buffalo | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Montreal | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Philadelphia | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Philadelphia | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Montreal | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Chicago | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Chicago | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | St. Louis | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Chicago | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | NY Rangers | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Boston | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | NY Rangers | 4 | ||||||||||||
The Montreal Canadiens finished first in the league with 120 points. The Buffalo Sabres finished fourth with 88 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the Buffalo Sabres' first playoff appearance in their third season since entering the league in the1970–71 NHL season. Montreal won the five-game regular season series earning six of ten points.
| April 4 | Buffalo Sabres | 1–2 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Craig Ramsay (1) – 03:13 | Second period | 17:01 –Jacques Lemaire (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 04:27 –pp –Yvan Cournoyer (1) | ||||||
| Dave Dryden 34 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 31 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| April 5 | Buffalo Sabres | 3–7 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Gilbert Perreault (1) – 01:06 Richard Martin (1) –pp – 16:48 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 04:48 –Serge Savard (1) 06:07 –Yvan Cournoyer (2) 10:39 –Marc Tardif (1) 16:21 –pp –Guy Lapointe (1) 17:29 –Jacques Lemaire (2) | ||||||
| Jim Schoenfeld (1) – 17:45 | Third period | 03:10 – Yvan Cournoyer (3) 15:31 – Yvan Cournoyer (4) | ||||||
| Dave Dryden 28 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 20 saves / 23 shots | ||||||
| April 7 | Montreal Canadiens | 5–2 | Buffalo Sabres | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium | Recap | |||
| Guy Lafleur (1) –pp – 16:56 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Peter Mahovlich (1) –pp – 08:44 Murray Wilson (1) – 09:00 | Second period | 01:13 –Larry Mickey (1) | ||||||
| Frank Mahovlich (1) – 12:15 Henri Richard (1) –en – 19:12 | Third period | 00:54 –pp –Rene Robert (1) | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 42 saves / 44 shots | Goalie stats | Roger Crozier 22 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| April 8 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–5 | Buffalo Sabres | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium | Recap | |||
| Yvan Cournoyer (5) – 18:37 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 11:13 –Jim Schoenfeld (2) 14:29 –pp –Gilbert Perreault (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 01:28 –Rene Robert (2) 19:19 –Don Luce (1) 19:41 – Gilbert Perreault (3) | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 45 saves / 50 shots | Goalie stats | Roger Crozier 23 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| April 10 | Buffalo Sabres | 3–2 | OT | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 16:22 –Frank Mahovlich (2) | ||||||
| Richard Martin (2) – 12:03 Rene Robert (3) – 13:11 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 12:46 –Guy Lapointe (2) | ||||||
| Rene Robert (4) – 09:18 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Roger Crozier 38 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 31 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| April 12 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–2 | Buffalo Sabres | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium | Recap | |||
| Serge Savard (2) – 01:32 Murray Wilson (2) – 07:33 Guy Lafleur (2) – 08:53 Guy Lapointe (3) – 16:03 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 11:41 –Rene Robert (5) 19:48 –pp –Richard Martin (3) | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 42 saves / 44 shots | Goalie stats | Roger Crozier 20 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–2 | |
The Boston Bruins finished second in the East Division with 107 points. The New York Rangers finished third in the East Division with 102 points. This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams with Boston winning six of the eight previous series. They last met in theprevious year's Stanley Cup Finals which Boston won in six games. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series.
