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 . League Business . This season saw the first reduction in the total number of teams since the Brooklyn Americans folded following the 1941 - 42 season . The financially unstable Cleveland Barons were merged with the also struggling Minnesota North Stars ( now the Dallas Stars ) , reducing the number of teams to seventeen , with the North Stars assuming the Barons ' place in the Adams Division . This reduction would only be temporary , however , as the World Hockey Association would fold following this season and four of its teams , the Edmonton Oilers , Quebec Nordiques , Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers , would be admitted to the NHL as expansion franchises for the 1979 - 80 season . For the first time since the NHL All - Star Game became an annual tradition , it was not played . In its stead was the 1979 Challenge Cup , which saw Soviet Union players come over to North America to play against NHL players . The Soviets won the series two games to one . Regular season . For the past three seasons , the Montreal Canadiens had dominated the regular season , but times were changing . The New York Islanders had been steadily improving over the past few seasons and this season saw them beat out the Canadiens by one point for the best record in the league . Final standings . " GP = Games Played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , Pts = Points , GF = Goals For , GA = Goals Against , PIM = Penalties In Minutes " < br > " Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold " Scoring leaders . " GP = Games Played , G = Goals , A = Assists , Pts = Points , PIM = Penalties In Minutes " Stanley Cup playoffs . " All dates in 1979 " Preliminary Round . Vancouver Canucks vs . Philadelphia Flyers " Philadelphia wins best - of - three series 2 games to 1 " Los Angeles Kings vs . New York Rangers " NY Rangers win best - of - three series 2 games to 0 " Toronto Maple Leafs vs . Atlanta Flames " Toronto wins best - of - three series 2 games to 0 " Pittsburgh Penguins vs . Buffalo Sabres " Pittsburgh wins best - of - three series 2 games to 1 " Quarterfinals . Chicago Black Hawks vs . New York Islanders " NY Islanders win best - of - seven series 4 games to 0 " Toronto Maple Leafs vs . Montreal Canadiens " Montreal wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 0 " Pittsburgh Penguins vs . Boston Bruins " Boston wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 0 " New York Rangers vs . Philadelphia Flyers " NY Rangers win best - of - seven series 4 games to 1 " Semi - finals . New York Rangers vs . New York Islanders " NY Rangers win best - of - seven series 4 games to 2 " Boston Bruins vs . Montreal Canadiens Game seven of the Montreal - Boston Semifinal is perhaps one of the most memorable in the history of the NHL . About a minute and a half after Boston ' s Rick Middleton scored with four minutes remaining in the third period to give the Bruins a 4 - 3 lead , linesman John D ' Amico called a bench minor for too many men on the ice against the Bruins . Montreal ' s Guy Lafleur scored on the ensuing power play , sending the game to overtime where Yvon Lambert gave the Canadiens the win and a trip to their fourth straight Stanley Cup final . " Montreal wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 3 " Finals . New York Rangers vs . Montreal Canadiens As of 2007 . It was the last Stanley Cup Final where two Original Six teams met in a Stanley Cup Final . " Montreal wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 1 " Debuts . The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1978 - 79 ( listed with their first team , asterisk ( * ) marks debut in playoffs ) : Last games . The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1978 - 79 ( listed with their last team ) :