1973–74 Boston Bruins season



The 1973–74 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 50th season in the NHL. The Bruins finished 1st in the East Division and the league but lost in the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals to the Philadelphia Flyers 4 games to 2.

Off-season
Goaltending had been an issue for the Bruins the previous season. In order to rectify this, Harry Sinden traded Fred Stanfield to the Minnesota North Stars for Gilles Gilbert. Eddie Johnston was sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs to complete the Jacques Plante trade. Stanfield had centered the Bruins second line since coming to Boston in the blockbuster trade with Chicago prior to the 1967-68 season. An excellent two-way player and a power play specialist (where he played the point with Bobby Orr), Stanfield had been an integral part of Boston's two Stanley Cup winning teams. Gilbert would play excellently for the Bruins for seven seasons and become the number one goaltender until Gerry Cheevers returned from the WHA.

Mike Walton signed with the Minnesota Fighting Saints while Don Awrey was traded to the St. Louis Blues.

Since the 1967-68 season, the Bruins had operated with no captain, instead going with three or four alternate captains. Prior to the season start, John Bucyk was appointed captain. He'd been the Bruins last captain during the 1966-67 season. Phil Esposito and Dallas Smith remained alternate captains with Bobby Orr joining them.

1973
Two changes were made to the Bruins jerseys to start the season. First, the laces were eliminated and the collar was modified to a V-neck. Second, a 50th anniversary patch was added to both shoulders on the white home and black road jerseys. The patch featured an upright, snarling bear. On January 4, 1974, for the first time in the Bruins history, the players' names were added to the back of the black road jerseys. This was to accommodate a request from NBC to make the players easier to identify for their broadcasts. These named black jerseys appeared occasionally (February 24 in Buffalo for example) and on January 27, 1974, names appeared on the white home jerseys. By March, the jerseys with no names were used until making a reappearance for Game 2 of the Semi-finals and Games 3 and 6 of the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals.

The Bruins line-up underwent its largest change since the 1967-68 season with five rookies playing on opening night. Besides Gilles Gilbert becoming the new starting goaltender (with Ross Brooks as his backup), the forward lines underwent an overhaul, with the exception of the first line of Phil Esposito centering Wayne Cashman and Ken Hodge remaining intact. Coming off a 50 point rookie season, Gregg Sheppard took Fred Stanfield's place centering the second line with John Bucyk and sophomore Terry O'Reilly. Don Marcotte remained on the third line and was joined by two rookies, André Savard and Chris Oddleifson. Savard was the Bruins number one draft pick in June 1973 and made the team right out of junior. Oddleifson was acquired for Ivan Boldirev in 1971 which also saw Rich LeDuc become a Bruin. Rookie LeDuc centered the fourth line with Fred O'Donnell and another rookie, Dave Forbes. An injured Derek Sanderson missed the first six weeks of the season.

On defense, the first pairing of Bobby Orr and Dallas Smith remained unchanged. Carol Vadnais was joined by rookie Al Sims. Like Andre Savard, Sims was chosen in the 1973 Draft and made the Bruins straight from juniors. Gary Doak, who'd barely played the season before, became the fifth defenseman and was in the line-up for 69 games.

Opening night on October 10, 1973 against the Vancouver Canucks held some apprehension for Boston. Orr's knee hadn't been 100% during the 1973 playoffs in which Phil Esposito suffered torn knee ligaments. All fears were quickly laid to rest as Orr setup Esposito for a goal 4:41 into the game. In the second period, Orr assisted on Esposito's second goal, which was the 400th of his career. Esposito ended up with a Hat trick and five points while Chris Oddleifson had his first NHL goal and Andre Savard his first NHL point as Boston triumphed 6-4. The prodigious scoring continued on October 13 as Ken Hodge had six points, Esposito four, while Orr added three assists and Al Sims had his first NHL goal in a 9-4 thumping of the Detroit Red Wings.

The next night, goalie Ken Broderick played his first game for the Bruins in a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders. Broderick won again during the 8-2 walloping of the Pittsburgh Penguins in which Orr had three points. Boston had 40 goals in seven games after the 9-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres on October 25. Earlier that day, Nick Beverley was traded to Pittsburgh for Darryl Edestrand. With his acquisition, the Bruins regularly started six defensemen for the first time in their history. Edestrand played his first game for Boston on October 27 and had an assist during a tight 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in which Orr made an incredible pass to setup an Esposito goal. The Bruins finished October with a 5-0 blanking of the Minnesota North Stars on Halloween with Ross Brooks earning the shutout. In ten games, Esposito had 14 goals and 24 points while Orr had 5 goals and 18 points. The Bruins led the East Division with a 7-2-1 record and had scored 51 goals.