| April 4 | New York Rangers | 6–2 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Brad Park (1) –pp – 15:59 | First period | 14:21 –Doug Roberts (1) | ||||||
| Bruce MacGregor (1) – 07:25 Brad Park (2) – 08:53 Walt Tkaczuk (1) – 11:48 Walt Tkaczuk (2) – 15:55 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| 03:11 –Pete Stemkowski (1) | Third period | Derek Sanderson (1) – 11:17 | ||||||
| Eddie Giacomin 22 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante 25 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| April 5 | New York Rangers | 4–2 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Steve Vickers (1) – 13:20 | First period | 07:55 –Wayne Cashman (1) | ||||||
| Ted Irvine (1) –pp – 09:47 Pete Stemkowski (2) –pp – 13:29 | Second period | 16:34 –Doug Roberts (2) | ||||||
| Walt Tkaczuk (3) –pp – 05:37 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Eddie Giacomin 18 saves / 20 shots Gilles Villemure 10 saves / 10 shots | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante 28 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| April 7 | Boston Bruins | 4–2 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| Gregg Sheppard (1) –sh – 06:53 | First period | 18:35 –Pete Stemkowski (3) | ||||||
| Fred Stanfield (1) – 03:13 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gregg Sheppard (2) – 10:39 Mike Walton (1) –en – 19:08 | Third period | 06:12 –Jean Ratelle (1) | ||||||
| Eddie Johnston 35 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Eddie Giacomin 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| April 8 | Boston Bruins | 0–4 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 02:35 –Rod Gilbert (1) 16:30 –Pete Stemkowski (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 11:22 –Bobby Rousseau (1) 19:15 –Steve Vickers (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Eddie Johnston 21 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Eddie Giacomin 33 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| April 10 | New York Rangers | 6–3 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Steve Vickers (3) – 00:38 Steve Vickers (4) – 14:34 Bruce MacGregor (2) – 16:33 | First period | 01:54 –Bobby Orr (1) 12:45 –pp –Ken Hodge (1) | ||||||
| Walt Tkaczuk (4) – 18:59 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Rod Gilbert (2) – 04:10 Steve Vickers (5) – 17:51 | Third period | 07:10 –Don Marcotte (1) | ||||||
| Eddie Giacomin 28 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Eddie Johnston 22 saves / 25 shots Ross Brooks 8 saves / 11 shots | ||||||
| New York won series 4–1 | |
The Chicago Black Hawks finished first in the West Division with 93 points. The St. Louis Blues finished fourth in the West Division with 76 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series.
| April 4 | St. Louis Blues | 1–7 | Chicago Blackhawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 15:02 –Dick Redmond (1) 15:20 – Dick Redmond (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 02:13 – Dick Redmond (3) 09:38 –Jim Pappin (1) 10:32 –Pit Martin (1) | ||||||
| Phil Roberto (1) – 19:07 | Third period | 12:33 –pp – Pit Martin (2) 16:24 –pp – Pit Martin (3) | ||||||
| Wayne Stephenson 32 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Tony Esposito 28 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| April 5 | St. Louis Blues | 0–1 | Chicago Blackhawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 14:06 –Lou Angotti (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacques Caron 25 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Tony Esposito 29 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| April 7 | Chicago Blackhawks | 5–2 | St. Louis Blues | St. Louis Arena | Recap | |||
| Dennis Hull (1) –pp – 02:29 Ralph Backstrom (1) – 11:26 Jim Pappin (2) – 13:51 | First period | 05:52 –pp –Ab DeMarco Jr. (1) 10:26 –Pierre Plante (1) | ||||||
| Ralph Backstrom (2) – 03:10 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jim Pappin (3) –pp – 07:31 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tony Esposito 28 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Jacques Caron 35 saves / 40 shots | ||||||
| April 8 | Chicago Blackhawks | 3–5 | St. Louis Blues | St. Louis Arena | Recap | |||
| Ralph Backstrom (3) – 06:33 Cliff Koroll (1) – 11:11 | First period | 16:48 –Pierre Plante (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 14:03 –Phil Roberto (2) 15:31 –Fran Huck (1) 18:29 –Gary Sabourin (1) | ||||||
| Chico Maki (1) – 14:21 | Third period | 16:56 –Garry Unger (1) | ||||||
| Gary Smith 34 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Wayne Stephenson 37 saves / 40 shots | ||||||
| April 10 | St. Louis Blues | 1–6 | Chicago Blackhawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 01:14 –Jim Pappin (4) 14:52 –Stan Mikita (1) | ||||||
| Fran Huck (2) –pp – 04:20 | Second period | 00:30 –Cliff Koroll (2) 11:37 –Chico Maki (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 15:32 –sh –Ralph Backstrom (4) 17:41 –Lou Angotti (2) | ||||||
| Wayne Stephenson 17 saves / 21 shots Jacques Caron 9 saves / 11 shots | Goalie stats | Tony Esposito 12 saves / 13 shots | ||||||
| Chicago won series 4–1 | |
The Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars finished tied for second in the West Division each with 85 points (Philadelphia won the tiebreaker in season series 3–2). This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Philadelphia won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.
