# 1972–73 New York Rangers season

The 1972–73 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 47th season.

## Regular season
### Final standings

East Division vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 52 | 10 | 16 | 329 | 184 | +145 | 120 |
| 2 | Boston Bruins | 78 | 51 | 22 | 5 | 330 | 235 | +95 | 107 |
| 3 | New York Rangers | 78 | 47 | 23 | 8 | 297 | 208 | +89 | 102 |
| 4 | Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 37 | 27 | 14 | 257 | 219 | +38 | 88 |
| 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 78 | 37 | 29 | 12 | 265 | 243 | +22 | 86 |
| 6 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 27 | 41 | 10 | 247 | 279 | −32 | 64 |
| 7 | Vancouver Canucks | 78 | 22 | 47 | 9 | 233 | 339 | −106 | 53 |
| 8 | New York Islanders | 78 | 12 | 60 | 6 | 170 | 347 | −177 | 30 |

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

1972–73 Game Log :
October: 6–3–1 (Home: 5–0–1; Road: 1–3–0)
GameOctoberOpponentScoreRecord
17@ Detroit Red Wings5–30–1–0
28@ Chicago Black Hawks5–10–2–0
311Vancouver Canucks5–31–2–0
414@ Montreal Canadiens6–11–3–0
515Minnesota North Stars6–22–3–0
618Boston Bruins7–13–3–0
721@ New York Islanders2–14–3–0
822Montreal Canadiens1–14–3–1
925Philadelphia Flyers6–15–3–1
1029Chicago Black Hawks7–16–3–1 :
November: 9–4–1 (Home: 5–1–0; Road: 4–3–1)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreRecord
111@ Chicago Black Hawks3–27–3–1
124@ Pittsburgh Penguins6–47–4–1
135@ Philadelphia Flyers3–28–4–1
148Vancouver Canucks5–29–4–1
1511California Golden Seals7–210–4–1
1612Los Angeles Kings5–111–4–1
1715Philadelphia Flyers7–312–4–1
1818@ St. Louis Blues3–113–4–1
1919Pittsburgh Penguins5–313–5–1
2021@ Atlanta Flames3–114–5–1
2123@ Buffalo Sabres5–314–6–1
2226Toronto Maple Leafs7–415–6–1
2328@ Vancouver Canucks2–115–7–1
2429@ Los Angeles Kings2–215–7–2 :
December: 8–5–1 (Home: 5–3–0; Road: 3–2–1)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreRecord
251@ California Golden Seals3–315–7–3
263Atlanta Flames3–216–7–3
276Buffalo Sabres3–216–8–3
289@ New York Islanders4–117–8–3
2910New York Islanders4–118–8–3
3013@ Toronto Maple Leafs4–319–8–3
3114@ Boston Bruins4–219–9–3
3216@ Minnesota North Stars5–119–10–3
3317Pittsburgh Penguins9–120–10–3
3420@ St. Louis Blues5–421–10–3
3521Atlanta Flames5–221–11–3
3624Detroit Red Wings5–022–11–3
3727Buffalo Sabres4–122–12–3
3831St. Louis Blues6–123–12–3 :
January: 11–1–1 (Home: 5–1–0; Road: 6–0–1)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreRecord
393Los Angeles Kings3–024–12–3
406Buffalo Sabres4–124–13–3
417Pittsburgh Penguins3–025–13–3
4211@ Buffalo Sabres4–226–13–3
4313@ St. Louis Blues5–327–13–3
4414@ Philadelphia Flyers5–228–13–3
4517@ Los Angeles Kings4–428–13–4
4619@ California Golden Seals6–029–13–4
4720@ Vancouver Canucks4–330–13–4
4824Boston Bruins4–231–13–4
4927@ Detroit Red Wings6–332–13–4
5028Toronto Maple Leafs5–233–13–4
5131California Golden Seals3–134–13–4 :
February: 7–3–2 (Home: 4–0–2; Road: 3–3–0)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreRecord
523@ Boston Bruins7–335–13–4
534Atlanta Flames6–036–13–4
547New York Islanders6–037–13–4
5510@ New York Islanders6–038–13–4
5611Montreal Canadiens2–238–13–5
5714@ Montreal Canadiens6–338–14–5
5815@ Buffalo Sabres4–138–15–5
5918New York Islanders3–239–15–5
6021@ Los Angeles Kings4–340–15–5
6123@ California Golden Seals5–340–16–5
6225Minnesota North Stars6–541–16–5
6328Chicago Black Hawks3–341–16–6 :
March: 6–7–1 (Home: 2–3–1; Road: 4–4–0)
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
643@ Detroit Red Wings6–342–16–6
654Vancouver Canucks4–342–17–6
667Philadelphia Flyers2–242–17–7
6710@ Pittsburgh Penguins5–443–17–7
6811Toronto Maple Leafs4–244–17–7
6914@ Chicago Black Hawks4–244–18–7
7017@ Toronto Maple Leafs7–544–19–7
7118St. Louis Blues3–145–19–7
7220@ Minnesota North Stars6–146–19–7
7322@ Atlanta Flames4–147–19–7
7424@ Boston Bruins3–047–20–7
7525Minnesota North Stars2–147–21–7
7628Boston Bruins6–347–22–7
7731@ Montreal Canadiens5–147–23–7 :
April: 0–0–1 (Home: 0–0–1; Road: 0-0-0)
GameAprilOpponentScoreRecord
781Detroit Red Wings3–347–23–8 :

