Dates April 10–May 21, 1979 Champions Montreal Canadiens | Teams 12 Runner-up New York Rangers | |
 | ||
Semifinalists Boston Bruins
New York Islanders | ||
The 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 10, after the conclusion of the 1978–79 NHL season. The playoffs concluded on May 21 with the champion Montreal Canadiens defeating the New York Rangers 4–1 to win the Final series four games to one and win the Stanley Cup. Three Original Six teams made the semifinals which would not happen again until the 2014 Conference Finals.
Contents
Playoff seeds
The twelve teams that qualified for the playoffs are ranked 1–12 based on regular season points.
Note: Only teams that qualified for the playoffs are listed here.
- New York Islanders, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 116 points
- Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 115 points
- Boston Bruins, Adams Division champions – 100 points
- Philadelphia Flyers – 95 points
- New York Rangers – 91 points
- Atlanta Flames – 90 points
- Buffalo Sabres – 88 points
- Pittsburgh Penguins – 85 points
- Toronto Maple Leafs – 81 points
- Los Angeles Kings – 80 points
- Chicago Black Hawks, Smythe Division champions – 73 points
- Vancouver Canucks – 63 points
Playoff bracket
(1) New York Islanders vs. (8) Chicago Black Hawks
Game two was the first 1-0 overtime playoff game since game five of the 1954 Stanley Cup Finals.
(2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (7) Toronto Maple Leafs
This was the fifteenth and most recent playoff series between these two Original Six teams, with the teams splitting the fourteen previous series. They last met in the 1978 Stanley Cup Semifinals where Montreal won in four games. The Canadiens won this year's season series earning seven of eight points.
(2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3) Boston Bruins
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 Finals.
Stanley Cup Finals
Prior to 2013, this was the last time two Original Six clubs met in the finals. Both teams would next appear in the Stanley Cup Finals: Canadiens winning in 1986, Rangers winning in 1994.