# 1973–74 New York Rangers season

The 1973–74 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 48th season. The Rangers compiled 94 points during the regular season and finished third in the East Division. The team made the Stanley Cup playoffs, where New York defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4–2 in the quarter-finals. The Rangers then lost in a seven-game semi-finals series to the Philadelphia Flyers, who went on to win the Stanley Cup that season.

## Offseason

* On July 27, 1973, E. Michael Burke handed in his resignation to the New York Yankees, so that he could become president of Madison Square Garden. This would make Burke the president of the New York Rangers hockey club and the New York Knicks basketball club.

## Regular season
### Final standings

East Division vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 78 | 52 | 17 | 9 | 349 | 221 | +128 | 113 |
| 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 45 | 24 | 9 | 293 | 240 | +53 | 99 |
| 3 | New York Rangers | 78 | 40 | 24 | 14 | 300 | 251 | +49 | 94 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 35 | 27 | 16 | 274 | 230 | +44 | 86 |
| 5 | Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 32 | 34 | 12 | 242 | 250 | −8 | 76 |
| 6 | Detroit Red Wings | 78 | 29 | 39 | 10 | 255 | 319 | −64 | 68 |
| 7 | Vancouver Canucks | 78 | 24 | 43 | 11 | 224 | 296 | −72 | 59 |
| 8 | New York Islanders | 78 | 19 | 41 | 18 | 182 | 247 | −65 | 56 |

### Record vs. opponents
## Schedule and results

1973–74 Game Log :
October: 3–4–2 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 1–2–1)
GameOctoberOpponentScoreRecord
110Detroit Red Wings4–11–0–0
213@ Pittsburgh Penguins8–22–0–0
314Los Angeles Kings1–12–0–1
417St. Louis Blues4–03–0–1
520@ Toronto Maple Leafs3–23–1–1
621Montreal Canadiens3–23–2–1
727@ New York Islanders3–23–3–1
828Pittsburgh Penguins7–23–4–1
930@ Vancouver Canucks3–33–4–2 :
November: 7–3–4 (Home: 5–0–2; Road: 2–3–2)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreRecord
101@ Los Angeles Kings2–13–5–2
114@ Chicago Black Hawks4–13–6–2
127Boston Bruins7–34–6–2
139@ Atlanta Flames3–34–6–3
1411New York Islanders5–25–6–3
1514Chicago Black Hawks4–45–6–4
1615@ Boston Bruins10–25–7–4
1717@ Minnesota North Stars6–36–7–4
1818Pittsburgh Penguins7–07–7–4
1921California Golden Seals3–08–7–4
2022@ Buffalo Sabres7–69–7–4
2124Los Angeles Kings5–59–7–5
2225Vancouver Canucks5–010–7–5
2329@ Philadelphia Flyers2–210–7–6 :
December: 7–4–3 (Home: 6–1–1; Road: 1–3–2)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreRecord
241@ St. Louis Blues4–410–7–7
252Toronto Maple Leafs6–411–7–7
265St. Louis Blues5–112–7–7
276@ Buffalo Sabres8–412–8–7
289California Golden Seals6–313–8–7
2912Buffalo Sabres1–113–8–8
3015@ Toronto Maple Leafs2–213–8–9
3116Chicago Black Hawks6–113–9–9
3220Detroit Red Wings5–214–9–9
3322@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–115–9–9
3423@ Atlanta Flames3–115–10–9
3526Philadelphia Flyers2–116–10–9
3629@ Montreal Canadiens7–116–11–9
3730Minnesota North Stars4–317–11–9 :
January: 7–4–1 (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 4–3–1)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreRecord
383@ Philadelphia Flyers4–217–12–9
394Boston Bruins4–217–13–9
406Atlanta Flames5–218–13–9
4110@ Buffalo Sabres7–218–14–9
4212@ Vancouver Canucks6–119–14–9
4313@ California Golden Seals7–220–14–9
4416@ Detroit Red Wings4–420–14–10
4517@ St. Louis Blues3–220–15–10
4619@ Chicago Black Hawks3–221–15–10
4723Atlanta Flames4–122–15–10
4827Los Angeles Kings5–323–15–10
4930@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–224–15–10 :
February: 8–1–2 (Home: 4–0–1; Road: 4–1–1)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreRecord
502@ Minnesota North Stars3–125–15–10
513Minnesota North Stars5–525–15–11
526New York Islanders6–026–15–11
539@ Montreal Canadiens7–226–16–11
5410St. Louis Blues4–227–16–11
5514@ Philadelphia Flyers4–427–16–12
5616@ Vancouver Canucks9–428–16–12
5721@ Los Angeles Kings5–329–16–12
5822@ California Golden Seals4–330–16–12
5924Philadelphia Flyers3–231–16–12
6027Vancouver Canucks4–232–16–12 :
March: 6–7–2 (Home: 4–3–1; Road: 2–4–1)
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
612@ Minnesota North Stars3–133–16–12
623California Golden Seals8–234–16–12
636Montreal Canadiens9–235–16–12
649@ Montreal Canadiens4–235–17–12
6510New York Islanders4–236–17–12
6614Chicago Black Hawks5–236–18–12
6716@ New York Islanders3–137–18–12
6817@ Boston Bruins5–237–19–12
6920Vancouver Canucks7–537–20–12
7021@ Atlanta Flames5–537–20–13
7123@ Detroit Red Wings5–337–21–13
7224Buffalo Sabres5–338–21–13
7327Boston Bruins3–238–22–13
7430@ Toronto Maple Leafs7–338–23–13
7531Toronto Maple Leafs3–338–23–14 :
April: 2–1–0 (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 0–1–0)
GameAprilOpponentScoreRecord
763Detroit Red Wings5–339–23–14
776@ Detroit Red Wings8–339–24–14
787Montreal Canadiens6–440–24–14 :