After losing 6-4 to the Islanders in New York on November 3, the Bruins faced the California Golden Seals the next night at home. Phil Esposito opened the scoring with an unique individual skill. Taking the puck down the right wing, he leaned into Bob Stewart, switched hands on his stick and scored with a right-handed shot on goalie Gilles Meloche. After Chris Oddleifson had a Darryl Edestrand point shot bounce off his leg and into the net, Terry O'Reilly scored his second goal of the season with a tap-in after a setup by Carol Vadnais. In the last minute of the game, Esposito whacked in a Ken Hodge centering pass as the Bruins won 4-1.

After losing to the Rangers 7-3 on November 7, 1973, the team went on a sixteen game point streak that lasted past mid-December and began with eight straight wins. Gilles Gilbert had established himself as the starting goalie and played every game during the streak. Ross Brooks earned the backup goalie spot while Ken Broderick was sent to the minors. The streak was kicked off on November 8 with a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens with Bobby Orr setting up Dave Forbes' winning goal. After beating Vancouver 4-2 on November 11 and Montreal 4-3 on November 14, the Bruins met the New York Rangers on November 15 in Boston for what would be Bobby Orr's most productive career game. Boston went up 3-0 in the first period with Orr assisting on goals by Don Marcotte and Gregg Sheppard and scoring a power play goal of his own. Orr didn't factor in any goals in the second period as the Bruins took a 5-1 lead into the third.

Orr scored his second power play goal of the game at 2:53 of the third period, assisted on an Andre Savard goal at 6:18 and then completed his hat trick, on the power play, at 11:19. He then notched his fourth assist of the night on Savard's second goal of the night. Orr's 3 goals and 7 points powered the Bruins to a 10-2 demolition of the Rangers. He became the first (and only) Bruin and the first defenseman in NHL history to score 7 points in a game. It was the largest margin of victory for Boston over New York since the 1944-45 season when the Bruins won by 14-3 on January 14, 1945, the most goals Boston ever scored in a game. In Boston's next game, on November 17 against Detroit, Orr had four assists in an 8-0 blanking as Gilles Gilbert had his first shutout as a Bruin. Derek Sanderson played his first game of the season during the 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on November 22 and scored. To make room in the line-up, Doug Roberts was sold to Detroit. The Bruins ended the month with a 16-4-2 record, good for first place in the league.

The point streak continued in December with wins over the Islanders and Sabres on December 2 and 8. It nearly came to an end on December 9 in Philadelphia as Boston was trailing 3-1 with less than two minutes to play. Bobby Orr cut the deficit to 3-2 with 1:22 left before Phil Esposito tied it up with 32 seconds remaining with Gilbert pulled. Esposito and Ken Hodge each had two goals in the 4-2 win over Minnesota on December 13, their 30th and 21st goals of the season respectively. During the 7-2 win over Vancouver on December 15, Esposito had four points while Orr had five. One of Orr's goals was scored on a crazy deflection that hit a broken stick, then Bob Dailey and went in.

During the 6-5 win over Pittsburgh on December 20, Terry O'Reilly fought Bryan Watson and then Bryan Hextall in the second period. The streak was broken by Detroit on December 22 as Boston lost 4-2. Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr didn't score in this game nor for the rest of the month. The Bruins beat Toronto the next night by 4-3 as Gilles Gilbert played his 18th consecutive game. Ken Broderick started the next game, his last of the season, in a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Ross Brooks started the next night against California and began a 13 game winning streak. Rookie Chris Oddleifson exploded for four goals while O'Reilly had four assists and Orr had three as the Bruins thumped the Seals 8-1. Esposito led the league with 35 goals and 72 points while Orr had 57 points and Ken Hodge, 26 goals. The Bruins still led the league with a 24-6-3 record.

1974
Phil Esposito scored Boston's first goal of 1974 on New Year's Day in a very tame 2-2 tie game with Vancouver in which only two penalties were called. During the January 4, 1974 game versus the Rangers, the Bruins wore jerseys with the player's names on the back for the first time in their history. Trailing 2-0 in the second period, Bobby Orr started and ended a comeback with two goals as the Bruins won 4-2. John Bucyk had the second 4 goal game of his career on January 5 while Esposito chipped in a goal and three assists during the Bruins 6-2 win over the Islanders.

Trailing Chicago by 2-0 in the third period on January 10, Orr scored to make it 2-1. With Gilles Gilbert pulled, an Orr rush resulted in Phil Esposito tying the game on his brother Tony in the last minute. Esposito scored his 40th goal of the season during the 5-3 win over Pittsburgh on January 13. Bobby Orr had three assists including setting up the equalizer by Derek Sanderson during the 5-5 tie with Chicago on January 16. The Bruins embarrassed the Canadiens in the Montreal Forum, blanking them 8-0 on January 19. Boston hadn't beaten Montreal this badly since the 1932-33 season when they won 10-0 on February 21, 1933.

