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72-73NYRan
1972–73 New York Rangers
Division 3rd East
1972–73 record 47–23–8
Goals for 297
Goals against 208
Team information
General manager Emile Francis
Coach Emile Francis
Captain Vic Hadfield
Arena Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals Jean Ratelle (41)
Assists Rod Gilbert (59)
Points Jean Ratelle (94)
Penalty minutes Dale Rolfe (74)
Wins Ed Giacomin (26)
Goals against average Peter McDuffe (1.00)

The 1972–73 New York Rangers season was the 47th season for the team in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Rangers finished 3rd in the East Division and lost in the Semi-finals to the Chicago Black Hawks 4 games to 1.

Off-season[]

Regular Season[]

Final Standings[]

East Division
Team GP W L T GF GA PIM PTS
Montreal Canadiens 78 52 10 16 329 184 783 120
Boston Bruins 78 51 22 5 330 235 1097 107
New York Rangers 78 47 23 8 297 208 765 102
Buffalo Sabres 78 37 27 14 257 219 940 88
Detroit Red Wings 78 37 29 12 265 243 893 86
Toronto Maple Leafs 78 27 41 10 247 279 716 64
Vancouver Canucks 78 22 47 9 233 339 943 53
New York Islanders 78 12 60 6 170 347 881 30

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


Game Log[]

Regular Season Results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 L October 7, 1972 3–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 0–1–0
2 L October 8, 1972 1–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 0–2–0
3 W October 11, 1972 5–3 Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 1–2–0
4 L October 14, 1972 1–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 1–3–0
5 W October 15, 1972 6–2 Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 2–3–0
6 W October 18, 1972 7–1 Boston Bruins (1972–73) 3–3–0
7 W October 21, 1972 2–1 @ New York Islanders (1972–73) 4–3–0
8 T October 22, 1972 1–1 Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 4–3–1
9 W October 25, 1972 6–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 5–3–1
10 W October 29, 1972 7–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 6–3–1
11 W November 1, 1972 3–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 7–3–1
12 L November 4, 1972 4–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 7–4–1
13 W November 5, 1972 3–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 8–4–1
14 W November 8, 1972 5–2 Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 9–4–1
15 W November 11, 1972 7–2 California Golden Seals (1972–73) 10–4–1
16 W November 12, 1972 5–1 Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 11–4–1
17 W November 15, 1972 7–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 12–4–1
18 W November 18, 1972 3–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1972–73) 13–4–1
19 L November 19, 1972 3–5 Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 13–5–1
20 W November 21, 1972 3–1 @ Atlanta Flames (1972–73) 14–5–1
21 L November 23, 1972 3–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 14–6–1
22 W November 26, 1972 7–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 15–6–1
23 L November 28, 1972 1–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 15–7–1
24 T November 29, 1972 2–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 15–7–2
25 T December 1, 1972 3–3 @ California Golden Seals (1972–73) 15–7–3
26 W December 3, 1972 3–2 Atlanta Flames (1972–73) 16–7–3
27 L December 6, 1972 2–3 Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 16–8–3
28 W December 9, 1972 4–1 @ New York Islanders (1972–73) 17–8–3
29 W December 10, 1972 4–1 New York Islanders (1972–73) 18–8–3
30 W December 13, 1972 4–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 19–8–3
31 L December 14, 1972 2–4 @ Boston Bruins (1972–73) 19–9–3
32 L December 16, 1972 1–5 @ Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 19–10–3
33 W December 17, 1972 9–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 20–10–3
34 W December 20, 1972 5–4 @ St. Louis Blues (1972–73) 21–10–3
35 L December 21, 1972 2–5 Atlanta Flames (1972–73) 21–11–3
36 W December 24, 1972 5–0 Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 22–11–3
37 L December 27, 1972 1–4 Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 22–12–3
38 W December 31, 1972 6–1 St. Louis Blues (1972–73) 23–12–3
39 W January 3, 1973 3–0 Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 24–12–3
40 L January 6, 1973 1–4 Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 24–13–3
41 W January 7, 1973 3–0 Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 25–13–3
42 W January 11, 1973 4–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 26–13–3
43 W January 13, 1973 5–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1972–73) 27–13–3
44 W January 14, 1973 5–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 28–13–3
45 T January 17, 1973 4–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 28–13–4
46 W January 19, 1973 6–0 @ California Golden Seals (1972–73) 29–13–4
47 W January 20, 1973 4–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 30–13–4
48 W January 24, 1973 4–2 Boston Bruins (1972–73) 31–13–4
49 W January 27, 1973 6–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 32–13–4
50 W January 28, 1973 5–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 33–13–4
51 W January 31, 1973 3–1 California Golden Seals (1972–73) 34–13–4
52 W February 3, 1973 7–3 @ Boston Bruins (1972–73) 35–13–4
53 W February 4, 1973 6–0 Atlanta Flames (1972–73) 36–13–4
54 W February 7, 1973 6–0 New York Islanders (1972–73) 37–13–4
55 W February 10, 1973 6–0 @ New York Islanders (1972–73) 38–13–4
56 T February 11, 1973 2–2 Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 38–13–5
57 L February 14, 1973 3–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 38–14–5
58 L February 15, 1973 1–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1972–73) 38–15–5
59 W February 18, 1973 3–2 New York Islanders (1972–73) 39–15–5
60 W February 21, 1973 4–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1972–73) 40–15–5
61 L February 23, 1973 3–5 @ California Golden Seals (1972–73) 40–16–5
62 W February 25, 1973 6–5 Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 41–16–5
63 T February 28, 1973 3–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 41–16–6
64 W March 3, 1973 6–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 42–16–6
65 L March 4, 1973 3–4 Vancouver Canucks (1972–73) 42–17–6
66 T March 7, 1973 2–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1972–73) 42–17–7
67 W March 10, 1973 5–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–73) 43–17–7
68 W March 11, 1973 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 44–17–7
69 L March 14, 1973 2–4 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1972–73) 44–18–7
70 L March 17, 1973 5–7 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1972–73) 44–19–7
71 W March 18, 1973 3–1 St. Louis Blues (1972–73) 45–19–7
72 W March 20, 1973 6–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 46–19–7
73 W March 22, 1973 4–1 @ Atlanta Flames (1972–73) 47–19–7
74 L March 24, 1973 0–3 @ Boston Bruins (1972–73) 47–20–7
75 L March 25, 1973 1–2 Minnesota North Stars (1972–73) 47–21–7
76 L March 28, 1973 3–6 Boston Bruins (1972–73) 47–22–7
77 L March 31, 1973 1–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1972–73) 47–23–7
78 T April 1, 1973 3–3 Detroit Red Wings (1972–73) 47–23–8