| April 4 | Minnesota North Stars | 3–0 | Philadelphia Flyers | The Spectrum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dennis Hextall (1) – 09:21 Dennis O'Brien (1) – 19:45 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jude Drouin (1) – 09:17 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Cesare Maniago 33 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Doug Favell 25 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| April 5 | Minnesota North Stars | 1–4 | Philadelphia Flyers | The Spectrum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 05:48 –Don Saleski (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 01:08 –sh –Bill Flett (1) 08:37 –Bill Barber (1) 18:46 –Terry Crisp (1) | ||||||
| Dean Prentice (1) –pp – 04:14 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gilles Gilbert 36 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Doug Favell 31 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| April 7 | Philadelphia Flyers | 0–5 | Minnesota North Stars | Met Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 09:35 –Dennis Hextall (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 00:54 –pp –Barry Gibbs (1) 09:36 –Lou Nanne (1) 09:54 –Danny Grant (1) 15:27 – Danny Grant (2) | ||||||
| Doug Favell 27 saves / 31 shots Michel Belhumeur 8 saves / 9 shots | Goalie stats | Cesare Maniago 33 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| April 8 | Philadelphia Flyers | 3–0 | Minnesota North Stars | Met Center | Recap | |||
| Bobby Clarke (1) –pp – 18:57 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bill Barber (2) – 14:16 Ross Lonsberry (1) – 16:00 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Doug Favell 31 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Cesare Maniago 29 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| April 10 | Minnesota North Stars | 2–3 | OT | Philadelphia Flyers | The Spectrum | Recap | ||
| Danny Grant (3) – 10:48 | First period | 11:24 –pp –Rick MacLeish (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 02:17 –pp – Rick MacLeish (2) | ||||||
| Bill Goldsworthy (1) – 13:00 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 08:35 –Gary Dornhoefer (1) | ||||||
| Cesare Maniago 24 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Doug Favell 30 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| April 12 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4–1 | Minnesota North Stars | Met Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 13:40 –pp –Bill Goldsworthy (2) | ||||||
| Terry Crisp (2) –pp – 04:10 Ross Lonsberry (2) – 16:42 Dave Schultz (1) – 18:01 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ross Lonsberry (3) –en – 19:48 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Doug Favell 37 saves / 38 shots | Goalie stats | Cesare Maniago 19 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| Philadelphia won series 4–2 | |
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's five-game regular season series.
| April 14 | Philadelphia Flyers | 5–4 | OT | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | ||
| Bill Barber (3) – 14:20 | First period | 04:48 –Yvan Cournoyer (6) | ||||||
| Simon Nolet (1) – 03:16 | Second period | 17:28 –pp –Guy Lapointe (4) | ||||||
| Simon Nolet (2) – 10:18 Gary Dornhoefer (2) – 12:04 | Third period | 08:58 – Guy Lapointe (5) 15:25 –Jacques Lemaire (3) | ||||||
| Rick MacLeish (3) – 02:56 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Doug Favell 41 saves / 45 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 32 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| April 17 | Philadelphia Flyers | 3–4 | OT | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | ||
| Andre Dupont (1) – 05:50 Gary Dornhoefer (3) –pp – 08:12 | First period | 19:13 –pp –Guy Lafleur (3) | ||||||
| Bill Flett (2) – 00:36 | Second period | 00:25 –Henri Richard (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 11:50 –Yvan Cournoyer (7) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 06:45 –Larry Robinson (1) | ||||||
| Doug Favell 32 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 36 saves / 39 shots | ||||||
| April 19 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–1 | Philadelphia Flyers | The Spectrum | Recap | |||
| Rejean Houle (1) – 06:34 Henri Richard (3) – 18:19 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 10:09 –Terry Crisp (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 25 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Doug Favell 24 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| April 22 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–1 | Philadelphia Flyers | The Spectrum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 04:08 –pp –Bobby Clarke (2) | ||||||
| Rejean Houle (2) – 07:38 Marc Tardif (2) –pp – 14:07 Yvan Cournoyer (8) –pp – 16:01 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Frank Mahovlich (3) –en – 19:27 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 31 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Doug Favell 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| April 24 | Philadelphia Flyers | 3–5 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Ross Lonsberry (4) – 08:57 | First period | 15:29 –Marc Tardif (3) | ||||||
| Simon Nolet (3) – 06:18 | Second period | 00:23 –pp –Jacques Lemaire (4) | ||||||
| Bill Flett (3) – 05:30 | Third period | 05:44 –Frank Mahovlich (4) 12:07 –Henri Richard (4) 13:42 –Yvan Cournoyer (9) | ||||||
| Doug Favell 29 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 17 saves / 20 shots | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–1 | |
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with Chicago winning three of the four previous series. They last met in theprevious year's Stanley Cup Semifinals which New York won in a four-game sweep. The teams split this year's five-game regular season series.
