1972–73 New York Rangers season

1972–73 New York Rangers
Division3rd East
1972–73 record47–23–8
Home record26–8–5
Road record21–15–3
Goals for297
Goals against208
Team information
General managerEmile Francis
CoachEmile Francis
CaptainVic Hadfield
Alternate captainsRod Gilbert
Brad Park
ArenaMadison Square Garden
Team leaders
GoalsJean Ratelle (41)
AssistsRod Gilbert (59)
PointsJean Ratelle (94)
Penalty minutesDale Rolfe (74)
WinsEd Giacomin (26)
Goals against averagePeter McDuffe (1.00)

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

Regular season

Final standings

East Division[1]
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 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 regular season[3]
October: 6–3–1 (home: 5–0–1; road: 1–3–0)
Game October Opponent Score Record
1 7 @ Detroit Red Wings 5–3 0–1–0
2 8 @ Chicago Black Hawks 5–1 0–2–0
3 11 Vancouver Canucks 5–3 1–2–0
4 14 @ Montreal Canadiens 6–1 1–3–0
5 15 Minnesota North Stars 6–2 2–3–0
6 18 Boston Bruins 7–1 3–3–0
7 21 @ New York Islanders 2–1 4–3–0
8 22 Montreal Canadiens 1–1 4–3–1
9 25 Philadelphia Flyers 6–1 5–3–1
10 29 Chicago Black Hawks 7–1 6–3–1
November: 9–4–1 (home: 5–1–0; road: 4–3–1)
Game November Opponent Score Record
11 1 @ Chicago Black Hawks 3–2 7–3–1
12 4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 6–4 7–4–1
13 5 @ Philadelphia Flyers 3–2 8–4–1
14 8 Vancouver Canucks 5–2 9–4–1
15 11 California Golden Seals 7–2 10–4–1
16 12 Los Angeles Kings 5–1 11–4–1
17 15 Philadelphia Flyers 7–3 12–4–1
18 18 @ St. Louis Blues 3–1 13–4–1
19 19 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–3 13–5–1
20 21 @ Atlanta Flames 3–1 14–5–1
21 23 @ Buffalo Sabres 5–3 14–6–1
22 26 Toronto Maple Leafs 7–4 15–6–1
23 28 @ Vancouver Canucks 2–1 15–7–1
24 29 @ Los Angeles Kings 2–2 15–7–2
December: 8–5–1 (home: 5–3–0; road: 3–2–1)
Game December Opponent Score Record
25 1 @ California Golden Seals 3–3 15–7–3
26 3 Atlanta Flames 3–2 16–7–3
27 6 Buffalo Sabres 3–2 16–8–3
28 9 @ New York Islanders 4–1 17–8–3
29 10 New York Islanders 4–1 18–8–3
30 13 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 19–8–3
31 14 @ Boston Bruins 4–2 19–9–3
32 16 @ Minnesota North Stars 5–1 19–10–3
33 17 Pittsburgh Penguins 9–1 20–10–3
34 20 @ St. Louis Blues 5–4 21–10–3
35 21 Atlanta Flames 5–2 21–11–3
36 24 Detroit Red Wings 5–0 22–11–3
37 27 Buffalo Sabres 4–1 22–12–3
38 31 St. Louis Blues 6–1 23–12–3
January: 11–1–1 (home: 5–1–0; road: 6–0–1)
Game January Opponent Score Record
39 3 Los Angeles Kings 3–0 24–12–3
40 6 Buffalo Sabres 4–1 24–13–3
41 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–0 25–13–3
42 11 @ Buffalo Sabres 4–2 26–13–3
43 13 @ St. Louis Blues 5–3 27–13–3
44 14 @ Philadelphia Flyers 5–2 28–13–3
45 17 @ Los Angeles Kings 4–4 28–13–4
46 19 @ California Golden Seals 6–0 29–13–4
47 20 @ Vancouver Canucks 4–3 30–13–4
48 24 Boston Bruins 4–2 31–13–4
49 27 @ Detroit Red Wings 6–3 32–13–4
50 28 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–2 33–13–4
51 31 California Golden Seals 3–1 34–13–4
February: 7–3–2 (home: 4–0–2; road: 3–3–0)
Game February Opponent Score Record
52 3 @ Boston Bruins 7–3 35–13–4
53 4 Atlanta Flames 6–0 36–13–4
54 7 New York Islanders 6–0 37–13–4
55 10 @ New York Islanders 6–0 38–13–4
56 11 Montreal Canadiens 2–2 38–13–5
57 14 @ Montreal Canadiens 6–3 38–14–5
58 15 @ Buffalo Sabres 4–1 38–15–5
59 18 New York Islanders 3–2 39–15–5
60 21 @ Los Angeles Kings 4–3 40–15–5
61 23 @ California Golden Seals 5–3 40–16–5
62 25 Minnesota North Stars 6–5 41–16–5
63 28 Chicago Black Hawks 3–3 41–16–6
March: 6–7–1 (home: 2–3–1; road: 4–4–0)
Game March Opponent Score Record
64 3 @ Detroit Red Wings 6–3 42–16–6
65 4 Vancouver Canucks 4–3 42–17–6
66 7 Philadelphia Flyers 2–2 42–17–7
67 10 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 5–4 43–17–7
68 11 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–2 44–17–7
69 14 @ Chicago Black Hawks 4–2 44–18–7
70 17 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 7–5 44–19–7
71 18 St. Louis Blues 3–1 45–19–7
72 20 @ Minnesota North Stars 6–1 46–19–7
73 22 @ Atlanta Flames 4–1 47–19–7
74 24 @ Boston Bruins 3–0 47–20–7
75 25 Minnesota North Stars 2–1 47–21–7
76 28 Boston Bruins 6–3 47–22–7
77 31 @ Montreal Canadiens 5–1 47–23–7
April: 0–0–1 (home: 0–0–1; road: 0-0-0)
Game April Opponent Score Record
78 1 Detroit Red Wings 3–3 47–23–8

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 1973 Stanley Cup playoffs
1973 Stanley Cup playoffs[3]
Quarterfinals vs. (E2) Boston Bruins – Rangers win 4–1
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 4 New York Rangers 6–2 Boston Bruins New York Rangers lead series 1–0
2 April 5 New York Rangers 4–2 Boston Bruins New York Rangers lead series 2–0
3 April 7 Boston Bruins 4–2 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 2–1
4 April 8 Boston Bruins 0–4 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 3–1
5 April 10 New York Rangers 6–3 Boston Bruins New York Rangers win series 4–1
Semifinals vs. (W1) Chicago Black Hawks – Black Hawks win 4–1
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 12 New York Rangers 4–1 Chicago Black Hawks New York Rangers lead series 1–0
2 April 15 New York Rangers 4–5 Chicago Black Hawks Series tied 1–1
3 April 17 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 New York Rangers Chicago leads series 2–1
4 April 19 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 New York Rangers Chicago leads series 3–1
5 April 24 New York Rangers 1–4 Chicago Black Hawks Chicago wins series 4–1

Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters
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.

[4]

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;

Awards and records

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)

See also

References

  1. ^ "1972–1973 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "1972-73 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  4. ^ "1972–73 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
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