Playoffs[]

New York Rangers 4, Boston Bruins 1[]

The teams met the year before in the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals where the Bruins prevailed in six games. Rangers coach Emile Francis had watched game films of the Bruins and noticed that Bobby Orr was favoring his knee. Instead of trying to keep the puck away from Orr when shooting the puck in Boston's zone, Francis instructed his players to put the puck in Orr's corner and then forecheck him aggressively. Although he had played well in his short time with the Bruins, goalie Jacques Plante didn't hold up in this series. He was replaced with Eddie Johnston and Ross Brooks but all were outplayed by the Rangers Eddie Giacomin.

1973-Apr4-Plante Orr Vickers

#8 Steve Vickers, Jacques Plante and Bobby Orr, 1973 Quarter-finals Game 1, April 4, 1973.

Game 1 at the Boston Garden saw Plante and Giacomin start in goal. The Bruins Doug Roberts and the Rangers Brad Park traded first period goals before Bruce MacGregor put New York up 2-1 at 7:25. The next shift, Ted Irvine targeted Orr and the two fought, both receiving seven penalty minutes. With Orr off, the Rangers scored three goals, Park with his second of the game and two goals from Walt Tkaczuk. With New York leading 5-1 heading into the third period, Pete Stemkowski and Derek Sanderson traded goals. Orr was held pointless as was Phil Esposito's line, which was badly outplayed by Tkaczuk's line, as the Rangers stunned the Bruins 6-2.

Espo torn ligaments-5Apr1973

Phil Esposito suffers torn right knee ligaments and is lost for the playoffs, 1973 Quarter-finals Game 2, April 5, 1973.

Game 2 at Boston again saw Plante and Giacomin start in goal. The teams traded goals in the first period with Wayne Cashman and Steve Vickers scoring. Phil Esposito assisted on Cashman's goal which would be his only point of the series. In the second period, disaster struck the Bruins after the Rangers Ron Harris caught Esposito with a hip check, tearing Esposito's right knee ligaments and putting him out of the series. The Bruins then took two penalties in quick succession which the Rangers Ted Irvine and Pete Stemkowski scored on. Doug Roberts scored his second of the series to cut the Rangers lead to 3-2 heading into the third period. With Roberts in the penalty box, Walt Tkaczuk scored his third of the series. Orr was again held scoreless as the Rangers won 4-2 and took a two games to none lead with the series heading to New York.