## Playoffs

Key: Win Loss
1973 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Jean Ratelle | 78 | 41 | 53 | 94 | 12 |
| Rod Gilbert | 76 | 25 | 59 | 84 | 25 |
| Walt Tkaczuk | 76 | 27 | 39 | 66 | 59 |
| Bill Fairbairn | 78 | 30 | 33 | 63 | 23 |
| Vic Hadfield | 63 | 28 | 34 | 62 | 60 |
| Pete Stemkowski | 78 | 22 | 37 | 59 | 71 |
| Steve Vickers | 61 | 30 | 23 | 53 | 37 |
| Brad Park | 52 | 10 | 43 | 53 | 51 |
| Bobby Rousseau | 78 | 8 | 37 | 45 | 14 |
| Rod Seiling | 72 | 9 | 33 | 42 | 36 |
| Dale Rolfe | 72 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 74 |
| Bruce MacGregor | 52 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 12 |
| Glen Sather | 77 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 64 |
| Ted Irvine | 53 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 54 |
| Jim Neilson | 52 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 35 |
| Gene Carr | 50 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 50 |
| Ab DeMarco$^‡$ | 51 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 15 |
| Ron Harris$^†$ | 46 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 17 |
| Mike Murphy$^†$ | 15 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 5 |
| Randy Legge | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Bill Heindl | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jerry Butler | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Larry Sacharuk | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sheldon Kannegiesser$^†$ | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Tom Williams | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ron Stewart$^‡$ | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Curt Bennett$^‡$ | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| Bert Marshall$^†$ | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Steve Vickers | 10 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
| Bill Fairbairn | 10 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 2 |
| Walt Tkaczuk | 10 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 8 |
| Jean Ratelle | 10 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| Brad Park | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 |
| Pete Stemkowski | 10 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Rod Gilbert | 10 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Dale Rolfe | 8 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Bobby Rousseau | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Jim Neilson | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Ted Irvine | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 20 |
| Bruce MacGregor | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Vic Hadfield | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| Ron Harris | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Bert Marshall | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Gene Carr | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sheldon Kannegiesser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mike Murphy | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Glen Sather | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ed Giacomin | 43 | 2580 | 26 | 11 | 6 | 125 | 2.91 | 4 |
| Gilles Villemure | 34 | 2040 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 78 | 2.29 | 3 |
| Peter McDuffe | 1 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ed Giacomin | 10 | 539 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 2.56 | 1 |
| Gilles Villemure | 2 | 61 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1.97 | 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;

## Transactions

The Rangers defense lost their gifted-defenseman, Brad Park due to a knee injury that occurred on 11/15/72 against the Flyers, which forced him out of the lineup for the next 18 games. Looking to plug that hole, they searched around the league for another talented-defenseman but prospects were sparse. So, on 11/28/72, they settled on veteran defenseman Ron Harris of the Flames who had minimal offensive skills but played a physical checking game. A 26-year-old forward, by the name of Curt Bennett was still scoreless with the Rangers while mostly sitting on the bench, so he was sent to the Flames in exchange. Both guys ultimately paid dividends for their new teams. Harris was instrumental in winning key games for the Rangers in different ways such as: against the rival-Bruins in game #2 of the 1973 playoffs, he threw a legal, rolling, hip-check at Phil Esposito which injured him, thus, sinking the hopes of the Bruins since they lost that playoff series; plus then, in a key 1974 playoff game against the Canadians, Harris scored the game-winning goal in overtime which eventually sparked the Rangers in winning that playoff series. Likewise, the Flames cashed in on Curt Bennett since he finally and quickly matured with them by becoming an excellent goal-scorer and their toughest fighter.

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft in Montreal, Canada.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 10 | Al Blanchard | LW | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHA) |
| 1 | 15 | Bob MacMillan | C | Canada | St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA) |
| 2 | 21 | Larry Sacharuk | D | Canada | Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) |
| 2 | 31 | Rene Villemure | LW | Canada | Shawinigan Bruins (QMJHL) |
| 3 | 47 | Gerry Teeple | C | Canada | Cornwall Royals (QMJHL) |
| 4 | 63 | Doug Horbul | LW | Canada | Calgary Centennials (WCHL) |
| 5 | 79 | Marty Gateman | D | Canada | Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) |
| 6 | 95 | Ken Ireland | C | Canada | New Westminster Bruins (WCHL) |
| 7 | 111 | Jeff Hunt | D | Canada | Winnipeg Jets (WCHL) |
| 8 | 127 | Yvon Blais | D | Canada | Cornwall Royals (QMJHL) |
| 9 | 137 | Pierre Archambault | D | Canada | Saint-Jerome Alouettes (QMJHL) |