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The 1972 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. It was the Rangers first appearance in the championship final series since 1950. The Bruins were making their first appearance since their victory in the 1970 Finals. It was the second Boston-New York Final series, the other being the 1929 Finals. The Bruins would win the best-of-seven series four games to two.
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Boston defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 and the St. Louis Blues 4–0 to advance to the final.
New York defeated the defending champion Montreal Canadiens 4–2 and the Chicago Black Hawks 4–0 to set up an "Original Six" final.
Boston was led by Bobby Orr, who scored 4 goals and 4 assists in the final, including the Cup winner, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy for the second time.
Game one in Boston saw both teams play poorly. The Bruins at one point led 5-1 as Ken Hodge completed a hat trick, and Hodge and Derek Sanderson scored short-handed goals on the same Ranger power play at the end of the first period. However, the Rangers then tied the game, before Garnet (Ace) Bailey beat Rangers star defenseman Brad Park to have the Bruins prevail 6–5.[1]
Gary Doak of the Rangers was ejected from the game after a heated argument with referee Bill Friday over a penalty he received at 18:50 of the first period.
Game two had Gilles Villemure replace Ed Giacomin in goal for the Rangers. He played well, but the Bruins did too and won 2–1.
In New York, Giacomin was back in goal for game three as the Rangers won 5–2. Brad Park opened the scoring with a power play goal and scored another in the first period. Rod Gilbert also had two goals in the game.
Giacomin was having trouble with a knee he injured during the Chicago series and lost game four 3–2.
Game five in Boston had Villemure again replace Giacomin. Boston led 2-1 after two periods. However, Bobby Rousseau scored twice in the third period, his second at 12:45 turned out to be the winner in a 3–2 win for the Rangers.[2]
Game six in New York saw Boston play flawlessly and Gerry Cheevers picked up a shutout, 3–0. Bobby Orr's first period marker ended up standing as the Stanley Cup-winning goal, and he also assisted on the Bruin's second goal. Orr spent 10 minutes in the penalty box after arguing with referee Art Skov but upon his return on the ice played a crucial role in killing off a penalty to the Bruins. Wayne Cashman scored two goals, one of which trickled in behind Gilles Villemure.[2]
| April 30 | Boston Bruins | 6–5 | New York Rangers | Boston Garden | ||||
| (John McKenzie) Fred Stanfield, 7 - 5:07 (Phil Esposito, Mike Walton) Ken Hodge, 5 - sh - 15:48 (Ed Westfall) Derek Sanderson, 1 - sh - 17:29 (Phil Esposito) Ken Hodge, 6 - 18:14 |
First period | 3:52 - Dale Rolfe (Rod Gilbert, Brad Park) | ||||||
| (Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr) Ken Hodge, 7 - 10:46 | Second period | 11:54 - Rod Gilbert (Vic Hadfield, Jean Ratelle) | ||||||
| (Mike Walton, Ed Westfall) Garnet Bailey, 2 - 17:44 | Third period | 1:56 - Vic Hadfield, (Walt Tkaczuk, Rod Gilbert) 7:48 - Walt Tkaczuk 9:17 - Bruce MacGregor, (Ted Irvine, Peter Stemkowski) |
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| May 2 | Boston Bruins | 2-1 | New York Rangers | Boston Garden | ||||
| (Bobby Orr, Fred Stanfield) Johnny Bucyk, 9 - 16:15 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 7:23 - Rod Gilbert (Rick Neilson, Vic Hadfield) | ||||||
| (Mike Walton, Phil Esposito) Ken Hodge, 8 - 11:53 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| May 4 | New York Rangers | 5-2 | Boston Bruins | Madison Square Garden | ||||
| (Vic Hadfield, Bruce Fairburn) Brad Park - 1:22 (Brad Park, Bobby Rousseau) Rod Gilbert - 11:19 (Rod Gilbert) Brad Park - 13:00 |
First period | 14:04 - Mike Walton, 6 (Carl Vadnais) | ||||||
| (Brad Park, Bobby Rousseau) Rod Gilbert - 3:46 (Bruce MacGregor, Ted Irvine) Pete Stemkowski - 19:23 |
Second period | 11:10 - Bobby Orr, 2 (Dallas Smith, Wayne Cashman) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| May 7 | New York Rangers | 2-3 | Boston Bruins | Madison Square Garden | ||||
| No scoring | First period | 5:26 - Bobby Orr, 3 (Mike Walton) 8:17 - Bobby Orr, 4 (John MacKenzie, Johnny Bucyk) |
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| (Peter Stemkowski, Rod Seiling) Ted Irvine - 18:38 | Second period | 16:33 - Don Marcotte, 3 (Bobby Orr) | ||||||
| (Ted Irvine, Peter Stemkowski) Rod Seiling - 18:35 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| May 9 | Boston Bruins | 2-3 | New York Rangers | Boston Garden | ||||
| (Ken Hodge) Phil Esposito, 9 - 3:55 (Fred Stanfield, Phil Esposito) Ken Hodge, 9 - 16:07 |
First period | 13:45 - Dale Rolfe (Walt Tkaczuk, Bruce Fairburn) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 2:56 - Bobby Rousseau (Brad Park, Bruce MacGregor) 12:45 - Bobby Rousseau (Ted Irvine) |
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| May 11 | New York Rangers | 0-3 | Boston Bruins | Madison Square Garden | ||||
| No scoring | First period | 11:18 - Bobby Orr, 5 (Ken Hodge, Johnny Bucyk) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 5:10 - Wayne Cashman, 3 (Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr) 18:11 - Wayne Cashman, 4 (Ken Hodge, Phil Esposito) |
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| Boston won series 4–2 | |
| Preceded by Montreal Canadiens 1971 |
Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champions 1972 |
Succeeded by Montreal Canadiens 1973 |