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78-79NYR
1978–79 New York Rangers
Division 3rd Patrick
Conference 3rd Campbell
1978–79 record 40–29–11
Goals for 316
Goals against 292
Team information
General manager Fred Shero
Coach Fred Shero
Captain Dave Maloney
Arena Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals Phil Esposito (42)
Assists Anders Hedberg (46)
Points Anders Hedberg (79)
Penalty minutes Nick Fotiu (190)
Wins John Davidson (20)
Goals against average John Davidson (3.52)

The 1978–79 New York Rangers season was the 53rd season for the team in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Rangers finished 3rd in the Patrick Division and lost in the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals to the Montreal Canadiens 4 games to 1.

Off-season[]

The Rangers fired their general manager, John Ferguson, and replaced him with Emile Francis. Jean-Guy Talbot was replaced by former Philadelphia Flyers and two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Fred Shero.

The Rangers chose Don Maloney with their first pick, in the second-round, 26th over-all. Maloney was the younger brother of Dave Maloney, a defenceman with the Rangers. Don Maloney played 28 games for the Rangers during the season.

Regular Season[]

Final Standings[]

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

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 T October 12, 1978 3–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 0–0–1
2 W October 15, 1978 4–1 Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 1–0–1
3 T October 18, 1978 3–3 Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 1–0–2
4 T October 19, 1978 2–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 1–0–3
5 L October 21, 1978 3–5 @ New York Islanders (1978–79) 1–1–3
6 W October 22, 1978 5–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 2–1–3
7 W October 25, 1978 6–2 Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 3–1–3
8 W October 28, 1978 2–1 @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 4–1–3
9 W October 29, 1978 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 5–1–3
10 W November 2, 1978 3–0 @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 6–1–3
11 W November 4, 1978 7–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 7–1–3
12 W November 5, 1978 5–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 8–1–3
13 L November 8, 1978 3–5 Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 8–2–3
14 W November 11, 1978 2–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 9–2–3
15 L November 12, 1978 3–5 New York Islanders (1978–79) 9–3–3
16 W November 15, 1978 8–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 10–3–3
17 W November 18, 1978 7–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 11–3–3
18 L November 19, 1978 1–3 Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 11–4–3
19 T November 22, 1978 3–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 11–4–4
20 W November 26, 1978 9–4 Washington Capitals (1978–79) 12–4–4
21 W November 29, 1978 5–3 @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 13–4–4
22 L December 2, 1978 2–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 13–5–4
23 L December 3, 1978 2–3 Boston Bruins (1978–79) 13–6–4
24 W December 6, 1978 7–4 St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 14–6–4
25 W December 7, 1978 5–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 15–6–4
26 L December 9, 1978 4–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 15–7–4
27 L December 10, 1978 0–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 15–8–4
28 W December 13, 1978 8–7 Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 16–8–4
29 L December 16, 1978 1–4 @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) 16–9–4
30 L December 17, 1978 1–4 Boston Bruins (1978–79) 16–10–4
31 W December 20, 1978 6–3 Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 17–10–4
32 W December 22, 1978 4–2 Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 18–10–4
