1970–71 NHL season

League business

The NHL added two expansion teams in Buffalo and Vancouver. The 1970 NHL expansion draft was held on June 10 to fill the rosters of the two new teams.

At the beginning of the season, the Oakland Seals were renamed California Golden Seals.

The 1970 NHL amateur draft was held on June 11 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Gilbert Perreault was selected first overall by Buffalo.

From this season through the 2002–03 season, teams wore their white (or yellow) jerseys at home and their colored jerseys on the road.

Regular season

For 1970–71 the NHL went to a balanced schedule, with each team playing each other team six times, three at home and three on the road, without regard to divisional alignment. Nevertheless, playoff qualification was determined entirely by divisional standings, with the top four teams in each division qualifying.

This season saw a marked increase in goal scoring, especially by the Boston Bruins, who shattered scoring records as they set the mark for most goals by a team (399) by nearly a hundred over the previous record holder. They also set records for most victories (57) and points (121). Phil Esposito set records for most goals in a season with 76 and for most points with 152. Defenceman Bobby Orr won his second consecutive Hart Memorial Trophy and set a new record for assists with 102. The Bruins also had the four league leading scorers, the first time in history this was achieved (the only other time being by the Bruins in 1973–74), and seven of the top eleven leading scorers, the only time in NHL history this has ever been achieved. They had 6 of the top 8 scorers in the league. Furthermore, the Bruins set marks for the highest scoring single season marks at every position: center (Esposito), left wing (Johnny Bucyk with 116), right wing (Ken Hodge with 105) and defence (Orr), as well as for a forward line (Esposito centering Wayne Cashman and Hodge).

Boston won the East Division championship in a runaway. In the West Division, the powerful Chicago Black Hawks had been moved there partially to accommodate the expansion Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks (both of which were placed in the East Division) but more in an effort to provide greater balance between the divisions. Chicago broke St. Louis' stranglehold over the division, winning handily over the Blues and advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Montreal Canadiens, who missed the playoffs in 1969–70, appeared to be sinking once more. Players did not like Claude Ruel's dictatorial rule as coach, and Ralph Backstrom and John Ferguson retired. Ruel resigned and Al MacNeil took over. Both Ferguson and Backstrom returned, but Backstrom was later traded to Los Angeles for draft choices. Despite this, they would later win the Stanley Cup that year.

The Vancouver Canucks played well at first and were around the .500 mark at mid-season. Then Orland Kurtenbach was injured and the team sagged.

On October 29, Gordie Howe became the first player to record 1,000 assists in a 5–3 win over Boston at the Detroit Olympia.

Detroit introduced a fine rookie goaltender, Jim Rutherford, who had bright moments despite the Red Wings last place finish. However, they suffered their worst defeat in franchise history January 2, when Toronto crushed them 13–0. Sid Abel, the team's general manager, asked owner Bruce Norris if he could dismiss coach Ned Harkness. Told that he could not, Abel resigned. Norris then elevated Harkness to general manager and Doug Barkley was named coach. Detroit took a tumble to the basement of the East Division after that.

On March 12, Boston's Phil Esposito broke Bobby Hull's record for goals by a player in a season at 7:03 of the first period on Denis DeJordy of Los Angeles at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Then, at 15:40 he became the first player to score 60 goals. The Bruins won 7–2.

In their inaugural season in the NHL, Buffalo had a star in Gilbert Perreault. On March 18, he broke Nels Stewart's (and Danny Grant's, and Norm Ferguson's) rookie record with his 35th goal in a 5–3 win over St. Louis. He went on to finish the season with 38.

Billy Taylor and Don Gallinger, now middle-aged, were finally forgiven for their gambling in 1948 and were reinstated to the NHL. However, they did not return to the NHL.

Final standings

Playoffs

Format change

Due to three straight years of non-competitive finals (where the West Division winning St. Louis Blues were swept all 3 years by an established East Division club); the NHL changed the match-ups for the semifinals by having the winner of the series of the 1st vs. 3rd East Division teams play the winner of the 2nd vs. 4th West Division teams. Similarly, the other semifinal series pitted the winner of the 1st vs. 3rd West Division teams against the winner of the 2nd vs. 4th East Division teams. Combined with the transfer of the Chicago Black Hawks into the West Division (which previously consisted only of expansion teams), the Stanley Cup Final series was expected to be more competitive. The realignment and change in playoff format brought the desired results, but at the expense of the expansion teams; seven of the eight finalists were Original Six teams over the next four seasons. Until realignment in 1974–75 when the Original Six and expansion teams were more thoroughly mixed, the Philadelphia Flyers were the only expansion team to reach a Cup final, which they won in 1974.

A significant controversy arose before the playoffs. With 4 games to play, the Minnesota North Stars were in 3rd place with a record of 28–30–16 for 72 points while the Philadelphia Flyers were in 4th at 26–33–15 for 67 points. Minnesota then lost their final four games while the Flyers went 2–0–2 to jump ahead of Minnesota in the final standings by 1 point. It was widely rumored that Minnesota did so to avoid playing the far superior Chicago Black Hawks, since at this time in the playoffs the first place team played the third place team and the second played the fourth. Nothing was proven against the North Stars (who defeated their first round opponents, St. Louis, four games to two, while the Flyers were swept by the powerful Black Hawks), but the format was changed the next year to the 1 vs. 4/2 vs. 3 format that prevailed thereafter.