As the season progressed, Al Sims was paired more often with Bobby Orr while John Bucyk moved to Esposito's line and Wayne Cashman played with Derek Sanderson and Dave Forbes. After 5-2 and 1-0 wins over Los Angeles and St. Louis, the Bruins played the Black Hawks on January 24 in a signature match between two of the league's powerhouses. Tony Esposito was brilliant and stopped brother Phil on two breakaways in the first period. Pit Martin potted a power play goal off a Dick Redmond rebound and right after Boston failed to convert their only man advantage of the period, Randy Rota raced down the left wing and blasted a low slapshot past Gilbert for a 2-0 lead. Boston pressed in the second period and a brilliant rush by Bobby Orr sent Gregg Sheppard in to cut the lead to 2-1.

After Redmond tripped Orr, Derek Sanderson lost his temper with referee Wally Harris for not awarding a penalty shot and was ejected from the game. Boston held Chicago to only 3 shots in both the second and third periods. The Hawks lined up at their blueline every time Orr made a rush and with less than a minute left, Bill White tripped Orr as he skated into Chicago's zone. Harris refused to call a penalty on White and when Orr protested, Harris gave him a game misconduct. Orr had to restrained by his teammates and Harris added a bench minor penalty to the Bruins. Despite widely outshooting the Hawks, the Bruins lost 2-1. After beating the Islanders and Flyers, Gilles Gilbert, Dallas Smith, Ken Hodge, Wayne Cashman and Phil Esposito played in the the 27th All-Star Game on January 29, 1974. Bobby Orr sat out the game after suffering a knee injury from a dangerous leg check by Bill Barber on January 27 and missed the Bruins 4-2 win over the Flames on January 31 in which Dave Hynes played his first NHL game. Esposito had 45 goals and 91 points and the Bruins led the league with 74 points.

After a 6-2 loss to Toronto on February 2, 1974, the Bruins went on a seven game winning streak. Ken Hodge had a hat trick during the 5-4 win over Pittsburgh on February 3 while Ross Brooks recorded his seventh consecutive win on February 7 as the Bruins beat St. Louis 5-3. After the game, Chris Oddleifson and Fred O'Donnell were traded to Vancouver for Bobby Schmautz. Schmautz had led the Canucks in scoring the previous season and bolstered the Bruins second line. Schmautz was given Derek Sanderson's jersey #17 as Sanderson had been out of the line-up since January 27. Bobby Orr returned to the line-up for the February 9 game against Philadelphia, showed no ill effects and controlled the entire game. He tallied three assists including setting up the winner as the Bruins won 5-3. John Bucyk had a hat trick while Orr and Gregg Sheppard had four points, and Schmautz scored his first goal as a Bruin during the 9-6 win over California on February 13. After beating Vancouver 4-2 on February 15, the Bruins swept their Western road trip the next night with a 5-2 victory over Los Angeles.

The Bruins tied Minnesota 5-5 on February 20 with Phil Esposito netting a hat trick including scoring the tying goal, which was his 50th of the season. In this game, Wayne Cashman was given a misconduct for charging at the referee and had to be restrained by his teammates. Ross Brooks recorded his 11th consecutive win on February 23 as Boston defeated the Penguins 6-2. The new second line of Gregg Sheppard centering John Bucyk and Bobby Schmautz scored the game winner with Orr adding a goal and two assists. The Bruins ended their six game road trip and their point streak with a 3-2 loss to Buffalo on February 24. Boston outshot Buffalo by a wide margin but superb goaltending by Dave Dryden gave the Sabres the win.

Returning home for their last game of the month, the Bruins had a three day rest before taking on Detroit on February 28. Led by two goals each by Terry O'Reilly and Phil Esposito (who also had two assists), the Bruins walloped the Red Wings 8-1. Only two penalties were called in the game while Ross Brooks recorded his 13th straight win. Esposito led the scoring race by a wide margin with 53 goals and 112 points with Bobby Orr ranking second with 25 goals and 93 points. Ken Hodge finished the month with 41 goals and the Bruins led the league with 92 points.

