1978–79 NHL season

The 1978–79 NHL season was the 62nd season of the National Hockey League. The 17 teams of the league played an 80 game season.

The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup finals four games to one for their fourth Cup in a row.

Regular season

Final standings

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

Prince of Wales Conference

Adams Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Boston Bruins	80	43	23	14	100	316	270	1222
Buffalo Sabres	80	36	28	16	88	280	263	1026
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	34	33	13	81	267	252	1440
Minnesota North Stars	80	28	40	12	68	257	289	1102

Norris Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Montreal Canadiens	80	52	17	11	115	337	204	803
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	36	31	13	85	281	279	1039
Los Angeles Kings	80	34	34	12	80	292	286	1134
Washington Capitals	80	24	41	15	63	273	338	1312
Detroit Red Wings	80	23	41	16	62	252	295	1359

Clarence Campbell Conference

Patrick Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
New York Islanders	80	51	15	14	116	358	214	1077
Philadelphia Flyers	80	40	25	15	95	281	248	1548
New York Rangers	80	40	29	11	91	316	292	1214
Atlanta Flames	80	41	31	8	90	327	280	1158

Smythe Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Chicago Black Hawks	80	29	36	15	73	244	277	1254
Vancouver Canucks	80	25	42	13	63	217	291	1134
St. Louis Blues	80	18	50	12	48	249	348	1055
Colorado Rockies	80	15	53	12	42	210	331	838

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Bryan Trottier	New York Islanders	76	47	87	134	50
Marcel Dionne	Los Angeles Kings	80	59	71	130	30
Guy Lafleur	Montreal Canadiens	80	52	77	129	28
Mike Bossy	New York Islanders	80	69	57	126	25
Bob MacMillan	Atlanta Flames	79	37	71	108	14
Guy Chouinard	Atlanta Flames	80	50	57	107	14
Denis Potvin	New York Islanders	73	31	70	101	58
Bernie Federko	St. Louis Blues	74	31	64	95	14
Dave Taylor	Los Angeles Kings	78	43	48	91	124
Clark Gillies	New York Islanders	75	35	56	91	68

Stanley Cup playoffs

All dates in 1979

Preliminary round

Vancouver Canucks vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 10	Vancouver	3	Philadelphia	2
April 12	Philadelphia	6	Vancouver	4
April 14	Vancouver	2	Philadelphia	7

Philadelphia wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1

Los Angeles Kings vs. New York Rangers

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 10	Los Angeles	1	New York	7
April 12	New York	2	Los Angeles	1	(OT)

NY Rangers win best-of-three series 2 games to 0

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Atlanta Flames

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 10	Toronto	2	Atlanta	1
April 12	Atlanta	4	Toronto	7

Toronto wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Buffalo Sabres

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 10	Pittsburgh	4	Buffalo	3
April 12	Buffalo	3	Pittsburgh	1
April 14	Pittsburgh	4	Buffalo	3	(OT)

Pittsburgh wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1

Quarterfinals

Chicago Black Hawks vs. New York Islanders

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 16	Chicago	2	New York	6
April 18	Chicago	0	New York	1	(OT)
April 20	New York	4	Chicago	0
April 22	New York	3	Chicago	1

NY Islanders win best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 16	Toronto	2	Montreal	5
April 18	Toronto	1	Montreal	5
April 21	Montreal	4	Toronto	3
April 22	Montreal	5	Toronto	4	(OT)

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Boston Bruins

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 16	Pittsburgh	2	Boston	6
April 18	Pittsburgh	3	Boston	4
April 21	Boston	2	Pittsburgh	1
April 22	Boston	4	Pittsburgh	1

Boston wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 16	New York	2	Philadelphia	3	(OT)
April 18	New York	7	Philadelphia	1
April 20	Philadelphia	1	New York	5
April 22	Philadelphia	0	New York	6
April 24	New York	8	Philadelphia	3

NY Rangers win best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Semi-finals

New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 26	Rangers	4	Islanders	1
April 28	Rangers	3	Islanders	4	(OT)
May 1	Islanders	1	Rangers	3
May 3	Islanders	3	Rangers	2	(OT)
May 5	Rangers	4	Islanders	3
May 8	Islanders	1	Rangers	2

NY Rangers win best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 26	Boston	2	Montreal	4
April 28	Boston	2	Montreal	5
May 1	Montreal	1	Boston	2
May 3	Montreal	3	Boston	4	(OT)
May 5	Boston	1	Montreal	5
May 8	Montreal	2	Boston	5
May 10	Boston	4	Montreal	5	(OT)

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3

Finals

New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens

As of 2008, it is the last time two Pre-war clubs met in the Finals.

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 13	New York	4	Montreal	1
May 15	New York	2	Montreal	6
May 17	Montreal	4	New York	1
May 19	Montreal	4	New York	3	(OT)
May 21	New York	1	Montreal	4

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

NHL awards

Prince of Wales Trophy:	Montreal Canadiens
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:	New York Islanders
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:	Serge Savard, Montreal Canadiens
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Smith, Minnesota North Stars
Conn Smythe Trophy:	Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
Frank J. Selke Trophy:	Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Jack Adams Award:	Al Arbour, New York Islanders
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Denis Potvin, New York Islanders
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Bob MacMillan, Atlanta Flames
Lester B. Pearson Award:	Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles Kings
NHL Plus/Minus Award:	Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Vezina Trophy:	Ken Dryden & Michel Larocque, Montreal Canadiens
Lester Patrick Trophy:	Bobby Orr

All-Star teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens	G	Glenn Resch, New York Islanders
Denis Potvin, New York Islanders	D	Borje Salming, Toronto Maple Leafs
Larry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens	D	Serge Savard, Montreal Canadiens
Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders	C	Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles Kings
Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens	RW	Mike Bossy, New York Islanders
Clark Gillies, New York Islanders	LW	Bill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com