## Playoffs

Key: Win Loss
1974 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Brad Park | 78 | 25 | 57 | 82 | 148 |
| Rod Gilbert | 75 | 36 | 41 | 77 | 20 |
| Pete Stemkowski | 78 | 25 | 45 | 70 | 74 |
| Jean Ratelle | 68 | 28 | 39 | 67 | 16 |
| Walt Tkaczuk | 71 | 21 | 42 | 63 | 58 |
| Bill Fairbairn | 78 | 18 | 44 | 62 | 12 |
| Steve Vickers | 75 | 34 | 24 | 58 | 18 |
| Vic Hadfield | 77 | 27 | 28 | 55 | 75 |
| Bobby Rousseau | 72 | 10 | 41 | 51 | 4 |
| Ted Irvine | 75 | 26 | 20 | 46 | 105 |
| Bruce MacGregor | 66 | 17 | 27 | 44 | 6 |
| Rod Seiling | 68 | 7 | 23 | 30 | 32 |
| Gilles Marotte$^†$ | 46 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 28 |
| Jerry Butler | 26 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 24 |
| Dale Rolfe | 48 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 56 |
| Ron Harris | 63 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 25 |
| Jim Neilson | 72 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 38 |
| Larry Sacharuk | 23 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Gene Carr$^‡$ | 29 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 15 |
| Sheldon Kannegiesser$^‡$ | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Jack Egers$^†$ | 28 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Mike Murphy$^‡$ | 16 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Tom Williams$^‡$ | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Bert Wilson | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Glen Sather$^‡$ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Real Lemieux$^{†‡}$ | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Pete Stemkowski | 13 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 35 |
| Brad Park | 13 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 38 |
| Dale Rolfe | 13 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 23 |
| Bobby Rousseau | 12 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 4 |
| Bruce MacGregor | 13 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| Ted Irvine | 13 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 16 |
| Steve Vickers | 13 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 17 |
| Bill Fairbairn | 13 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 6 |
| Rod Gilbert | 13 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 |
| Jean Ratelle | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Walt Tkaczuk | 13 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 22 |
| Ron Harris | 11 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| Jerry Butler | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 25 |
| Rod Seiling | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 19 |
| Jack Egers | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Jim Neilson | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Gilles Marotte | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Vic Hadfield | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ed Giacomin | 56 | 3286 | 30 | 15 | 10 | 168 | 3.07 | 5 |
| Gilles Villemure | 21 | 1054 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 62 | 3.53 | 0 |
| Peter McDuffe | 6 | 340 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 3.18 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ed Giacomin | 13 | 788 | 7 | 6 | 37 | 2.82 | 0 |
| Gilles Villemure | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 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;

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft in Montreal, Canada.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 14 | Rick Middleton | RW | Canada | Oshawa Generals (OHA) |
| 2 | 30 | Pat Hickey | LW | Canada | Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) |
| 3 | 46 | John Campbell | LW | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA) |
| 4 | 62 | Brian Molvik | D | Canada | Calgary Centennials (WCHL) |
| 5 | 78 | Pierre Laganiere | RW | Canada | Sherbrooke Beavers (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 94 | Dwayne Pentland | D | Canada | Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL) |