The Bruins went winless for the first three games of March. A testament to the incredible season they were having, this was their worst stretch of 1973-74. Derek Sanderson returned to the line-up for a road trip and played in the March 6 game in St. Louis. With the departure of Fred O'Donnell, he wore his old jersey #16 and played on the third line. Boston responded with an 8-0 victory in which Wayne Cashman had a hat trick and five points while Phil Esposito had four points. On March 9 in Los Angeles, the Bruins were trailing 4-3 with less than four minutes to play, made worse when Ken Hodge was assessed a major penalty. However, Sanderson set up Esposito for a shorthanded goal to tie the game, which ended 4-4. Sanderson's assist was the last point in his Bruins career. The next night in California, Ross Brooks had a chance to tie Tiny Thompson's NHL record of 14 consecutive wins. Former Bruin Reggie Leach played spoiler with a hat trick as Boston lost 6-2. Terry O'Reilly had a scrap with a Seals fan who shook a tambourine in his ear while he was in the penalty box.

After the game, O'Reilly and Sanderson had a fight in the dressing room, having shoved each other before the game. Sanderson refused to board the plane taking the team back to Boston and was suspended by Harry Sinden for this action and "other incidents." With the trading deadline on March 12, Sanderson had to be re-instated to the line-up or he'd be ineligible to play for the remainder of the season. The Bruins were at home to Buffalo on March 12 and O'Reilly took to the ice sporting a black eye, which he refused to discuss with the press. Rich Leduc took Sanderson's place in the lineup and the Bruins responded with a 4-0 blanking of the Sabres with LeDuc scoring. The deadline came and went and Sanderson's time with the Bruins was over. He'd play several more NHL seasons for the Rangers, Blues and Canucks while fighting a losing battle with alcoholism and a wild lifestyle. He'd ultimately find recovery and redemption with significant help from Bobby Orr and other Bruins teammates. He'd become the Bruins TV colour analyst, a respected businessman and helped others avoid his mistakes.

Playing in Buffalo on March 14, Phil Esposito had two goals including the winner, his 60th and 61st of the season, as the Bruins triumphed 4-3. Ken Hodge had four points during the 5-2 win over Toronto on March 16. The third line of Andre Savard, Don Marcotte and Terry O'Reilly led the Bruins to a 5-2 win over the Rangers on March 17 with Marcotte and O'Reilly each scoring. The Bruins capped off their five game winning streak with a 7-0 blanking of St. Louis in which Bobby Orr had a hat trick, including his 30th of the season. Blues goalie Jim Watt played the last 20 minutes of the game in his only NHL appearance and gave up Orr's third goal, a hard slapshot low to the stick side. Gilles Gilbert played every game of the streak and was firmly the team's starting goalie as the season wound down.

After a 4-3 loss to the Atlanta Flames on March 23, the next night the Bruins played the Canadiens at home. After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, Gregg Sheppard and Wayne Cashman set up goals by Dave Forbes and Carol Vadnais. After an Andre Savard slapshot beat Montreal goalie Michel Plasse, Sheppard won a face-off back to Bobby Orr. Plasse kicked out Orr's slapshot to Sheppard who fired it in to cap off a Bruins four goal second period. Jimmy Roberts made it close in the third period, banking in a Murray Wilson centering pass before Phil Esposito scored on a breakaway. Sheppard won another face-off which lead to a Bobby Schmautz tip-in goal, putting the game out of reach for Montreal. Sheppard's four points powered the Bruins to a 6-3 victory.

On March 27 versus the Rangers, Gilles Gilbert rested after starting seven straight games and Ross Brooks' 32 saves was the difference in a 3-2 Bruins victory. Ken Hodge had a pair of goals during the 6-1 win over Detroit on March 31 then scored his 50th of the season on April 6 versus Montreal. The Bruins led the Flyers by one point for the league lead heading into the last game of the regular season on April 7 in Toronto. Bobby Orr factored in every goal as the Bruins triumphed 6-4 and won their 13th Prince of Wales Trophy. Boston had the top four league leading scorers, the third and last time in NHL history this was achieved (the only other times being by the Bruins in the 1939-40 and 1970-71 seasons). Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr and Ken Hodge all made the First All-Star Team and Wayne Cashman the Second Team. John Bucyk won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, Esposito the Hart Memorial Trophy, Art Ross Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award while Orr won his seventh consecutive James Norris Memorial Trophy.

Boston Bruins 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 0
The Bruins and Leafs last met in the 1972 Quarter-finals where the Bruins won the series in five games. Although Phil Esposito was held to one goal in the series by the checking of Dave Keon, the Bruins second line of Gregg Sheppard, John Bucyk and Bobby Schmautz dominated with Sheppard scoring four goals and Schmautz adding six points. Gilles Gilbert played every minute of the series in goal for the Bruins while Doug Favell played in Games 1, 2 and 4. Gilbert recorded a shutout and held Toronto to ten goals in the series.

