1978–79 NHL season

The **1978–79 NHL season** was the 62nd season of the National Hockey League. The 17 teams of the league played an 80-game season.

The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup finals four games to one for their fourth Cup in a row.

### Final standings

_GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes_

_Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in **bold**_

#### Prince of Wales Conference

|width="40%"|Adams Division|width="5%"|GP|width="5%"|W|width="5%"|L|width="5%"|T|width="7.5%"|Pts|width="7.5%"|GF|width="7.5%"|GA|width="7.5%"|PIM|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**Boston Bruins**|80|43|23|14|100|316|270|1222||||||||||
|**Buffalo Sabres**|80|36|28|16|88|280|263|1026||||||||||
|**Toronto Maple Leafs**|80|34|33|13|81|267|252|1440||||||||||
|Minnesota North Stars|80|28|40|12|68|257|289|1102||||||||||

|width="40%"|Norris Division|width="5%"|GP|width="5%"|W|width="5%"|L|width="5%"|T|width="7.5%"|Pts|width="7.5%"|GF|width="7.5%"|GA|width="7.5%"|PIM|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**Montreal Canadiens**|80|52|17|11|115|337|204|803||||||||||
|**Pittsburgh Penguins**|80|36|31|13|85|281|279|1039||||||||||
|**Los Angeles Kings**|80|34|34|12|80|292|286|1134||||||||||
|Washington Capitals|80|24|41|15|63|273|338|1312||||||||||
|Detroit Red Wings|80|23|41|16|62|252|295|1359||||||||||

#### Clarence Campbell Conference

|width="40%"|Patrick Division|width="5%"|GP|width="5%"|W|width="5%"|L|width="5%"|T|width="7.5%"|Pts|width="7.5%"|GF|width="7.5%"|GA|width="7.5%"|PIM|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**New York Islanders**|80|51|15|14|116|358|214|1077||||||||||
|**Philadelphia Flyers**|80|40|25|15|95|281|248|1548||||||||||
|**New York Rangers**|80|40|29|11|91|316|292|1214||||||||||
|**Atlanta Flames**|80|41|31|8|90|327|280|1158||||||||||

|width="40%"|Smythe Division|width="5%"|GP|width="5%"|W|width="5%"|L|width="5%"|T|width="7.5%"|Pts|width="7.5%"|GF|width="7.5%"|GA|width="7.5%"|PIM|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**Chicago Black Hawks**|80|29|36|15|73|244|277|1254||||||||||
|**Vancouver Canucks**|80|25|42|13|63|217|291|1134||||||||||
|St. Louis Blues|80|18|50|12|48|249|348|1055||||||||||
|Colorado Rockies|80|15|53|12|42|210|331|838||||||||||

### Scoring leaders

_GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes_
|width="30%"|Player|width="30%"|Team|width="7.5%"|GP|width="7.5%"|G|width="7.5%"|A|width="7.5%"|Pts|width="7.5%"|PIM|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align=left|Bryan Trottier|New York Islanders|76|47|87|134|50|||||||
|align=left|Marcel Dionne|Los Angeles Kings|80|59|71|130|30|||||||
|align=left|Guy Lafleur|Montreal Canadiens|80|52|77|129|28|||||||
|align=left|Mike Bossy|New York Islanders|80|69|57|126|25|||||||
|align=left|Bob MacMillan|Atlanta Flames|79|37|71|108|14|||||||
|align=left|Guy Chouinard|Atlanta Flames|80|50|57|107|14|||||||
|align=left|Denis Potvin|New York Islanders|73|31|70|101|58|||||||
|align=left|Bernie Federko|St. Louis Blues|74|31|64|95|14|||||||
|align=left|Dave Taylor|Los Angeles Kings|78|43|48|91|124|||||||
|align=left|Clark Gillies|New York Islanders|75|35|56|91|68|||||||

## Stanley Cup playoffs

_All dates in 1979_

### Preliminary round

**Vancouver Canucks vs. Philadelphia Flyers**
|width="60"|Date|width="150"|Away|width="5"|Score|width="150"|Home|width="5"|Score|width="60"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|April 10|**Vancouver **|**3**|Philadelphia|2||||||||
|April 12|**Philadelphia **|**6**|Vancouver|4||||||||
|April 14|Vancouver|2|**Philadelphia **|**7**||||||||
_Philadelphia wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1_

**Los Angeles Kings vs. New York Rangers**
|width="60"|Date|width="150"|Away|width="5"|Score|width="150"|Home|width="5"|Score|width="60"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|April 10|Los Angeles|1|**New York **|**7**||||||||
|April 12|**New York **|**2**|Los Angeles|1|(OT)|||||||
_NY Rangers win best-of-three series 2 games to 0_

**Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Atlanta Flames**
|width="60"|Date|width="150"|Away|width="5"|Score|width="150"|Home|width="5"|Score|width="60"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|April 10|**Toronto **|**2**|Atlanta|1||||||||
|April 12|Atlanta|4|**Toronto **|**7**||||||||
_Toronto wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0_

**Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Buffalo Sabres**
|width="60"|Date|width="150"|Away|width="5"|Score|width="150"|Home|width="5"|Score|width="60"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|April 10|**Pittsburgh **|**4**|Buffalo|3||||||||
|April 12|**Buffalo **|**3**|Pittsburgh|1||||||||
|April 14|**Pittsburgh **|**4**|Buffalo|3|(OT)|||||||
_Pittsburgh wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1_

### Quarterfinals

**Chicago Black Hawks vs. New York Islanders**
|width="60"|Date|width="150"|Away|width="5"|Score|width="150"|Home|width="5"|Score|width="60"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|April 16|Chicago|2|**New York **|**6**||||||||
|April 18|Chicago|0|**New York **|**1**|(OT)|||||||
|April 20|**New York **|**4**|Chicago|0||||||||
|April 22|**New York **|**3**|Chicago|1||||||||
_NY Islanders win best-of-seven series 4 games to 0_

**Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens**
|width="60"|Date|width="150"|Away|width="5"|Score|width="150"|Home|width="5"|Score|width="60"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|April 16|Toronto|2|**Montreal **|**5**||||||||
|April 18|Toronto|1|**Montreal **|**5**||||||||
|April 21|**Montreal **|**4**|Toronto|3||||||||
|April 22|**Montreal **|**5**|Toronto|4|(OT)|||||||
_Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0_

**Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Boston Bruins**
|width="60"|Date|width="150"|Away|width="5"|Score|width="150"|Home|width="5"|Score|width="60"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|April 16|Pittsburgh|2|**Boston **|**6**||||||||
|April 18|Pittsburgh|3|**Boston **|**4**||||||||
|April 21|**Boston **|**2**|Pittsburgh|1||||||||
|April 22|**Boston **|**4**|Pittsburgh|1||||||||
_Boston wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0_

**New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers**
|width="60"|Date|width="150"|Away|width="5"|Score|width="150"|Home|width="5"|Score|width="60"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|April 16|New York|2|**Philadelphia **|**3**|(OT)|||||||
|April 18|**New York **|**7**|Philadelphia|1||||||||
|April 20|Philadelphia|1|**New York **|**5**||||||||
|April 22|Philadelphia|0|**New York **|**6**||||||||
|April 24|**New York **|**8**|Philadelphia|3||||||||
_NY Rangers win best-of-seven series 4 games to 1_

### Semi-finals

**New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders**
|width="60"|Date|width="150"|Away|width="5"|Score|width="150"|Home|width="5"|Score|width="60"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|April 26|**Rangers**|**4**|Islanders|1||||||||
|April 28|Rangers|3|**Islanders**|**4**|(OT)|||||||
|May 1|Islanders|1|**Rangers**|**3**||||||||
|May 3|**Islanders**|**3**|Rangers|2|(OT)|||||||
|May 5|**Rangers**|**4**|Islanders|3||||||||
|May 8|Islanders|1|**Rangers**|**2**||||||||
_NY Rangers win best-of-seven series 4 games to 2_

**Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens**

|width="60"|Date|width="150"|Away|width="5"|Score|width="150"|Home|width="5"|Score|width="60"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|April 26|Boston|2|**Montreal **|**4**||||||||
|April 28|Boston|2|**Montreal **|**5**||||||||
|May 1|Montreal|1|**Boston **|**2**||||||||
|May 3|Montreal|3|**Boston **|**4**|(OT)|||||||
|May 5|Boston|1|**Montreal **|**5**||||||||
|May 8|Montreal|2|**Boston **|**5**||||||||
|May 10|Boston|4|**Montreal **|**5**|(OT)|||||||
_Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3_

### Finals

**New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens**

As of 2008, it is the last time two Pre-war clubs met in the Finals.
|width="60"|Date|width="150"|Away|width="5"|Score|width="150"|Home|width="5"|Score|width="60"|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**||||||||
_Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1_

## NHL awards

|Prince of Wales Trophy:|Montreal Canadiens|
| --- | --- |
|Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:|New York Islanders|
|Art Ross Memorial Trophy:|Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders|
|Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:|Serge Savard, Montreal Canadiens|
|Calder Memorial Trophy:|Bobby Smith, Minnesota North Stars|
|Conn Smythe Trophy:|Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens|
|Frank J. Selke Trophy:|Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens|
|Hart Memorial Trophy:|Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders|
|Jack Adams Award:|Al Arbour, New York Islanders|
|James Norris Memorial Trophy:|Denis Potvin, New York Islanders|
|Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:|Bob MacMillan, Atlanta Flames|
|Lester B. Pearson Award:|Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles Kings|
|NHL Plus/Minus Award:|Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders|
|Vezina Trophy:|Ken Dryden & Michel Larocque, Montreal Canadiens|
|Lester Patrick Trophy:|Bobby Orr|

### All-Star teams

|First Team|Position|Second Team||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens|align=center|G|Glenn Resch, New York Islanders|
|Denis Potvin, New York Islanders|align=center|D|Borje Salming, Toronto Maple Leafs|
|Larry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens|align=center|D|Serge Savard, Montreal Canadiens|
|Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders|align=center|C|Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles Kings|
|Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens|align=center|RW|Mike Bossy, New York Islanders|
|Clark Gillies, New York Islanders|align=center|LW|Bill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers|

## References

- Hockey Database
- NHL.com