33 L December 23, 1978 4–9 @ New York Islanders (1978–79) 18–11–4
34 W December 26, 1978 5–3 @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 19–11–4
35 L December 28, 1978 5–6 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 19–12–4
36 W December 30, 1978 5–4 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 20–12–4
37 L December 31, 1978 5–6 Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 20–13–4
38 W January 3, 1979 6–2 Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 21–13–4
39 W January 5, 1979 6–4 Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 22–13–4
40 W January 9, 1979 5–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 23–13–4
41 W January 10, 1979 5–3 @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 24–13–4
42 W January 14, 1979 6–4 @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 25–13–4
43 L January 15, 1979 1–8 Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 25–14–4
44 W January 17, 1979 5–3 New York Islanders (1978–79) 26–14–4
45 L January 20, 1979 2–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 26–15–4
46 T January 21, 1979 5–5 Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 26–15–5
47 L January 24, 1979 1–5 @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) 26–16–5
48 W January 25, 1979 5–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 27–16–5
49 W January 27, 1979 7–2 @ New York Islanders (1978–79) 28–16–5
50 W January 30, 1979 5–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 29–16–5
51 L January 31, 1979 4–5 @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 29–17–5
52 L February 3, 1979 2–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 29–18–5
53 W February 14, 1979 5–1 Boston Bruins (1978–79) 30–18–5
54 L February 15, 1979 3–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 30–19–5
55 W February 17, 1979 4–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 31–19–5
56 T February 18, 1979 6–6 Washington Capitals (1978–79) 31–19–6
57 W February 21, 1979 7–3 St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 32–19–6
58 W February 24, 1979 4–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 33–19–6
59 W February 25, 1979 3–2 New York Islanders (1978–79) 34–19–6
60 L February 27, 1979 1–4 @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 34–20–6
61 T February 28, 1979 4–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 34–20–7
62 T March 3, 1979 2–2 Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 34–20–8
63 L March 4, 1979 2–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 34–21–8
64 W March 7, 1979 5–3 Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 35–21–8
65 W March 10, 1979 6–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 36–21–8
66 W March 11, 1979 5–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 37–21–8
67 L March 14, 1979 4–6 Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 37–22–8
68 W March 15, 1979 7–4 @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) 38–22–8
69 L March 17, 1979 2–5 @ New York Islanders (1978–79) 38–23–8
70 L March 18, 1979 1–5 Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 38–24–8
71 T March 20, 1979 2–2 @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) 38–24–9
72 W March 21, 1979 7–6 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 39–24–9
73 L March 25, 1979 0–1 Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 39–25–9
74 T March 27, 1979 4–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 39–25–10
75 L March 28, 1979 1–7 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 39–26–10
76 L April 1, 1979 3–7 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 39–27–10
77 W April 2, 1979 5–4 Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 40–27–10
78 T April 4, 1979 3–3 Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 40–27–11
79 L April 6, 1979 2–9 @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 40–28–11
80 L April 8, 1979 2–5 New York Islanders (1978–79) 40–29–11