Game 1 at the Boston Garden was the tightest match of the series. The Leafs outshot the Bruins 35-33 and there were only three power plays in the game. After a scoreless first period, where Toronto had the edge in play, Gregg Sheppard scored the only goal of the game 4:12 into the second period, assisted by Dallas Smith and Don Marcotte. Boston took over the game in the third period, outshooting Toronto and held on for a 1-0 victory.

Game 2 at Boston saw the teams trade goals in the first period with Ken Hodge, Ron Ellis, Bobby Schmautz and Dave Keon scoring. In the second period, Schmautz set up goals by John Bucyk and Wayne Cashman before Darryl Sittler cut the Bruins lead to 4-3. The Leafs pressed in the third period and outshot the Bruins 16-6. However, Phil Esposito scored on Boston's only power play of the period and Gregg Sheppard added an empty net goal for a 6-3 Bruins victory and a 2-0 lead in the series.

Game 3 at Maple Leaf Gardens saw former Bruin Eddie Johnston in goal for the Leafs. Toronto started the game strong and after several co-incidental minor penalties, Bob Neely scored the only goal of the period. However, Boston broke the game open in the second period with André Savard scoring his first career NHL playoff goal, followed by a pair by Sheppard and John Bucyk's second goal of the series. Neely set up Darryl Sittler with 30 second left to trim Boston's lead to 4-2 heading into the third period. Wayne Cashman scored a little over a minute into the period answered a minute later by Eddie Shack, with the last playoff goal of his career. Despite pouring 24 shots on Gilles Gilbert, the Leafs couldn't muster another goal and Bobby Schmautz sealed Boston's 6-3 victory with Gilbert stopping 45 shots.

Game 4 at Toronto saw Doug Favell back in net for the Leafs. Terry O'Reilly opened the scoring with his first career NHL playoff goal before Ron Ellis responded. In the second period, Ken Hodge and Norm Ullman traded goals before Wayne Cashman and Garry Monahan fought. In the third period, the Bruins pressed for the win and broke through with less than three minutes left as Bobby Orr scored his first of the series. Desperate to avoid a sweep, the Leafs fought back with Inge Hammarström scoring his first career NHL playoff goal, sending the game into overtime. It took the Bruins less than two minutes to end the series as Ken Hodge tipped in Carol Vadnais' point shot.

Boston Bruins 4, Chicago Black Hawks 2
The Bruins and Black Hawks last met in the 1970 Semi-finals where Boston swept Chicago in four games. This series was closer but Gregg Sheppard continued his excellent playoffs with seven points, John Bucyk led the Bruins with nine points and Phil Esposito continued his scoring prowess over his brother Tony, potting six goals. Gilles Gilbert played every minute of the series in goal for the Bruins.

Game 1 at the Boston Garden saw the Bruins fire 48 shots at Tony Esposito, twice as many as the Black Hawks mustered. After Phil Esposito scored on the power play 6:40 into the first period, a fight broke out between Darryl Edestrand and Cliff Koroll. Play grew rougher until Carol Vadnais and Dale Tallon fought. In the second period, Boston had chance after chance that was foiled by Tony Esposito while Stan Mikita and Darcy Rota put the Hawks up 2-1. In the third period, Edestrand tied the game up and overtime loomed until John Marks scored with a little over three minutes to play. Dennis Hull added an empty net goal and thanks to Tony's superlative goaltending, the Black Hawks upset the Bruins 4-2.

Game 2 at Boston saw the Bruins wear white jerseys with name plates. It was a wild, high-scoring affair where the lead constantly changed hands. John Bucyk scored twice on the power play in the first period, answered by Darcy Rota and Dale Tallon. Early in the second period, Terry O'Reilly staked Boston to a 3-2 lead until Dennis Hull and Germain Gagnon scored. Bucyk scored on the power play again, completing a hat trick and sending the game into the third period tied 3-3. All three of Bucyk's goals were assisted by Bobby Orr and Carol Vadnais. In the third, Phil Esposito and Hull traded goals before the Bruins took the lead for good as Bobby Schmautz, Don Marcotte and Gregg Sheppard scored. John Marks got one back for the Black Hawks but Gilles Gilbert shut the door as Boston won 8-6 and tied the series at a game apiece.

Game 3 at the Chicago Stadium was the closest game of the series with both team's capitalizing on the man advantage. On the power play, Carol Vadnais scored the only goal of the first period, poking in a loose puck in the crease. 3:09 into the second period, Bill White countered with his own power play marker, blasting a shot along the ice between Gilbert's pads. Gregg Sheppard put the Bruins up 2-1 with his sixth goal of the post season, banging in a rebound off the end boards. In the third period, Ken Hodge added to Boston's lead with Dale Tallon in the penalty box, sliding in a rebound off a Phil Esposito shot. Stan Mikita cut the lead on the power play with a low shot just inside the left post. In the last minute, Mikita tied the game with Tony Esposito pulled for an extra attacker, banking a shot in off Gilbert's pad. In overtime, Bill White found Jim Pappin uncovered at the left post and he one-timed a shot in as the Black Hawks took a 2-1 series lead.

