A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| 1979 Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| * indicates periods of overtime | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Montreal: Forum (1, 2, 5) New York City: Madison Square Garden (3, 4) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Montreal: Scotty Bowman New York: Fred Shero | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | Montreal: Yvan Cournoyer[1] New York: Dave Maloney | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | May 13–21, 1979 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Bob Gainey (Canadiens) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Jacques Lemaire (1:02, second, G5) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Canadiens: Yvan Cournoyer (1982; did not play) Ken Dryden (1983) Bob Gainey (1992) Guy Lafleur (1988) Rod Langway (2002) Guy Lapointe (1993; did not play) Jacques Lemaire (1984) Larry Robinson (1995) Serge Savard (1986) Steve Shutt (1993) Rangers: Phil Esposito (1984) Coaches: Scotty Bowman (1991) Fred Shero (2013) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Networks | Canada: (English): CBC (French): SRC United States: (National): NHL Network (New York City area): WOR | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | (CBC) Dan Kelly, Danny Gallivan (2), Gary Dornhoefer (1, 5), Gerry Pinder (2), Bobby Orr (3–4), and Dick Irvin Jr. (SRC) Rene Lecavalier and Gilles Tremblay (NHLN) Simulcast of CBC feed (WOR) Jim Gordon and Bill Chadwick | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1979 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1978–79 season, and the culmination of the 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs. The New York Rangers challenged the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, who made their fourth straight appearance. It was New York's first foray into the Finals since 1972. The Canadiens would win the best-of-seven series, four games to one, to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup championship.[2]
This was the first of six consecutive Finals involving a team from the New York metropolitan area. The next five Finals would be contested by the Rangers' crosstown rivals the New York Islanders, who would win the first four of those series to forge a dynasty matching that of the Canadiens. By defeating the Rangers, the Canadiens completed the rare accomplishment of winning four consecutive titles in a North American league competition consisting of at least sixteen teams, and remain the only team based outside the New York metropolitan area to do so. Prior to the Canadiens' dynasty, the feat had been achieved only twice before, both times by the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball. The aforementioned Islanders are the only team to accomplish it since. This was also the last Stanley Cup Finals until 2013 where both teams were from the Original Six. An Original Six club would not reach the Finals again until Montreal won their next championship in 1986.
Paths to the Finals
Montreal defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 and the Boston Bruins 4–3 (highlighted by the "too many men on the ice" game seven overtime win) to advance to the Final.
New York defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2–0, the Philadelphia Flyers 4–1 and the New York Islanders 4–2 to make it to the finals.
Game summaries
The Canadiens won the Cup in five games, winning it on home ice for the first time since 1968.[3] After the game Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer, and Ken Dryden retired, while head coach Scotty Bowman left the Canadiens to join the Buffalo Sabres, which would mark the end of the Canadiens' dynasty. Montreal Canadiens scored 46 total points during the Stanley Cup Finals, while the New York Rangers scored 26 points in the finals.[4]
This Final marked the second time in four years that Bowman and Fred Shero coached against each other. In 1976, they coached against each other, though Shero was with the Philadelphia Flyers.
| May 13 | New York Rangers | 4–1 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Steve Vickers (5) - pp - 6:28 Ron Greschner (7) - 14:27 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Phil Esposito (7) - pp - 9:30 Dave Maloney (3) - sh - 12:32 |
Second period | 7:07 - Guy Lafleur (9) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| John Davidson 31 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 9 saves / 13 shots, Michel Larocque 9 saves / 9 shots | ||||||
| May 15 | New York Rangers | 2–6 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Anders Hedberg (4) - 1:02 Ron Duguay (4) - 6:21 |
First period | 8:34 - Yvon Lambert (4) 12:24 - Guy Lafleur (10) 16:27 - Bob Gainey (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 6:51 - Steve Shutt (3) 17:35 - pp - Jacques Lemaire (8) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 4:38 - Mark Napier (3) | ||||||
| John Davidson 27 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 23 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| May 17 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–1 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| Steve Shutt (4) - pp - 7:27 Doug Risebrough (1) - 15:44 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mario Tremblay (3) - 14:48 Jacques Lemaire (9) - 17:10 |
Third period | 6:06 - Ron Duguay (5) | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 19 saves / 20 shots | Goalie stats | John Davidson 19 saves / 23 shots | ||||||
| May 19 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–3 | OT | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | ||
| Rejean Houle (1) - 2:39 | First period | 1:19 - Pat Hickey (1) 17:03 - Don Murdoch (7) | ||||||
| Yvon Lambert (5) - 18:05 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bob Gainey (5) - 6:27 | Third period | 4:26 - Phil Esposito (8) | ||||||
| Serge Savard (2) - 7:25 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 18 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | John Davidson 38 saves / 42 shots | ||||||
| May 21 | New York Rangers | 1–4 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Carol Vadnais (2) - 16:52 | First period | 10:36 - Rick Chartraw (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 1:02 - pp - Jacques Lemaire (10) 11:01 - Bob Gainey (6) 18:49 - Jacques Lemaire (11) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| John Davidson 27 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 14 saves / 15 shots | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–1 | |