Playoffs[]

New York Rangers 2, Los Angeles Kings 0[]

The Rangers qualified with the fifth-best record in the league and played the Los Angeles Kings in the first round, winning 2–0.

New York Rangers 4, Philadelphia Flyers 1[]

The Rangers then took on Fred Shero's old team the Philadelphia Flyers in the Quarter-finals, winning 4–1.

New York Rangers 4, New York Islanders 2[]

The Rangers then played their cross-town rival New York Islanders in the Semi-finals, winning 4–2 to qualify for the Stanley Cup Final against the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal Canadiens 4, New York Rangers 1[]

The Canadiens won the Cup in five games and for the first time since 1968, won it on home ice. After the game Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer and Ken Dryden retired. Coach Scotty Bowman would leave the Canadiens to join the Buffalo Sabres.
Date Visitors 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

Player Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Esposito, PhilPhil Esposito C 80 42 36 78 37 -1 14 0 7
Hedberg, AndersAnders Hedberg RW 80 33 45 78 33 19 6 0 5
Hickey, PatPat Hickey LW 80 34 41 75 56 8 8 0 1
Nilsson, UlfUlf Nilsson C 59 27 39 66 21 17 8 2 5
Duguay, RonRon Duguay C/RW 79 27 36 63 35 10 1 2 3
McEwen, MikeMike McEwen D 80 20 38 58 35 10 7 0 4
Greschner, RonRon Greschner D 60 17 36 53 66 0 8 0 1
Vickers, SteveSteve Vickers LW 66 13 34 47 24 -7 4 0 3
Vadnais, CarolCarol Vadnais D 77 8 37 45 86 14 4 1 1
Tkaczuk, WaltWalt Tkaczuk C 77 15 27 42 38 20 4 0 0
Murdoch, DonDon Murdoch RW 40 15 22 37 6 -6 4 0 2
Plante, PierrePierre Plante RW 70 6 25 31 37 11 0 0 1
Marois, MarioMario Marois D 71 5 26 31 153 18 1 0 0
Talafous, DeanDean Talafous RW 68 13 16 29 29 5 2 2 3
DeBlois, LucienLucien DeBlois C 62 11 17 28 26 -10 0 0 1
Maloney, DaveDave Maloney D 76 11 17 28 151 17 1 2 1
Maloney, DonDon Maloney LW 28 9 17 26 39 4 3 0 0
Farrish, DaveDave Farrish D 71 1 19 20 61 -3 0 0 1
Johnstone, EddieEddie Johnstone RW 30 5 3 8 27 -5 0 0 0
Fotiu, NickNick Fotiu LW 71 3 5 8 190 3 0 0 1
Polis, GregGreg Polis LW 6 1 1 2 8 1 0 0 0
Clark, DanDan Clark D 4 0 1 1 6 1 0 0 0
Korney, MikeMike Korney RW 18 0 1 1 18 4 0 0 0
Bothwell, TimTim Bothwell D 1 0 0 0 2 -1 0 0 0
Turner, DeanDean Turner D 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
McDougal, MikeMike McDougal RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Beaton, FrankFrank Beaton LW 2 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Dore, AndreAndre Dore D 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Soetaert, DougDoug Soetaert G 17 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
Thomas, WayneWayne Thomas G 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Davidson, JohnJohn Davidson G 39 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Davidson, JohnJohn Davidson 2232 39 20 12 5 131 3.52 0
Thomas, WayneWayne Thomas 1668 31 15 10 3 101 3.63 1
Soetaert, DougDoug Soetaert 900 17 5 7 3 57 3.80 0
Team: 4800 80 40 29 11 289 3.61 1

Playoffs[]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Esposito, PhilPhil Esposito C 18 8 12 20 20 2 0 2
Maloney, DonDon Maloney LW 18 7 13 20 19 0 0 1
McEwen, MikeMike McEwen D 18 2 11 13 8 2 0 1
Greschner, RonRon Greschner D 18 7 5 12 16 4 1 3
Murdoch, DonDon Murdoch RW 18 7 5 12 12 3 0 1
Tkaczuk, WaltWalt Tkaczuk C 18 4 7 11 10 0 1 0
Vadnais, CarolCarol Vadnais D 18 2 9 11 13 0 0 0
Duguay, RonRon Duguay C/RW 18 5 4 9 11 0 1 0
Hedberg, AndersAnders Hedberg RW 18 4 5 9 12 0 1 1
Vickers, SteveSteve Vickers LW 18 5 3 8 13 1 0 1
Hickey, PatPat Hickey LW 18 1 7 8 6 0 0 0
Sheehan, BobbyBobby Sheehan C 15 4 3 7 8 1 0 0
Maloney, DaveDave Maloney D 17 3 4 7 45 0 1 0
Marois, MarioMario Marois D 18 0 6 6 29 0 0 0
Plante, PierrePierre Plante RW 18 0 6 6 20 0 0 0
Johnstone, EddieEddie Johnstone RW 17 5 0 5 10 0 1 1
DeBlois, LucienLucien DeBlois C 9 2 0 2 4 1 0 0
Farrish, DaveDave Farrish D 7 0 2 2 14 0 0 0
Nilsson, UlfUlf Nilsson C 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Fotiu, NickNick Fotiu LW 4 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
Davidson, JohnJohn Davidson G 18 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Davidson, JohnJohn Davidson 1106 18 11 7 42 2.28 1
Team: 1106 18 11 7 42 2.28 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[]

See also: 1978 NHL Entry Draft
Round # Player Nationality College/junior/club team
2 26 Don Maloney (L) Flag of Canada Canada Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
3 43 Ray Markham (C) Flag of Canada Canada Flin-Flon Bombers (WCHL)
3 44 Dean Turner (D) Flag of the United States United States University of Michigan (NCAA)
4 59 Dave Silk (R) Flag of the United States United States Boston University (NCAA)
4 60 Andre Dore (D) Flag of Canada Canada Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)

References[]

  1. 1978-79 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)
This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1978–79 New York Rangers season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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