Game 4 at Chicago saw the Bruins play an excellent defensive game in which they held the Black Hawks to under ten shots in each period. Pit Martin opened the scoring before Gregg Sheppard and Ken Hodge gave Boston the lead. In the second period, Phil Esposito scored the game winner on a breakaway after an excellent pass from Hodge. André Savard padded the Bruins lead before Keith Magnuson scored. Late in the period, Phil Esposito fought with Phil Russell. In the third period, Boston choked off Chicago's attacking attempts and Wayne Cashman scored an empty net goal as the Bruins won 5-2 and tied the series at two games apiece.

Game 5 at Boston saw a close-checking first period in which John Bucyk scored the only goal, banking in a low shot off the right post. However, the Bruins broke the game open in the second period, scoring three goal in the first 3:35. Bucyk scored his second of the game on a breakaway, flicking a shot past Tony Esposito's blocker. Phil Esposito scored his fifth of the playoffs, a high shot over Tony's blocker after Ken Hodge dug the puck out from the corner. Dallas Smith then blasted a high shot from the point over Tony's catching glove. Cliff Koroll responded before Esposito scored his second from the slot and Gregg Sheppard added his eighth goal of the post season, blasting a Schmautz pass off the right post and in. Tony Esposito was pulled to start the third period and Mike Veisor played his second NHL playoff game. Veisor shut out the Bruins the rest of the game and though Pit Martin scored, the damage was done as the Bruins won 6-2.

Game 6 at Chicago saw Tony Esposito back in the net for the Black Hawks, who played with desperation and were rewarded with a first period goal by Cliff Koroll. The Bruins took over in the second period and the third line came through with Don Marcotte scoring twice. In the third period at 4:18, Len Frig tied the game up on the power play. The game tightened until stalwart Black Hawks defenseman Bill White took a minor penalty and a misconduct with eight minutes to go in the game. Deprived of White's services, Gregg Sheppard scored his ninth goal of the playoffs with less than two minutes to play. Tony Esposito was pulled for an extra attacker but Bobby Orr retrieved a Chicago dump-in and sent Phil Esposito on a breakaway for an empty net goal. The Bruins won 4-2 and took the series by the same score.

Philadelphia Flyers 4, Boston Bruins 2
This was the first playoff meeting for the teams. Boston entered the series as heavy favorites as they had home ice advantage and had lost to the Flyers only once in the previous four seasons. However, that lost had occurred near the end of the 1973-74 season, in Philadelphia, and gave the Flyers a confidence boost. The Bruins went with a shortened line-up in the series. Only in Game 5 did six defensemen play and eleven forwards was the norm (ten in Game 1). A significant portion of the Flyers line-up was filled with ex-members of the Bruins organization including Bernie Parent, Joe Watson, Gary Dornhoefer, Ross Lonsberry, Terry Crisp and Rick MacLeish. Boston's goalie Gilles Gilbert and Philadelphia netminder Bernie Parent played every minute of the Finals. Bobby Orr led the series with seven points (and lead the playoffs in assists) but his heroics were outdone by Parent's spectacular goaltending, earning him the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Game 1 at the Boston Garden saw Gilles Gilbert and Bernie Parent set the tone as both made great early saves as their teams were killing off penalties. Just past the seven minute mark of the first period, the lights flickered in the Garden for a few seconds but play wasn't disrupted. Bill Barber took a penalty at 10:52 and the Flyers killed off the first minute easily. However, a Bobby Orr rush resulted in a great missed chance for John Bucyk, who retrieved the rebound and passed it to Carol Vadnais at the point. Vadnais relayed to Orr whose slapshot was deflected in by Wayne Cashman, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead. A minute later, a great rush by Dave Forbes resulted in his shot leaking through Parent and lying in the crease for an easy tap-in by Gregg Sheppard to make it 2-0 Boston. A minute later, André Savard nearly scored on a breakaway, then Don Marcotte missed a close-in chance. The Flyers had several chances on the power play they couldn't convert and Ken Hodge and André Dupont had a scuffle. At 18:28, Gregg Sheppard was on a breakaway and was tripped by Ed Van Impe. Referee Dave Newell called a minor penalty, instead of a penalty shot.