Sheppard GWG-10Apr1973

Gregg Sheppard scores the game winner, 1973 Quarter-finals Game 3, April 7, 1973.

Game 3 at Madison Square Garden saw Plante replaced by Eddie Johnston in net for the Bruins. Reaching the end of his brilliant career, Plante played his last NHL match in Game 2. Derek Sanderson took Phil Esposito's place centering Wayne Cashman and Ken Hodge. The changes sparked the Bruins, who took a 1-0 lead on a shorthanded goal by Gregg Sheppard. Pete Stemkowski tied it up just before the first period ended. Boston's second line scored its first goal of the series as Fred Stanfield put the Bruins up 2-1 at 3:13 of the second period. Jean Ratelle tied it up at 6:12 of the third period, deflecting in a Dale Rolfe shot. Just past the halfway mark, Sheppard intercepted a Steve Vickers pass and scored his second of the game on a breakaway which proved to be the winner. Mike Walton scored an empty net goal as the Bruins won 4-2 behind a stellar performance by Johnston, despite New York out shooting Boston 37-27. Bobby Orr didn't have a point for the third straight game.

Vickers goal-Game4-8Apr1973

Steve Vickers makes it 4-0, 1973 Quarter-finals Game 4, April 8, 1973.

Game 4 at New York saw Johnston start again for Boston while Giacomin remained in the net for the Rangers. New York scored early as Brad Park led a 3 on 1 which ended with a tap-in by Rod Gilbert at 2:35 of the first period. At 16:30, after the Bruins twice failed to clear the puck from their zone, a Bruce MacGregor shot caromed off the boards to Pete Stemkowski who knocked it in the short side on Johnston for a 2-0 Rangers lead. In the second period, Bobby Rousseau beat Johnston with a slapshot while on a partial breakaway before Don Marcotte overskated the puck which resulted in Steve Vickers gaining the puck alone in front of Johnston. He fired a low shot past Johnston for a 4-0 Rangers lead. The third period was scoreless, even though Boston twice had a two man advantage. Despite being outshot 33-25, a brilliant defensive effort saw the Rangers take a three games to one stranglehold on the series. Giacomin earned the shutout, the first by a Ranger goalie in the playoffs since Chuck Rayner had one in the 1950 Semi-finals.

Orr goal-Game5-10Apr1973

Bobby Orr scores, Game 5 of the 1973 Stanley Cup Quarter-finals, April 10, 1973.

Game 5 at Boston saw the desperate Bruins start Ross Brooks in goal for his only career playoff game while Giacomin started his fifth straight game. Steve Vickers scored on the first shift of the game but a little over a minute later, Bobby Orr evened the score with his only goal of the series. Ken Hodge gave Boston a 2-1 lead at 12:45 on the power play before Vickers and Bruce MacGregor scored two quick goals. Ed Johnston went in for Brooks to start the second period and held the Rangers at bay until the last minute when Walt Tkaczuk potted his fourth of the series. Rod Gilbert put New York up 5-2 at 4:10 of the third period until three minutes later, Don Marcotte cut the lead to 5-3. However, it was all the offense the Bruins could muster. Vickers completed his first career playoff hat trick as the Rangers won 6-3 and took the series.

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 April 4 New York Rangers 6-2 Boston Bruins 1-0
2 April 5 New York Rangers 4-2 Boston Bruins 2-0
3 April 7 Boston Bruins 4-2 New York Rangers 1-2
4 April 8 Boston Bruins 0-4 New York Rangers 1-3
5 April 10 New York Rangers 6-3 Boston Bruins 4-1

Chicago Black Hawks 4, New York Rangers 1[]

