1973-74 NHL season

The 1973-74 NHL season was the 57th season of the National Hockey League. Sixteen teams each played 78 games. A new award, the Jack Adams for the best coach, was introduced for this season. The first winner was Fred Shero of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Regular Season
Bobby Orr continued as the dominant defenseman of his era, finishing second in league scoring with 122 points and leading the league in assist with 90. He 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.

The Philadelphia Flyers who developed the nick-name "Broad Street Bullies" because of their physical style of play, de-throned the Chicago Black Hawks as the West Division champions and the Boston Bruins regained the top spot in the East, winning their 13th Prince of Wales Trophy, and the league. 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 season). 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.

Scoring Leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Leading Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

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 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
Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Boston Bruins 4 games to 2, winning the cup with a Game 6 1-0 victory. In doing so, the Flyers became the first expansion team to win the Cup in the post-Original Six era.



Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1973-74 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
 * Eric Vail, Atlanta Flames
 * Tom Lysiak, Atlanta Flames
 * Peter McNab, Buffalo Sabres
 * Darcy Rota, Chicago Black Hawks
 * Blake Dunlop, Minnesota North Stars
 * Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens
 * Michel Larocque, Montreal Canadiens
 * Denis Potvin, New York Islanders
 * Chico Resch, New York Islanders
 * Dave Lewis, New York Islanders
 * Al MacAdam, Philadelphia Flyers
 * Blaine Stoughton, Pittsburgh Penguins
 * John Davidson, St. Louis Blues
 * Inge Hammarstrom, Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Borje Salming, Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Lanny McDonald, Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Bob Dailey, Vancouver Canucks
 * Dennis Ververgaert, Vancouver Canucks

Last Games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1973-74 (listed with their last team):
 * Tim Horton, Buffalo Sabres
 * Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings
 * Dean Prentice, Minnesota North Stars
 * Gump Worsley, Minnesota North Stars
 * Frank Mahovlich, Montreal Canadiens
 * Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens
 * Barry Ashbee, Philadelphia Flyers
 * Orland Kurtenbach, Vancouver Canucks

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