At 6:46 of the second period, Cashman and Van Impe fought and Jim Watson was given a game misconduct for being the third man into the fight. A minute later, Orest Kindrachuk cut the Bruins lead to 2-1. In the third period, noticing that Phil Esposito was losing most faceoffs to Bobby Clarke, Bruins coach Bep Guidolin played the top line against Rick MacLeish's line, resulting in them playing less. At the 5:32 mark, Joe Watson intercepted a Bruins clearing pass and rang a shot off the post. Gilbert missed smothering the rebound and Clarke poked the puck home to tie the game 2-2. The Bruins third line of Andre Savard, Terry O'Reilly and Marcotte had increased playing time, forechecked the Flyers hard and missed several good opportunities.

With eight minutes left in the game, a pane of glass came loose, resulting in a ten minute delay. Just past the last minute, Bill Flett was sent in alone by Clarke. He deked Gilbert but in desperation, Gilbert reached back and the puck hit his stick paddle, skittered just wide of the post and was smothered by Orr. Off the face-off, MacLeish beat Esposito and just missed the net. Esposito retrieved the puck and made a spinning pass to Cashman who carried it into the Flyers corner, where he was checked by Dupont. Hodge was first to the loose puck, passed it to Orr at the point whose low slapshot beat Parent to the stick side with 32 second left. The Flyers pulled Parent, Esposito lost three faceoffs and missed the empty net, causing a defensive zone faceoff. Cashman nearly scored with seconds left and the Bruins held on for a 3-2 win.

Game 2 at Boston saw Rich Leduc added to Boston's line-up as a fourth line forward. Boston's Al Sims hit the post in the first minute of play but afterwards, checking was tight. Philadelphia had the game's first power play at 4:06 and didn't threaten, but another opportunity at 7:43 required Gilles Gilbert to make several excellent saves. After Dave Schultz tried to intimidate Dallas Smith, a penalty was called on Tom Bladon. Schultz and Terry O'Reilly fought with Schultz receiving a minor penalty, giving the Bruins a two minute 5 on 3 advantage. Seconds after the Flyers killed it off, Carol Vadnais stripped Joe Watson of the puck behind the Flyers net, passed it out front to Phil Esposito whose rebound was banged in by Wayne Cashman. With less than three minutes in the period, Esposito won a draw back to Vadnais whose shot hit Ed Van Impe. Esposito collected the puck and backhanded it past Bernie Parent for a 2-0 Bruins lead.

A minute into the second period, a point shot by Bill Flett was tipped in by Bobby Clarke to cut the lead to 2-1. Both teams played cautiously, dumping the puck in and forechecking to cause turnovers. The Esposito line had several excellent chances at the 12:00 mark which Parent turned aside. Parent made another great save off Esposito with less than three minutes in the period. The Flyers had a flurry of chances on the power play and as the period ended, Orest Kindrachuk ran into Gilles Gilbert. As they started to fight, Wayne Cashman waded in and was given a game misconduct. In the third period, Simon Nolet had a centering pass hit Bobby Orr's skate and bounce off the post before Don Marcotte narrowly missed a rebound goal. Referee Art Skov didn't call a blatant hook by Andre Dupont and a high stick by Tom Bladon which smacked Bobby Schmautz in the head. At 11:00 during a 4 on 4, Skov also missed calling Bobby Clarke for hooking Ken Hodge on a breakaway. With six minutes left, Joe Watson took a holding penalty but Boston couldn't set up in the Flyers zone. Play was close checking until with a little over a minute left in the Flyers zone, Ross Lonsberry deked out Phil Esposito, carried the puck up ice and dumped it into Boston's end. Orr retrieved the puck and sent it up the boards to Ken Hodge who was checked by Clarke. The puck squirted loose to Rick MacLeish who passed it out front of the Bruins net where it was one-timed in by André Dupont, sending the game into overtime. There were many whistles in the first four minutes of OT but then the game opened up and Gilbert made great saves off MacLeish and Terry Crisp. Parent robbed John Bucyk on a breakaway two minutes before Bobby Clarke banked a rebound off Bobby Orr and into the net for a 3-2 Flyers victory.

Game 3 at the Spectrum saw the Bruins wear names on the back of their sweaters for the first time in a playoff game. Boston scored early as John Bucyk finished off a rush started by Bobby Orr. At 10:43 on a 4 on 3 power play, Tom Bladon blasted a shot in low to Gilles Gilbert's stick side. Terry Crisp gave the Flyers their earliest lead of the series at the 15:43 mark. Following a scoreless second period, Orest Kindrachuk scored 7:53 into the third period followed by Ross Lonsberry's fourth goal of the playoffs at 14:19. Although he was in the line-up, Bruins defenseman Al Sims saw no action in Game 3 while Phil Esposito was benched for much of the third period. Bobby Orr played nearly 36 minutes. Flyers winger Gary Dornhoefer was lost for the remainder of the series with a separated left shoulder. Philadelphia took a 2-1 series lead with a 4-1 win.

