1971–72 New York Rangers season



The 1971–72 New York Rangers season was the 46th season for the team in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Rangers finished 2nd in the East Division and made its first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final since 1950 but lost in six games to the Boston Bruins.

Regular Season
The Bruins started 1972 with three straight wins beginning with the Rangers on January 2. Derek Sanderson scored the winner on a great play by Mike Walton and Gerry Cheevers was brilliant as the Bruins were out shot 41-18 but prevailed 4-1. Cheevers made a rush with the puck past the blueline and fed John Bucyk a breakaway pass on which he scored to make it 5-1. However, the goal was called back on a delayed penalty after Cheevers ran into Ted Irvine and cuffed him on the head with his glove.

On March 23, the Rangers visited Boston in a must-win game if they were to catch the first place Bruins. The game was hard fought and with the Bruins up 1-0 in the second period, Phil Esposito was ejected from the game for being the third man in on a Brad Park-John McKenzie fight. Ted Irvine tied it up heading into the third period. Missing Esposito and Wayne Cashman (who didn't dress), the Bruins second line took over. John Bucyk scored the winner before Fred Stanfield set up Carol Vadnais for an insurance goal. Bobby Orr scored a late short handed goal on a 200 foot shot into an empty net as the Bruins won 4-1.

Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield, and Rod Gilbert ranked third, fourth and fifth overall in league scoring.

New York Rangers 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0
The series opened up with two games at Chicago Stadium, however, it was the Rangers who struck first, defeating the Hawks 3-2, then taking the second game in Chicago by a score of 5-3 to take an early 2-0 series lead. Chicago could not get themselves back in the series, as New York won the third game 3-2, and the Rangers completed the sweep of the Black Hawks with a 6-2 thumping in the fourth game.

Boston Bruins 4, New York Rangers 2
The Bruins and Rangers last met in the 1970 Quarter-finals where the Bruins won the hard fought series in six games. The 1972 Stanley Cup Finals would also be won by Boston in six games. Boston's goaltenders Gerry Cheevers and Eddie Johnston both played three games as did New York's Eddie Giacomin and Gilles Villemure. Jean Ratelle rushed his return from injury to play in the Finals but came back too early. A dominant player during the regular season, who despite missing the last month still finished third in scoring, he recorded just one assist in the series. The regular season's top goal scorer, Phil Esposito, didn't score in the Finals but contributed nine assists while Ken Hodge had 5 goals and 8 points. Bobby Orr scored the Cup winning goal, but not in as dramatic a fashion as in 1970. He also won the Conn Smythe Trophy and was tied with Esposito for most points in the playoffs with 24.

Game 1 at the Boston Garden saw Gerry Cheevers start in net for the Bruins and Eddie Giacomin for the Rangers. Dale Rolfe opened the scoring at 3:52 of the first period with a slapshot that beat Cheevers low to the glove side. Less than two minutes later, John McKenzie rushed into the Rangers zone and criss-crossed with Fred Stanfield who scored low to Giacomin's stick side. The Bruins then scored four straight goals. Ken Hodge put in a rebound from a Don Awrey shot at 15:48 to make it 2-1. With Awrey off for elbowing, Ed Westfall picked off a Vic Hadfield pass and sent Derek Sanderson in. Sanderson deked Bobby Rousseau and roofed a shorthanded goal over Giacomin's shoulder at 17:29. Still on the penalty kill, Ken Hodge blasted a slapshot home to make it 4-1 Boston. At 10:46 of the second period, Hodge completed a Hat trick by one-timing a Phil Esposito shot that bounced off the boards for a 5-1 lead. Rod Gilbert made it 5-2 on the power play, firing in a shot from a Hadfield rebound. At 1:56 of the third period, on the power play, Hadfield's low shot beat Cheevers to the glove side. Walt Tkaczuk scored off a face-off at 7:48 to make it 5-4. At 9:17, Awrey lost control of the puck circling the Bruins net and Bruce MacGregor completed the Rangers comeback. However, at 17:44, Garnet Bailey beat Brad Park to the outside and backhanded the winning goal over Giacomin's shoulder for a 6-5 Boston win.

Game 2 at Boston saw Ed Johnston and Gilles Villemure start in net and the game was a goaltenders duel. John Bucyk opened the scoring at 16:15 of the first period on the power play after Bobby Orr spun away from Bruce MacGregor and fed Bucyk a perfect pass to the left of Villemure. In the second period, Vic Hadfield stripped Ed Westfall of the puck at the Bruins blueline and sent Jim Neilson and Rod Gilbert in on a 2 on 1. Gilbert slipped Neilson's pass between Johnston's pads to tie the score at 7:23. In the third period at nearly the halfway mark, MacGregor was sent off for tripping. Phil Esposito won a face-off in the Rangers zone back to Mike Walton who raced down the left wing and sent a perfect pass to Ken Hodge who tipped in the game winner. The Rangers couldn't convert on a power play of their own with less than five minutes left and the game ended a 2-1 Bruins victory.

