The1978 Stanley Cup Final was thechampionship series of theNational Hockey League's (NHL)1977–78 season, and the culmination of the1978 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between theBoston Bruins and the defending championMontreal Canadiens, making their third straight appearance in the Finals. The series was a rematch of the 1977 Stanley Cup Final. The Canadiens won the best-of-seven series, four games to two, to win their third consecutiveStanley Cup championship and their 21st overall.[1] This was the last time that both the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens met in the Stanley Cup Final. The Canadiens eventually joined the Bruins in the Adams Division (now theAtlantic Division) in 1982, rendering a rematch impossible.
Montreal defeated theDetroit Red Wings 4–1 and theToronto Maple Leafs 4–0 to advance to the final.
Boston defeated theChicago Black Hawks 4–0 and thePhiladelphia Flyers 4–1 to make it to the final.
DefencemanLarry Robinson of Montreal led all players with 17 assists, and finished tied with teammateGuy Lafleur with 21 points, to win theConn Smythe Trophy.
| May 13 | Boston Bruins | 1–4 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Brad Park (6) –pp – 02:31 | First period | 04:31 –pp –Guy Lafleur (8) 09:53 –pp –Yvon Lambert (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 13:54 –Steve Shutt (7) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 03:55 –Yvan Cournoyer (7) | ||||||
| Gerry Cheevers 23 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 15 saves / 16 shots | ||||||
| May 16 | Boston Bruins | 2–3 | OT | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brad Park (7) – 03:57 | Second period | 07:00 –Steve Shutt (8) | ||||||
| Rick Smith (1) – 15:48 | Third period | 12:12 –Bob Gainey (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 13:09 –Guy Lafleur (9) | ||||||
| Gerry Cheevers 32 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 30 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| May 18 | Montreal Canadiens | 0–4 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 00:59 –Gary Doak (1) 05:11 –Rick Middleton (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 02:54 –Peter McNab (7) 15:39 –Terry O'Reilly (5) | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 32 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Gerry Cheevers 16 saves / 16 shots | ||||||
| May 21 | Montreal Canadiens | 3–4 | OT | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | ||
| Doug Risebrough (2) – 03:26 | First period | 00:25 –Gregg Sheppard (2) | ||||||
| Larry Robinson (3) – 07:00 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Guy Lafleur (10) – 19:27 | Third period | 09:19 –Peter McNab (8) 13:20 –Brad Park (8) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 06:22 –Bobby Schmautz (7) | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 20 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Gerry Cheevers 27 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| May 23 | Boston Bruins | 1–4 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 07:46 –Larry Robinson (4) 11:10 –pp –Pierre Mondou (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 13:04 –ppPierre Larouche (2) 18:42 –Jacques Lemaire (6) | ||||||
| Don Marcotte (5) –pp – 11:22 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gerry Cheevers 21 saves / 25 shots Ron Grahame 5 saves / 5 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 29 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| May 25 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–1 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Steve Shutt (9) – 07:01 Mario Tremblay (1) – 09:20 | First period | 04:05 –pp –Brad Park (9) | ||||||
