# 1977–78 New York Rangers season

The 1977–78 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 52nd season. The Rangers slipped to last in the Patrick but qualified for the playoffs by having one of the top twelve records in the league. The Rangers lost in the first round of the playoffs.

## Offseason

The Rangers hired Jean-Guy Talbot as their new head coach. It would be his only season as head coach of the Rangers.

## Regular season
### Season standings

Patrick Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| New York Islanders | 80 | 48 | 17 | 15 | 334 | 210 | 111 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 45 | 20 | 15 | 296 | 200 | 105 |
| Atlanta Flames | 80 | 34 | 27 | 19 | 274 | 252 | 87 |
| New York Rangers | 80 | 30 | 37 | 13 | 279 | 280 | 73 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents

Patrick Division record vs. opponents :
Vs. Campbell Conference
Vs. Wales Conference
Vs. Patrick Division
1977–78 NHL records
Team
ATL
NYI
NYR
PHI
Total
Atlanta
—1–2–36–01–4–18–6–4
N.Y. Islanders
2–1–3—4–22–1–38–4–6
N.Y. Rangers
0–62–4—0–4–22–14–2
Philadelphia
4–1–11–2–34–0–2—9–3–6
Vs. Smythe Division
1977–78 NHL records
Team
CHI
COL
MIN
STL
VAN
Total
Atlanta
1–2–22–1–24–14–0–12–1–213–5–7
N.Y. Islanders
2–1–24–0–14–14–0–15–019–2–4
N.Y. Rangers
3–1–12–2–13–0–24–0–14–116–4–5
Philadelphia
2–2–13–23–24–15–017–7–1
Vs. Adams Division
1977–78 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
CLE
TOR
Total
Atlanta
1–2–11–2–12–1–13–27–7–3
N.Y. Islanders
3–12–31–1–23–19–6–2
N.Y. Rangers
1–41–2–13–11–36–10–1
Philadelphia
2–1–10–3–14–0–11–37–7–3
Vs. Norris Division
1977–78 NHL records
Team
DET
LAK
MTL
PIT
WSH
Total
Atlanta
1–2–11–2–10–2–23–11–2–16–9–5
N.Y. Islanders
4–02–0–20–42–1–14–012–5–3
N.Y. Rangers
2–1–11–31–30–2–22–0–26–9–5
Philadelphia
2–1–13–0–10–2–23–0–14–012–3–5 :

## Schedule and results

1977–78 Game Log :
October: 4–5–1 (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 1–3–0)
GameOctoberOpponentScoreRecord
112Vancouver Canucks6–31–0–0
215@ Montreal Canadiens5–01–1–0
316New York Islanders4–22–1–0
419Pittsburgh Penguins3–32–1–1
522@ New York Islanders7–22–2–1
623Montreal Canadiens6–22–3–1
725@ Cleveland Barons5–03–3–1
826St. Louis Blues6–24–3–1
929@ Atlanta Flames4–34–4–1
1030Los Angeles Kings5–34–5–1 :
November: 5–7–1 (Home: 3–2–0; Road: 2–5–1)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreRecord
112@ Colorado Rockies6–24–6–1
124@ Vancouver Canucks5–15–6–1
135@ Los Angeles Kings3–15–7–1
149Buffalo Sabres8–46–7–1
1512@ Detroit Red Wings3–16–8–1
1613Atlanta Flames5–26–9–1
1716Chicago Black Hawks5–27–9–1
1819@ Pittsburgh Penguins5–57–9–2
1920Vancouver Canucks3–07–10–2
2023Colorado Rockies6–38–10–2
2126@ Boston Bruins3–28–11–2
2227@ Buffalo Sabres3–28–12–2
2330@ St. Louis Blues4–09–12–2 :
December: 3–4–7 (Home: 2–2–4; Road: 1–2–3)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreRecord
243@ Minnesota North Stars4–010–12–2
254Minnesota North Stars4–410–12–3
267Philadelphia Flyers3–310–12–4
278@ Philadelphia Flyers7–410–13–4
2811Boston Bruins8–210–14–4
2914@ Chicago Black Hawks2–210–14–5
3015@ Detroit Red Wings5–510–14–6
3117@ Cleveland Barons4–210–15–6
3218Detroit Red Wings6–211–15–6
3321Washington Capitals5–511–15–7
3423Cleveland Barons5–412–15–7
3528Philadelphia Flyers4–312–16–7
3630@ Washington Capitals3–312–16–8
3731Buffalo Sabres2–212–16–9 :
January: 4–8–0 (Home: 0–3–0; Road: 4–5–0)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreRecord
384@ Minnesota North Stars5–313–16–9
397@ Colorado Rockies3–113–17–9
409Pittsburgh Penguins5–313–18–9
4110@ Boston Bruins3–214–18–9
4214@ Philadelphia Flyers4–114–19–9
4317@ Vancouver Canucks5–415–19–9
4418@ Los Angeles Kings3–016–19–9
4520@ Atlanta Flames5–316–20–9
4622@ Pittsburgh Penguins3–116–21–9
4725Toronto Maple Leafs4–316–22–9
4828@ New York Islanders6–216–23–9
4929Los Angeles Kings4–116–24–9 :
February: 5–6–2 (Home: 4–3–1; Road: 1–3–1)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreRecord
501New York Islanders7–616–25–9
514@ St. Louis Blues2–216–25–10
525Colorado Rockies6–317–25–10
538Minnesota North Stars3–018–25–10
549@ Buffalo Sabres2–018–26–10
5511@ Toronto Maple Leafs3–218–27–10
5612Montreal Canadiens5–318–28–10
5715Vancouver Canucks6–319–28–10
5819Colorado Rockies4–419–28–11
5922@ Chicago Black Hawks3–219–29–11
6023Chicago Black Hawks6–220–29–11
6125@ Montreal Canadiens6–321–29–11
6227Atlanta Flames5–321–30–11 :
March: 8–2–2 (Home: 5–2–1; Road: 3–0–1)
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
631Detroit Red Wings3–222–30–11
645Toronto Maple Leafs4–122–31–11
658Cleveland Barons6–123–31–11
6612Washington Capitals8–224–31–11
6715Philadelphia Flyers2–224–31–12
6818Boston Bruins6–324–32–12
6919@ Minnesota North Stars7–724–32–13
7022@ St. Louis Blues6–125–32–13
7124@ Washington Capitals11–426–32–13
7225@ Toronto Maple Leafs5–227–32–13
7327St. Louis Blues5–228–32–13
7429New York Islanders5–129–32–13 :
April: 1–5–0 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 0–4–0)
GameAprilOpponentScoreRecord
751@ Atlanta Flames6–029–33–13
762@ Boston Bruins8–329–34–13
775Atlanta Flames4–229–35–13
786@ Philadelphia Flyers3–029–36–13
798@ New York Islanders7–229–37–13
809Chicago Black Hawks3–230–37–13 :