| April 12 | New York Rangers | 4–1 | Chicago Blackhawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| Bobby Rousseau (2) – 14:09 | First period | 12:37 –Pit Martin (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Vic Hadfield (1) – 04:04 Walt Tkaczuk (5) – 17:45 Walt Tkaczuk (6) –en – 19:35 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Eddie Giacomin 21 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Tony Esposito 21 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| April 15 | New York Rangers | 4–5 | Chicago Blackhawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| Rod Gilbert (3) – 18:54 | First period | 05:32 –Pat Stapleton (1) 07:55 –pp – Pat Stapleton (2) 11:20 –Dennis Hull (2) | ||||||
| Jean Ratelle (2) –pp – 05:31 Bill Fairbairn (1) – 08:22 Rod Gilbert (4) – 17:26 | Second period | 12:02 –pp – Dennis Hull (3) 14:40 –Dick Redmond (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Eddie Giacomin 5 saves / 8 shots Gilles Villemure 19 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Tony Esposito 28 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| April 17 | Chicago Blackhawks | 2–1 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| Jim Pappin (5) – 08:20 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 14:51 –Walt Tkaczuk (7) | ||||||
| Stan Mikita (2) – 06:16 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tony Esposito 37 saves / 38 shots | Goalie stats | Eddie Giacomin 26 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| April 19 | Chicago Blackhawks | 3–1 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dennis Hull (4) –pp – 11:20 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Pit Martin (5) – 14:11 Dennis Hull (5) – 16:56 | Third period | 02:16 –Vic Hadfield (2) | ||||||
| Tony Esposito 38 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Eddie Giacomin 18 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| April 24 | New York Rangers | 1–4 | Chicago Blackhawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 19:20 –pp –Stan Mikita (3) | ||||||
| Rod Gilbert (5) – 19:19 | Second period | 14:07 –Dennis Hull (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 04:47 – Stan Mikita 08:15 –Cliff Koroll (3) | ||||||
| Eddie Giacomin 21 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Tony Esposito 28 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| Chicago won series 4–1 | |
It was the 16th playoff meeting between these two teams. Montreal lead 10–5 in their previous meetings. This was a rematch of the1971 Stanley Cup Finals, which Montreal won in seven games. Chicago won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.
| April 29 | Chicago Blackhawks | 3–8 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Pit Martin (6) – 00:35 Ralph Backstrom (5) – 01:02 Pit Martin (7) – 12:07 | First period | 02:28 –Jacques Laperriere (1) 08:07 –Marc Tardif (7) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 03:01 –Chuck Lefley (1) 16:23 –pp –Jacques Lemaire (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 08:38 –pp – Jacques Lemaire (6) 12:36 –sh –Peter Mahovlich (2) 13:34 –Frank Mahovlich (5) 14:35 – Chuck Lefley (2) | ||||||
| Tony Esposito 25 saves / 33 shots Gary Smith 5 saves / 5 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 27 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| May 1 | Chicago Blackhawks | 1–4 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 05:36 –Pierre Bouchard (1) | ||||||
| Cliff Koroll (4) – 07:28 | Second period | 12:08 –Yvan Cournoyer (10) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:01 –pp – Yvan Cournoyer (11) 19:26 –en –Frank Mahovlich (6) | ||||||
| Tony Esposito 26 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 18 saves / 19 shots | ||||||
| May 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–7 | Chicago Blackhawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 01:59 –pp –Dennis Hull (7) 11:44 –pp –J.P. Bordeleau (1) 13:20 –sh –Bill White (1) 14:20 –sh –Stan Mikita (5) | ||||||
| Frank Mahovlich (7) – 10:25 | Second period | 02:08 –pp –John Marks (1) | ||||||
| Yvan Cournoyer (12) – 01:20 Guy Lapointe (6) – 07:15 Jacques Lemaire (7) – 08:01 | Third period | 19:29 –en – Dennis Hull (8) 19:49 –en –Jim Pappin (6) | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 30 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Tony Esposito 29 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| May 6 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–0 | Chicago Blackhawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| Marc Tardif (5) – 01:08 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Yvan Cournoyer (13) – 14:13 Chuck Lefley (3) – 15:43 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Claude Larose (1) – 03:45 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 19 saves / 19 shots | Goalie stats | Tony Esposito 26 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| May 8 | Chicago Blackhawks | 8–7 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Dennis Hull (9) – 09:34 Stan Mikita (6) – 11:24 | First period | 02:47 –Frank Mahovlich (8) 14:52 –pp –Peter Mahovlich (3) | ||||||
