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1978–79 Boston Bruins season

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1978–79 Boston Bruins
Adams Division champions
Division1st Adams
Conference2nd Wales
1978–79 record43–23–14
Goals for316
Goals against270
Team information
General managerHarry Sinden
CoachDon Cherry
CaptainWayne Cashman
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaBoston Garden
Team leaders
GoalsRick Middleton (38)
AssistsTerry O'Reilly (51)
PointsRick Middleton (86)
Penalty minutesTerry O'Reilly (205)
WinsGerry Cheevers (23)
Goals against averageGerry Cheevers (3.16)

The 1978–79 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 55th season. The Bruins captured their fourth straight division title but were defeated in the postseason in heartbreaking fashion in seven games to their hated rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, and denied an opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup. Don Cherry was subsequently let go as head coach following this defeat.

Offseason

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NHL Draft

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See also: 1978 NHL amateur draft
Round Overall Player Nationality Position
1 16 Al Secord  Canada Left Wing
2 35 Graeme Nicolson  Canada Defenseman
3 52 Brad Knelson  Canada Defenseman
4 68 George Buat  Canada Right Wing
5 85 Daryl MacLeod  United States Left Wing
6 102 Jeff Brubaker  United States Left Wing
7 119 Murray Skinner  Canada Goalie
8 136 Bobby Hehir  United States Center
9 153 Craig MacTavish  Canada Center

Regular season

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  • Al Secord made his NHL debut with the Bruins during the 1978–79 season.

Season standings

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Adams Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Boston Bruins 80 43 23 14 316 270 100
Buffalo Sabres 80 36 28 16 280 263 88
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 34 33 13 267 252 81
Minnesota North Stars 80 28 40 12 257 289 68

[1]

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

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Adams Division record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

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Regular season schedule
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 12, 1978 8–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 1–0–0
2 T October 14, 1978 4–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 1–0–1
3 W October 15, 1978 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 2–0–1
4 W October 18, 1978 3–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 3–0–1
5 W October 20, 1978 5–1 @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 4–0–1
6 L October 22, 1978 5–6 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 4–1–1
7 W October 24, 1978 7–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 5–1–1
8 T October 25, 1978 2–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 5–1–2
9 W October 28, 1978 5–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 6–1–2
10 W November 2, 1978 4–1 New York Islanders (1978–79) 7–1–2
11 L November 4, 1978 3–7 Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 7–2–2
12 T November 5, 1978 1–1 Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 7–2–3
13 W November 9, 1978 6–2 Washington Capitals (1978–79) 8–2–3
14 L November 11, 1978 1–7 @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 8–3–3
15 T November 12, 1978 4–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 8–3–4
16 L November 16, 1978 4–6 Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 8–4–4
17 W November 17, 1978 6–2 @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 9–4–4
18 W November 19, 1978 5–2 St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 10–4–4
19 W November 23, 1978 5–2 Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 11–4–4
20 T November 25, 1978 5–5 @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) 11–4–5
21 W November 26, 1978 4–2 Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 12–4–5
22 W November 30, 1978 4–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 13–4–5
23 W December 2, 1978 5–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 14–4–5
24 W December 3, 1978 3–2 @ New York Rangers (1978–79) 15–4–5
25 W December 5, 1978 5–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 16–4–5
26 W December 7, 1978 6–5 Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 17–4–5
27 L December 9, 1978 2–9 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 17–5–5
28 T December 10, 1978 4–4 Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 17–5–6
29 W December 12, 1978 7–3 Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 18–5–6
30 W December 14, 1978 5–2 Washington Capitals (1978–79) 19–5–6
31 W December 16, 1978 4–1 New York Rangers (1978–79) 20–5–6
32 W December 17, 1978 4–1 @ New York Rangers (1978–79) 21–5–6
33 W December 21, 1978 4–2 Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 22–5–6
34 W December 23, 1978 6–4 Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 23–5–6
35 T December 27, 1978 1–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 23–5–7
36 L December 30, 1978 1–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 23–6–7
37 W December 31, 1978 7–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 24–6–7
38 W January 3, 1979 6–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 25–6–7
39 W January 5, 1979 5–3 @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 26–6–7
40 W January 6, 1979 5–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 27–6–7
41 W January 11, 1979 6–4 Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 28–6–7
42 L January 13, 1979 3–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 28–7–7
43 L January 14, 1979 3–6 Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 28–8–7
44 L January 16, 1979 2–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 28–9–7
45 W January 18, 1979 4–0 St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 29–9–7
46 L January 20, 1979 1–2 Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 29–10–7
47 W January 22, 1979 3–1 Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 30–10–7
48 L January 25, 1979 2–4 New York Islanders (1978–79) 30–11–7
49 L January 27, 1979 1–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 30–12–7
50 L January 28, 1979 3–5 Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 30–13–7
51 T January 31, 1979 2–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 30–13–8
52 W February 1, 1979 6–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 31–13–8
53 T February 3, 1979 4–4 @ New York Islanders (1978–79) 31–13–9
54 W February 4, 1979 6–1 Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 32–13–9
55 L February 14, 1979 1–5 @ New York Rangers (1978–79) 32–14–9
56 L February 15, 1979 3–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 32–15–9
57 T February 17, 1979 3–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 32–15–10
58 W February 20, 1979 5–3 @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 33–15–10
59 L February 21, 1979 1–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 33–16–10
60 W February 24, 1979 4–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 34–16–10
61 L February 27, 1979 2–4 Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 34–17–10
62 T March 1, 1979 4–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 34–17–11
63 W March 3, 1979 5–0 Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 35–17–11
64 W March 4, 1979 6–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 36–17–11
65 L March 8, 1979 5–7 @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 36–18–11
66 W March 10, 1979 4–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 37–18–11
67 T March 11, 1979 4–4 New York Islanders (1978–79) 37–18–12
68 L March 13, 1979 2–7 @ New York Islanders (1978–79) 37–19–12
69 L March 15, 1979 4–7 New York Rangers (1978–79) 37–20–12
70 W March 17, 1979 4–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 38–20–12
71 W March 19, 1979 4–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 39–20–12
72 L March 22, 1979 1–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 39–21–12
73 W March 24, 1979 5–2 Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 40–21–12
74 L March 28, 1979 2–9 @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 40–22–12
75 W March 29, 1979 7–4 Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 41–22–12
76 W March 31, 1979 4–1 @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) 42–22–12
77 T April 1, 1979 3–3 Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 42–22–13
78 T April 4, 1979 3–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 42–22–14
79 L April 5, 1979 3–9 Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 42–23–14
80 W April 8, 1979 6–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 43–23–14