## Playoffs

Key: Win Loss
1978 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Phil Esposito | 79 | 38 | 43 | 81 | 53 |
| Pat Hickey | 80 | 40 | 33 | 73 | 47 |
| Ron Greschner | 78 | 24 | 48 | 72 | 100 |
| Walt Tkaczuk | 80 | 26 | 40 | 66 | 30 |
| Steve Vickers | 79 | 19 | 44 | 63 | 30 |
| Don Murdoch | 66 | 27 | 28 | 55 | 41 |
| Carol Vadnais | 80 | 6 | 40 | 46 | 115 |
| Ron Duguay | 71 | 20 | 20 | 40 | 43 |
| Lucien DeBlois | 71 | 22 | 8 | 30 | 27 |
| Ed Johnstone | 53 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 44 |
| Greg Polis | 37 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 12 |
| Dave Maloney | 56 | 2 | 19 | 21 | 63 |
| Mike McEwen | 57 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 52 |
| Wayne Dillon | 59 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 15 |
| Dan Newman | 59 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 22 |
| Mark Heaslip | 29 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 34 |
| Don Awrey | 78 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 38 |
| Rod Gilbert | 19 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
| Nick Fotiu | 59 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 105 |
| Dave Farrish | 66 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 62 |
| Ken Hodge | 18 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Dallas Smith | 29 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 23 |
| Jerry Byers | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Mario Marois | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Bill Goldsworthy | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Mike Keating | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bud Stefanski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Hickey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Holst | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Benoit Gosselin | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Don Murdoch | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Steve Vickers | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Ron Duguay | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Carol Vadnais | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| Walt Tkaczuk | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Pat Hickey | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Dallas Smith | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Wayne Dillon | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Phil Esposito | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Mario Marois | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Dave Farrish | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Fotiu | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Don Awrey | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Mark Heaslip | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan Newman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Dave Maloney | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Lucien DeBlois | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ron Greschner | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Wayne Thomas | 41 | 2352 | 12 | 20 | 7 | 141 | 3.60 | 4 |
| John Davidson | 34 | 1848 | 14 | 13 | 4 | 98 | 3.18 | 1 |
| Doug Soetaert | 6 | 360 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 3.33 | 0 |
| Hardy Astrom | 4 | 240 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 3.50 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| John Davidson | 2 | 122 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3.44 | 0 |
| Wayne Thomas | 1 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4.00 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only. $^‡$Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
    Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
    Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

## Awards and records

* Phil Esposito, Lester Patrick Trophy

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1977 NHL amateur draft in Montreal, Canada.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 8 | Lucien DeBlois | RW | Canada | Sorel Black Hawks (QMJHL) |
| 1 | 13 | Ron Duguay | C | Canada | Sudbury Wolves (OHA) |
| 2 | 26 | Mike Keating | LW | Canada | St. Catharines Fincups (OHA) |
| 3 | 44 | Steve Baker | G | United States | Union College (NCAA) |
| 4 | 62 | Mario Marois | D | Canada | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 80 | Benoit Gosselin | LW | Canada | Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 98 | John Bethel | LW | Canada | Boston University (NCAA) |
| 7 | 116 | Bob Sullivan | LW | Canada | Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) |
| 8 | 131 | Lance Nethery | C | Canada | Cornell University (NCAA) |
| 9 | 146 | Alex Jeans | C | Canada | University of Toronto (CIAU) |
| 10 | 157 | Pete Raps | LW | Canada | Western Michigan University (NCAA) |
| 11 | 164 | Mike Brown | RW | United States | Western Michigan University (NCAA) |
| 12 | 171 | Mark Miller | LW | Canada | University of Michigan (NCAA) |