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1978 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 1978 Montreal Canadiens Win A Third Straight Stanley Cup

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The 1978 Montreal Canadiens might not have been the best team of the modern era, the way they had been in 1977. But the ’78 edition of the Canadiens was awfully close and they continued their dynasty run of the latter half of the 1970s, winning a third straight Stanley Cup.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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Just as they had in 1977, this Montreal team was the best in the league both scoring goals and preventing them. Just as they had in 1977, they had the MVP and the Vezina Trophy winner, in Guy Lafleur and Ken Dryden. Just as they had in 1977, they were the #1 seed in the playoffs. The only difference was that the ’78 team came up three points shy of the record they had set in 1977.

Lafleur’s 60 goals were the best in the NHL, and his 72 assists were second. Dryden’s 2.05 goals-against-average (GAA) was easily the league’s best. Steve Shutt scored 49 goals, third-best in the league and he, along with defenseman Larry Robinson, were 2nd-team All-Star selections. Jacques Lemaire was fourth in points, thanks to 61 assists. All five of these players–Lafleur, Dryden, Shutt, Robinson and Lemaire–were eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame. Yes, this team could play a little.

The NHL had 18 teams in the league at this time and 12 made the playoffs. The format simply seeded the teams 1 thru 12 without regard to conference structure. Montreal was one of the four teams with byes, avoiding the best-of-three preliminary round.

They drew the Detroit Red Wings when it came time for the quarterfinals and the traditional best-of-seven format. The Red Wings had a good team defense, ranking 7th in the league in goals allowed, but did not have a goaltender who could lift an entire team, and their offensive capacity was light-years behind Montreal’s. The Canadiens won the series in five games, including an 8-0 rout in Game 4.

Montreal then got a break. The New York Islanders were an up-and-coming team that had met the Canadiens in the semi-finals each of the previous two years and were the only team to win any games against Montreal, stretching the great 1977 team to six games. New York had added a brilliant young scorer in Mike Bossy, and a third straight meeting in the semis would have been a good one. But the Islanders got upset by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I don’t want to overstate how big of a break this was–Montreal still would have been favored over the Isles, and the Leafs had some talent–Darryl Sitter scored 45 goals and was a second-team All-Star, as was defenseman Borje Salming. The Leafs were still the sixth-best team in the NHL. But they didn’t have a chance in this series and Montreal swept Toronto four straight, with three victories by two-goal margins and a 6-1 domination in Game 3.

The Boston Bruins were the last hurdle left in the Stanley Cup Finals. The B’s were well-balanced, and they had one of the best defensemen in the game, with Brad Park. Peter McNab led the third-best offense in the NHL and Terry O’Reilly was an enforcer par excellence. But there was a huge disparity in goaltending. Gerry Cheevers was a nice, competent netminder, but Dryden was in a world several layers above that.

Montreal took the first two games at home 4-1 and 3-2, but they needed overtime to take Game 2, with a Lafleur goal winning it. Then the Canadiens started to show some cracks in the dynasty for the first time, losing both Games 3 & 4 at the old Boston Garden. They were shutout 4-0 in the third game and trailed 3-2 in the closing minute of Game 4 when a Lafleur goal with 0:33 left bought them a reprieve. But the Bruins still won in overtime.

Even though Montreal had lost twice to the Islanders in 1977, the series had never been tied this deep at any point in the previous two years. Dryden recovered and took over Games 5 & 6, both of them 4-1 wins that brought home another Stanley Cup.

Robinson’s passing was exquisite throughout the postseason. His two assists in the Game 6 clincher were part of 17 for the entire playoffs and it won him the Conn Smythe Award, as MVP of the postseason. I’m always partial to Dryden for this award, as he consistently elevated his game in the playoffs. Consider that’s elevating off a standard that’s already the best in the league and doing it exclusively against the best teams in hockey. Dryden’s postseason GAA was 1.89. Lafleur scored 10 goals and had 11 assists.

You could see the gap between Montreal and the rest of the NHL closing a bit, but there was still plenty of cushion. The Canadiens had a third straight Cup and looking ahead, they had one more title run left in them.

1978 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Three Straight For The Montreal Canadiens

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For the third straight year, the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, and there was no doubt they were the best team. Although unlike the previous two years, Montreal had to at least sweat out the Boston Bruins in the finals of the 1978 Stanley Cup playoffs.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

The Canadiens finished 16 points ahead of second-place Boston in the league’s overall standings. Guy Lafleur scored 60 goals and passed for 72 assists, winning the MVP for the second consecutive season. Defenseman Larry Robinson would join Lafleur as a first-team All-Star. Future Hall of Fame goalie Ken Dryden was again the best at his position. Montreal barreled through two playoff opponents with a combined record of 8-1 to get to the Finals.

It was not a foregone conclusion that Boston would be the opponent in a rematch of the 1977 Stanley Cup Finals. The Bruins were only two points ahead of the New York Islanders, who had the core of talent just a couple years away from becoming a dynasty themselves.

Clark Gillies, with 35 goals and 50 assists was a first-team All-Star, and he was one of six players that scored 30-plus goals in an offensive attack second only to Montreal’s. Glenn Resch gave New York a great goaltender and they had the look of a team ready to be Montreal’s dance partner in the Finals.

In the quarterfinals, the Isles were paired up with Toronto, a pretty good team, but also well behind the pace set the league’s best five teams (also including the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers). The Leafs relied on an offense that was top-heavy, with 40-plus goal scorers in Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald, but little depth to the attack. When New York took the first two games at home, it seemed par for the course.

Toronto turned it around and won two games at home. The home teams traded wins in Games 5 & 6, but then in Game 7, home team magic finally ran out. It went to overtime and Toronto pulled out a 2-1 win. New York, with players like 21-year-old center Bryan Trottier and forward Mike Bossy, was on their way to greatness. But they would wait their turn.

The Smythe Division, filled with teams mostly from the Midwest, was awful. Its champion was not a serious title contender and the Chicago Blackhawks of 1978 were no exception. Their veteran goaltender, 34-year-old Tony Esposito could still get it done and was the reason the Blackhawks won the division, but the lack of offense kept them 8th-best in the league.

Just how far Chicago was removed from being a true contender was shown when Boston administered a four-game sweep in the quarterfinals, with only two of the games being close.

After Boston rolled Philadelphia in five games, they had their shot at the champs. The Bruins didn’t have a great offensive player, but the offense was balanced and defenseman Brad Park was a first-team All-Star. Still, when they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision in Game 2, to make it six straight Finals losses to Montreal, it looked like another year to break out the brooms.

Boston goalie Gerry Cheevers delivered a shutout in Game 3 though, a 4-0 win. Then late in Game 4, trailing 3-2, Park stuck in the game-tying goal and Boston won in overtime. Montreal won Game 5, but Parks scored the opening goal in Game 6 back in the Garden to give hope.

Alas, the Canadiens did what great teams do and that’s snuff out hope. Dryden didn’t allow another goal and Montreal sealed a third straight Cup with a 4-1 win. Robinson took home the Conn Smythe Award as MVP of the 1978 Stanley Cup playoffs. The dynasty thundered on.