Player statistics

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Regular season

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Rick Middleton RW 71 38 48 86 7 33 12 1 5
Peter McNab C 76 35 45 80 10 29 4 0 4
Terry O'Reilly RW 80 26 51 77 205 7 3 0 5
Jean Ratelle C 80 27 45 72 12 17 11 0 5
Wayne Cashman LW 75 27 40 67 63 16 10 0 4
Bob Miller C 77 15 33 48 30 20 0 0 1
Don Marcotte LW 79 20 27 47 10 6 2 4 5
John Wensink LW 76 28 18 46 106 20 0 0 4
Bobby Schmautz RW 65 20 22 42 77 -1 6 1 4
Brad Park D 40 7 32 39 10 28 3 0 0
Mike Milbury D 74 1 34 35 149 23 0 0 0
Dick Redmond D 64 7 26 33 21 0 4 0 1
Al Sims D 67 9 20 29 28 22 0 0 2
Rick Smith D 65 7 18 25 46 20 0 0 1
Dwight Foster RW 44 11 13 24 14 -1 2 0 0
Al Secord LW 71 16 7 23 125 7 0 0 0
Gary Doak D 63 6 11 17 28 12 1 0 0
Stan Jonathan LW 33 6 9 15 96 8 0 0 1
Dennis O'Brien D 64 2 8 10 107 16 0 0 0
Mike Walton C 14 4 2 6 0 -1 0 0 1
Bill Bennett LW 7 1 4 5 2 4 0 0 0
Tom Songin RW 17 3 1 4 0 -3 1 0 0
Gerry Cheevers G 43 0 2 2 23 0 0 0 0
Ab DeMarco Jr. D 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gilles Gilbert G 23 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 0
Graeme Nicolson D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jim Pettie G 19 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Gerry Cheevers 2509 43 23 9 10 132 3.16 1
Gilles Gilbert 1254 23 12 8 2 74 3.54 0
Jim Pettie 1037 19 8 6 2 62 3.59 1
Team: 4800 80 43 23 14 268 3.35 2

Playoffs

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Jean Ratelle C 11 7 6 13 2 2 0 2
Rick Middleton RW 11 4 8 12 0 2 0 1
Wayne Cashman LW 10 4 5 9 8 1 0 1
Don Marcotte LW 11 5 3 8 10 0 0 0
Peter McNab C 11 5 3 8 0 0 0 0
Mike Milbury D 11 1 7 8 7 0 0 1
Terry O'Reilly RW 11 0 6 6 25 0 0 0
Stan Jonathan LW 11 4 1 5 12 0 0 0
Brad Park D 11 1 4 5 8 0 0 1
Bobby Schmautz RW 11 2 2 4 6 1 0 0
Dwight Foster RW 11 1 3 4 0 0 0 0
Dick Redmond D 11 1 3 4 2 0 1 0
Rick Smith D 11 0 4 4 12 0 0 0
Bob Miller C 11 1 1 2 8 0 0 0
Gary Doak D 7 0 2 2 4 0 0 0
Al Sims D 11 0 2 2 0 0 0 0
John Wensink LW 8 0 1 1 19 0 0 0
Gerry Cheevers G 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gilles Gilbert G 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Al Secord LW 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Gerry Cheevers 360 6 4 2 15 2.50 0
Gilles Gilbert 314 5 3 2 16 3.06 0
Team: 674 11 7 4 31 2.76 0

[3]

Note:
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;

Playoffs

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Quarter-finals

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Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Boston Bruins

Date Away Score Home Score 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

Semi-finals

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Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

In game seven of the Montreal-Boston semi-final, Boston's Rick Middleton scored with four minutes remaining in the third period to give the Bruins a 4–3 lead. Just over a minute later, 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 Finals.

Date Away Score Home Score 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

  • The 1979 NHL Playoffs would mark the end of Don Cherry's tenure with the Bruins. Cherry, who had an uneasy relationship with Bruins General Manager Harry Sinden, was fired by the Bruins after a critical coaching mistake during a 1979 semi-final playoff series against the Canadiens. Up by a goal with less than two minutes left in the seventh game, the Bruins were penalized for having too many men on the ice. The Canadiens' Guy Lafleur scored the tying goal on the subsequent powerplay and ultimately won the game in overtime. Montreal went on to defeat the New York Rangers for their fourth straight Cup title.

References

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  1. ^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 163, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1978-79 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
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