Player Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Ratelle, JeanJean Ratelle C 78 41 53 94 12 24 11 0 4
Gilbert, RodRod Gilbert RW 76 25 59 84 25 12 6 0 4
Tkaczuk, WaltWalt Tkaczuk C 76 27 39 66 59 35 6 1 7
Fairbairn, BillBill Fairbairn RW 78 30 33 63 23 36 5 2 5
Hadfield, VicVic Hadfield LW 63 28 34 62 60 13 9 0 4
Stemkowski, PetePete Stemkowski C 78 22 37 59 71 28 2 0 1
Vickers, SteveSteve Vickers LW 61 30 23 53 37 35 2 0 5
Park, BradBrad Park D 52 10 43 53 51 31 4 0 1
Rousseau, BobbyBobby Rousseau RW 78 8 37 45 14 1 2 0 3
Seiling, RodRod Seiling D 72 9 33 42 36 43 1 1 2
Rolfe, DaleDale Rolfe D 72 7 25 32 74 41 1 0 0
MacGregor, BruceBruce MacGregor C 52 14 12 26 12 14 0 0 4
Sather, GlenGlen Sather LW 77 11 15 26 64 16 1 1 2
Irvine, TedTed Irvine LW 53 8 12 20 54 4 1 0 1
Neilson, JimJim Neilson D 52 4 16 20 35 22 0 0 0
Carr, GeneGene Carr C 50 9 10 19 50 -4 1 0 1
DeMarco, AbAb DeMarco D 51 4 13 17 15 16 1 0 2
Harris, RonRon Harris D 46 3 10 13 17 2 1 0 0
Murphy, MikeMike Murphy RW 15 4 4 8 5 -5 0 0 1
Legge, RandyRandy Legge D 12 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
Giacomin, EdEd Giacomin G 43 0 2 2 6 0 0 0 0
Heindl, BillBill Heindl LW 4 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Butler, JerryJerry Butler RW 8 1 0 1 4 1 0 0 0
Sacharuk, LarryLarry Sacharuk D 8 1 0 1 0 -1 0 0 0
Kannegiesser, SheldonSheldon Kannegiesser D 3 0 1 1 4 3 0 0 0
Williams, TomTom Williams LW 8 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
Stewart, RonRon Stewart RW 11 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Bennett, CurtCurt Bennett LW 16 0 1 1 11 -2 0 0 0
Marshall, BertBert Marshall D 8 0 0 0 14 -3 0 0 0
McDuffe, PeterPeter McDuffe G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Villemure, GillesGilles Villemure G 34 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Giacomin, EdEd Giacomin 2580 43 26 11 6 125 2.91 4
Villemure, GillesGilles Villemure 2040 34 20 12 2 78 2.29 3
McDuffe, PeterPeter McDuffe 60 1 1 0 0 1 1.00 0
Team: 4680 78 47 23 8 204 2.62 7

Playoffs[]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Tkaczuk, WaltWalt Tkaczuk C 10 7 2 9 8 1 0 1
Vickers, SteveSteve Vickers LW 10 5 4 9 4 0 0 0
Ratelle, JeanJean Ratelle C 10 2 7 9 0 1 0 0
Fairbairn, BillBill Fairbairn RW 10 1 8 9 2 0 0 0
Park, BradBrad Park D 10 2 5 7 8 1 0 1
Gilbert, RodRod Gilbert RW 10 5 1 6 2 0 0 1
Stemkowski, PetePete Stemkowski C 10 4 2 6 6 1 0 1
Rousseau, BobbyBobby Rousseau RW 10 2 3 5 4 0 0 0
Rolfe, DaleDale Rolfe D 8 0 5 5 6 0 0 0
Hadfield, VicVic Hadfield LW 9 2 2 4 11 0 0 1
MacGregor, BruceBruce MacGregor C 10 2 2 4 2 0 0 0
Irvine, TedTed Irvine LW 10 1 3 4 20 1 0 0
Neilson, JimJim Neilson D 10 0 4 4 2 0 0 0
Harris, RonRon Harris D 10 0 3 3 2 0 0 0
Carr, GeneGene Carr C 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Marshall, BertBert Marshall D 6 0 1 1 8 0 0 0
Kannegiesser, SheldonSheldon Kannegiesser D 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Sather, GlenGlen Sather LW 9 0 0 0 7 0 0 0
Murphy, MikeMike Murphy RW 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Villemure, GillesGilles Villemure G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Giacomin, EdEd Giacomin G 10 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Giacomin, EdEd Giacomin 539 10 5 4 23 2.56 1
Villemure, GillesGilles Villemure 61 2 0 1 2 1.97 0
Team: 600 10 5 5 25 2.50 1

[1]

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[]

Transactions[]

Draft Picks[]

Farm Teams[]

Trivia[]

Gallery[]

See Also[]

References[]

  1. 1972-73 New York Rangers Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-15.
New York Rangers
Team FranchisePlayersCoachesGMsSeasonsRecordsDraft PicksHistory
Madison Square Garden
Stanley Cups 1928, 1933, 1940, 1994
Affiliates Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL), Maine Mariners (ECHL)
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