Game 4 at Philadelphia saw Bill Clement added to the Flyers line-up to replace the injured Gary Dornhoefer. The first period was filled with fights and 21 penalties were called. Early in the period, Andre Savard and Orest Kindrachuk had a prolonged fight. On the next shift, Rich Leduc took a holding penalty on Bill Barber who dived after little contact. Rick MacLeish converted on the power play, deflecting a Tom Bladon shot from the blueline. Less than a minute later, Dallas Smith turned over the puck in the Flyers zone which led to Dave Schultz scoring on a 2 on 1. Joe Watson took a holding penalty and on the next shift, Wayne Cashman and Jim Watson fought. The Flyers almost killed off the penalty but a great rush by John Bucyk saw him slide a pass to Phil Esposito who one-timed it past Bernie Parent at 7:12. Terry O'Reilly and Schultz had a brief scrap on the next shift and just shy of the halfway mark, double co-incidental minors were called after a Don Saleski-Dallas Smith dust-up. Four players were in each penalty box and after playing 3-on-3, a Bobby Orr pass to Andre Savard saw him beat Rick MacLeish and fire a low shot past Parent to tie the score 2-2. Confrontations continued with Dave Schultz going after several Bruins. No more scoring occurred in the period which took an hour to play. Orr played over 12 minutes while Darryl Edestrand was benched.

The second period was tamer with tight checking. The Flyers continued to dump the puck into the Bruins zone in order to draw a face-off, which they dominated. Several minutes in, a rebound found Bobby Schmautz alone in front of the Flyer's net with Bernie Parent prone on the ice but Schmautz fired it high.

Game 5 at Boston saw Al Simmons added to the Bruins defense core.

Game 6 at Philadelphia saw

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts

Awards and Records

 * Bobby Orr had the only seven point game in Bruins history, and the first by an NHL defenseman, during the 10-2 win over the New York Rangers on November 15, 1973.
 * Prince of Wales Trophy: Boston Bruins (13th win)
 * Art Ross Trophy: Phil Esposito (5th win)
 * Hart Memorial Trophy: Phil Esposito (2nd win)
 * James Norris Memorial Trophy: Bobby Orr (7th win)
 * Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: John Bucyk (2nd win)
 * NHL Goal Scoring Leader: Phil Esposito (5th win)
 * Phil Esposito, Center, NHL First Team All-Star
 * Bobby Orr, Defence, NHL First Team All-Star
 * Ken Hodge, Right Wing, NHL First Team All-Star
 * Wayne Cashman, Left Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star

Transactions

 * Trade Fred Stanfield to the Minnesota North Stars for Gilles Gilbert on May 22, 1973.
 * Lose Ron Jones to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the intra-league draft on June 12, 1973.
 * Trade Don Awrey to the St. Louis Blues for Jake Rathwell and a second round draft pick (Mark Howe) on October 5, 1973.
 * Trade Nick Beverley to Pittsburgh for Darryl Edestrand on October 25, 1973.
 * Sell Doug Roberts to the Detroit Red Wings on November 23, 1973.
 * Trade Chris Oddleifson and Fred O'Donnell to the Vancouver Canucks for Bobby Schmautz on February 7, 1974.

Trivia

 * Ken Hodge had a six point game during the 9-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings on October 13, 1973.
 * Bobby Orr had the only seven point game in Bruins history, and the first by an NHL defenseman, during the 10-2 win over the New York Rangers on November 15, 1973.
 * Bobby Orr had a six point game during the 6-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 7, 1974.
 * Bruins who recorded a Hat trick this season include:
 * Phil Esposito during the 6-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks on October 10, 1973.
 * Bobby Orr during the 10-2 win over the Rangers on November 15, 1973.
 * Chris Oddleifson had a 4 goal game during the 8-1 win over the California Golden Seals on December 30, 1973.
 * John Bucyk had a 4 goal game during the 6-4 win over the New York Islanders on January 5, 1974.
 * Ken Hodge during the 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 3, 1974.
 * John Bucyk during the 9-6 win over California on February 9, 1974.
 * Phil Esposito during the 5-5 tie with the Minnesota North Stars on February 20, 1974.
 * Wayne Cashman during the 8-0 win over the St. Louis Blues on March 6, 1974.
 * Bobby Orr during the 7-0 win over St. Louis on March 21, 1974.
 * John Bucyk during the 8-6 win over the Chicago Black Hawks, Game 2 of the 1974 Semi-finals, April 21, 1974.

Video
Ten minutes of highlights of the Bruins-North Stars game on February 20, 1974.