| Dave Kryskow (1) – 03:10 Stan Mikita (7) – 06:21 Jim Pappin (7) – 11:24 Len Frig (1) –pp – 16:21 Jim Pappin (8) – 19:03 | Second period | 00:37 –Claude Larose (2) 04:23 – Claude Larose (3) 07:09 –Yvan Cournoyer (14) | ||||||
| Lou Angotti (3) – 04:06 | Third period | 01:15 –Serge Savard (3) 11:43 –Henri Richard (5) | ||||||
| Tony Esposito 24 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 21 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| May 10 | Montreal Canadiens | 6–4 | Chicago Blackhawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| Henri Richard (6) – 19:48 | First period | 10:35 –Pit Martin (8) 11:31 –pp – Pit Martin (9) | ||||||
| Peter Mahovlich (4) – 05:05 Rejean Houle (3) – 06:37 Frank Mahovlich (9) –pp – 10:54 | Second period | 08:32 –Dave Kryskow (2) 17:05 –pp – Pit Martin (10) | ||||||
| Yvan Cournoyer (15) – 08:13 Marc Tardif (6) –pp – 12:42 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 23 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Tony Esposito 27 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–2 | |
| 1973 NHL awards | |
|---|---|
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (East Division champion, regular season) | Montreal Canadiens |
| Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: (West Division champion, regular season) | Chicago Black Hawks |
| Art Ross Trophy: (Top scorer, regular season) | Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins |
| Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: (Perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication) | Lowell MacDonald, Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: (Top first-year player) | Steve Vickers, New York Rangers |
| Conn Smythe Trophy: (Most valuable player, playoffs) | Yvan Cournoyer, Montreal Canadiens |
| Hart Memorial Trophy: (Most valuable player, regular season) | Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy: (Best defenceman) | Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) | Gilbert Perreault, Buffalo Sabres |
| Lester B. Pearson Award: (Outstanding player, regular season) | Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers |
| Vezina Trophy: (Goaltender(s) of team with best goaltending record) | Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens |
| First team | Position | Second team |
|---|---|---|
| Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens | G | Tony Esposito, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins | D | Brad Park, New York Rangers |
| Guy Lapointe, Montreal Canadiens | D | Bill White, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins | C | Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers |
| Mickey Redmond, Detroit Red Wings | RW | Yvan Cournoyer, Montreal Canadiens |
| Frank Mahovlich, Montreal Canadiens | LW | Dennis Hull, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Esposito | Boston Bruins | 78 | 55 | 75 | 130 | 87 |
| Bobby Clarke | Philadelphia Flyers | 78 | 37 | 67 | 104 | 80 |
| Bobby Orr | Boston Bruins | 63 | 29 | 72 | 101 | 99 |
| Rick MacLeish | Philadelphia Flyers | 78 | 50 | 50 | 100 | 69 |
| Jacques Lemaire | Montreal Canadiens | 77 | 44 | 51 | 95 | 16 |
| Jean Ratelle | New York Rangers | 78 | 41 | 53 | 94 | 12 |
| Mickey Redmond | Detroit Red Wings | 76 | 52 | 41 | 93 | 24 |
| Johnny Bucyk | Boston Bruins | 78 | 40 | 53 | 93 | 12 |
| Frank Mahovlich | Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 38 | 55 | 93 | 51 |
| Jim Pappin | Chicago Black Hawks | 76 | 41 | 51 | 92 | 82 |
Source: NHL.[3]
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | MIN | GA | GAA | W | L | T | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Dryden | Montreal Canadiens | 54 | 3165 | 119 | 2.26 | 33 | 7 | 13 | 6 |
| Gilles Villemure | New York Rangers | 34 | 2040 | 78 | 2.29 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 3 |
| Tony Esposito | Chicago Black Hawks | 56 | 3340 | 140 | 2.51 | 32 | 17 | 7 | 4 |
| Roy Edwards | Detroit Red Wings | 52 | 3012 | 132 | 2.63 | 27 | 17 | 7 | 6 |
| Dave Dryden | Buffalo Sabres | 37 | 2018 | 89 | 2.65 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 3 |
| Roger Crozier | Buffalo Sabres | 49 | 2633 | 121 | 2.76 | 23 | 13 | 7 | 3 |
| Doug Favell | Philadelphia Flyers | 44 | 2419 | 114 | 2.83 | 20 | 15 | 4 | 3 |
| Rogie Vachon | Los Angeles Kings | 53 | 3120 | 148 | 2.85 | 22 | 20 | 10 | 4 |
| Cesare Maniago | Minnesota North Stars | 47 | 2736 | 132 | 2.89 | 21 | 18 | 6 | 5 |
| Jim Rutherford | Pittsburgh Penguins | 49 | 2660 | 129 | 2.91 | 20 | 22 | 5 | 3 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1972–73 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1972–73 (listed with their last team):
NOTE: Plante, Stapleton, Backstrom, Howell and Balon would finish their major professional careers in theWorld Hockey Association.
Hockey Night in Canada onCBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games.HNIC also produced Wednesday night regular season game telecasts forCTV.
This was the first season under the U.S. rights agreement withNBC, airing weekend afternoon regular season games and playoff games.