| Mario Tremblay (2) – 13:37 Rejean Houle (3) – 17:46 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 15 saves / 16 shots | Goalie stats | Gerry Cheevers 20 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–2 | |
| No. | Nat | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Dennis O'Brien | D | L | 28 | 1975 | Port Hope, Ontario | |
| 7 | Sean Shanahan | RW | R | 27 | 1978 | Toronto, Ontario | |
| 8 | Peter McNab | C | L | 26 | 1976 | Vancouver, British Columbia | |
| 10 | Jean Ratelle | C | L | 37 | 1975 | Lac Saint-Jean, Quebec | |
| 11 | Bobby Schmautz | RW | R | 33 | 1973 | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | |
| 12 | Wayne Cashman (C) | LW | R | 32 | 1965 | Kingston, Ontario | |
| 14 | Bob Miller | C | L | 21 | 1976 | Medford, Massachusetts | |
| 16 | Rick Middleton | RW | R | 24 | 1976 | Toronto, Ontario | |
| 17 | Stan Jonathan | LW | L | 22 | 1975 | Ohsweken, Ontario | |
| 18 | John Wensink | LW | L | 25 | 1976 | Cornwall, Ontario | |
| 19 | Gregg Sheppard | C | L | 29 | 1972 | North Battleford, Saskatchewan | |
| 20 | Al Sims | D | L | 25 | 1973 | Toronto, Ontario | |
| 21 | Don Marcotte | LW | L | 31 | 1967 | Arthabaska, Quebec | |
| 22 | Brad Park | D | L | 29 | 1975 | Toronto, Ontario | |
| 23 | Rick Smith | D | L | 29 | 1972 | Kingston, Ontario | |
| 24 | Terry O'Reilly | RW | R | 26 | 1971 | Niagara Falls, Ontario | |
| 25 | Gary Doak | D | R | 32 | 1972 | Goderich, Ontario | |
| 26 | Mike Milbury | D | L | 25 | 1975 | Brighton, Massachusetts | |
| 30 | Gerry Cheevers | G | L | 37 | 1976 | St. Catharines, Ontario | |
| 31 | Ron Grahame | G | L | 27 | 1977 | Victoria, British Columbia |
| No. | Nat | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michel Larocque | G | L | 26 | 1972 | Hull, Quebec | |
| 2 | Bill Nyrop | D | L | 25 | 1972 | Washington, D.C. | |
| 3 | Brian Engblom | D | L | 23 | 1975 | Winnipeg, Manitoba | |
| 5 | Guy Lapointe | D | L | 30 | 1969 | Montreal, Quebec | |
| 6 | Pierre Mondou | C | R | 22 | 1975 | Sorel, Quebec | |
| 8 | Doug Risebrough | C | L | 24 | 1974 | Guelph, Ontario | |
| 10 | Guy Lafleur | RW | R | 26 | 1971 | Montreal, Quebec | |
| 11 | Yvon Lambert | LW | L | 27 | 1971 | Drummondville, Quebec | |
| 12 | Yvan Cournoyer (C) | RW | L | 34 | 1963 | Montreal, Quebec | |
| 14 | Mario Tremblay | RW | R | 21 | 1974 | Alma, Quebec | |
| 15 | Rejean Houle | RW | L | 28 | 1969 | Rouyn, Quebec | |
| 17 | Murray Wilson | LW | L | 26 | 1971 | Toronto, Canada | |
| 18 | Serge Savard | D | L | 32 | 1966 | Landrienne, Quebec | |
| 19 | Larry Robinson | D | L | 26 | 1971 | Winchester, Ontario | |
| 21 | Doug Jarvis | C | L | 23 | 1975 | Brantford, Ontario | |
| 22 | Steve Shutt | LW | L | 25 | 1972 | North York, Ontario | |
| 23 | Bob Gainey | LW | L | 23 | 1973 | Peterborough, Ontario | |
| 24 | Gilles Lupien | D | L | 24 | 1974 | Lachute, Quebec | |
| 25 | Jacques Lemaire | C | L | 32 | 1967 | LaSalle, Quebec | |
| 26 | Pierre Bouchard | D | L | 30 | 1965 | Longueuil, Quebec | |
| 27 | Rick Chartraw | D | R | 23 | 1974 | Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 28 | Pierre Larouche | C | L | 22 | 1977 | Taschereau, Quebec | |
| 29 | Ken Dryden | G | L | 30 | 1964 | Hamilton, Ontario |
The 1978 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Yvan Cournoyer byNHL PresidentJohn Ziegler following the Canadiens 4–1 win over the Bruins in game six.
The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
1977–78 Montreal Canadiens
| Preceded by | Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup champions 1978 | Succeeded by |