Game 3 at Madison Square Garden saw the teams switch back to the Game 1 starters, Cheevers and Giacomin. Special teams would see the Rangers to their first victory in the series. After Dallas Smith took a penalty 12 seconds into the game, Brad Park scored with the man advantage. New York then killed off three consecutive penalties before scoring two more power play goals, by Rod Gilbert and Park again. Mike Walton countered at 14:14 to make it 3-1 Rangers going into the second period. Bobby Orr scored at 1:10 to cut the Rangers lead to 3-2 but goals by Rod Gilbert and Pete Stemkowski put the game out of reach. A scoreless third period saw the Rangers cruise to a 5-2 win and cut the Bruins series lead to two games to one.

Game 4 at New York had Johnston back in net for the Bruins while Giacomin remained in for the Rangers. It was a fight-filled match with eight in the first period alone. Orr dominated this game and opened the scoring at 5:26 of the first period as he took a Mike Walton pass while in full flight, split the Rangers defense and fired a shot over Giacomin's shoulder for a 1-0 Bruins lead. Less than three minutes later on the power play, John McKenzie fished the puck out of a goal mouth scramble and sent it back to Orr who one-timed a low slapshot in to make it 2-0 Boston. At 16:55, a melee broke out that included Orr and Brad Park exchanging blows. In the second period, with Mike Walton in the penalty box, Don Marcotte executed a perfect give-and-go with Orr which Marcotte finished off with a backhand over Giacomin for a 3-0 score. Ted Irvine cut the lead to 3-1 at 18:38, beating Johnston to the stick side on a breakaway. The teams calmed down in the third period and defensive play reigned. With less than two minutes left, Rod Seiling scored on the power play but the Rangers couldn't mark another and the Bruins took a three games to one hold on the series with a 3-2 win.

Game 5 at Boston saw Johnston start his second straight game of the Finals while Villemure was back in the nets for the Rangers. Wayne Cashman scored his first of the series as he found the puck in a goalmouth scramble and backhanded it between Villemure's legs at 3:55. Dale Rolfe tied it up at 13:45 off a Walt Tkaczuk rebound. Rolfe took an interference penalty less than a minute later. Phil Esposito dug the puck out of the corner and sent a no-look backhand pass to Fred Stanfield in the slot. Villemure stopped Stanfield's shot but Ken Hodge put in the rebound to make it 2-1 Boston on the power play. Despite five power plays in the second period, including a lengthy 5 on 3 for Boston, neither team scored, though Brad Park hit the crossbar on a breakaway. At 2:56 of the third period, Bobby Rousseau tied the game up with a low slapshot that went between Johnston's pads. At 12:45, Rousseau took a short pass from Ted Irvine and fired a high shot over Johnston's glove. The Bruins pressed furiously but couldn't even the score. Villemure was excellent, stopping 17 shots in the third period. The Bruins out shot the Rangers 38-26 but New York prevailed 3-2.

Game 6 at New York had Cheevers back in goal for Boston, while the Rangers stuck with Villemure. The first period was penalty-filled and at 10:25 on the power play, Bobby Orr took a Ken Hodge pass at the point. He spun away from the check of Bruce MacGregor and fired a low shot that beat Villemure to the stick side. Ken Hodge and Vic Hadfield fought minutes later and then an altercation between Wayne Cashman and Gary Doak resulted in Orr receiving a misconduct penalty and missing the rest of the period. The second period was scoreless but continued to be rough as Derek Sanderson and Rod Gilbert fought before Cashman and Walt Tkaczuk duked it out. With so much at stake, the teams played a clean third period and the Rangers took only one penalty, but it proved fatal. At 5:10, Wayne Cashman tipped in an Orr point shot on the power play to make it 2-0 Bruins. The Rangers pressed and out shot the Bruins 33-27 in the game but Cheevers was unbeatable. Cashman sealed the win on a two on one with Esposito, as his shot trickled between Villemure's pads into the net. Cheevers earned the shutout in Boston's 3-0 victory and Bobby Orr became the first player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy twice as playoff MVP.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Awards and Records

 * Lester B. Pearson Award: Jean Ratelle
 * Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Jean Ratelle
 * Brad Park, Defense, NHL First Team All-Star
 * Jean Ratelle, Center, NHL Second Team All-Star
 * Vic Hadfield, Left Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star

Video
Nearly 19 minutes of highlights of Game 3 of the Rangers-Black Hawks Semi-finals, April 20, 1972.