Playoff bracket

| RD1-seed1=E1 | RD1-team1=Boston | RD1-score1=3 | RD1-seed2=E3 | RD1-team2=Montreal | RD1-score2=4 | RD1-seed3=W2 | RD1-team3=St. Louis | RD1-score3=2 | RD1-seed4=W4 | RD1-team4=Minnesota | RD1-score4=4 | RD1-seed5=W1 | RD1-team5=Chicago | RD1-score5=4 | RD1-seed6=W3 | RD1-team6=Philadelphia | RD1-score6=0 | RD1-seed7=E2 | RD1-team7=New York | RD1-score7=4 | RD1-seed8=E4 | RD1-team8=Toronto | RD1-score8=2 | RD2-seed1=E3 | RD2-team1=Montreal | RD2-score1=4 | RD2-seed2=W4 | RD2-team2=Minnesota | RD2-score2=2 | RD2-seed3=W1 | RD2-team3=Chicago | RD2-score3=4 | RD2-seed4=E2 | RD2-team4=New York | RD2-score4=3 | RD3-seed1=E3 | RD3-team1=Montreal | RD3-score1=4 | RD3-seed2=W1 | RD3-team2=Chicago | RD3-score2=3

Quarterfinals

(E1) Boston Bruins vs. (E3) Montreal Canadiens

The Boston Bruins finished first in the league with 121 points. The Montreal Canadiens finished third in the East Division with 97 points. This was the fifteenth playoff series between these two teams with Montreal winning twelve of the fourteen previous series. They last met in the 1969 Stanley Cup semifinals which Montreal won in six games. Boston won five of the six games in this year's regular season series.

The Montreal Canadiens were matched against the Boston Bruins, and in one of the most extraordinary upsets in hockey history, Ken Dryden was hot in goal for the Canadiens as they ousted the Bruins in seven games. Game 2 featured what many perceive as one of the greatest comebacks in NHL history. With the Bruins leading 5–2 heading into the third period, the Canadiens, who had trailed 5–1, scored 5 goals in the final session to win 7–5. The prominent Canadian sports journalist Red Fisher lists the Canadiens' comeback has the 8th most memorable moment in his over 49 years of covering hockey. In game 4, Bobby Orr became the first defenceman to get a hat trick in a playoff game when Boston won 5–2.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =03:57 – pp – Bobby Orr (1) |1-2-1 =John Ferguson (1) – pp – 01:34 |1-2-2 =09:41 – Wayne Cashman (1) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =08:47 – Fred Stanfield (1) |goalie1-1 =Ken Dryden 39 saves / 42 shots |goalie1-2 =Gerry Cheevers 30 saves / 31 shots

|2-1-1 =Yvan Cournoyer (1) – 03:32 |2-1-2 =04:34 – Bobby Orr (2) 05:43 – Ted Green (1) |2-2-1 =Henri Richard (1) – 15:33 |2-2-2 =02:49 – pp – John McKenzie (1) 06:31 – Wayne Cashman (2) 08:41 – Derek Sanderson (1) |2-3-1 =Jean Beliveau (1) – pp – 02:58 Jean Beliveau (2) – 04:22 Jacques Lemaire (1) – 09:59 John Ferguson (2) – 15:23 Frank Mahovlich (1) – 18:40 |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Ken Dryden 31 saves / 36 shots |goalie2-2 =Eddie Johnston 30 saves / 37 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Phil Esposito (1) – 00:29 |3-2-1 =04:04 – Frank Mahovlich (2) 12:05 – Jacques Laperriere (1) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =03:55 – Frank Mahovlich (3) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Ken Dryden 37 saves / 38 shots |goalie3-2 =Gerry Cheevers 28 saves / 31 shots

|4-1-1 =05:30 – pp – Frank Mahovlich (4) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Bobby Orr (3) – 11:01 Mike Walton (1) – pp – 18:26 |4-3-1 =06:13 – Yvan Cournoyer (2) |4-3-2 =Bobby Orr (4) – 00:37 Fred Stanfield (2) – 17:21 Bobby Orr (5) – sh – 19:57 |goalie4-1 =Ken Dryden 29 saves / 33 shots |goalie4-2 =Gerry Cheevers 26 saves / 28 shots

|5-1-1 =Yvan Cournoyer (3) – 05:38 |5-1-2 =00:57 – Wayne Cashman (3) 09:32 – pp – Phil Esposito (2) 16:45 – Mike Walton (2) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =11:44 – John McKenzie (2) 17:43 – sh – Ed Westfall (1) |5-3-1 =Frank Mahovlich (5) – 01:55 John Ferguson (3) – 08:19 |5-3-2 =12:47 – Johnny Bucyk (1) 15:57 – Ken Hodge (1) |goalie5-1 =Ken Dryden 49 saves / 56 shots |goalie5-2 =Gerry Cheevers 24 saves / 27 shots

|6-1-1 =06:36 – Peter Mahovlich (1) 11:12 – Henri Richard (2) |6-1-2 =Phil Esposito (3) – pp – 09:51 |6-2-1 =10:34 – pp – Jacques Lemaire (2) 14:39 – J.C. Tremblay (1) |6-2-2 =Fred Stanfield (3) – pp – 05:57 |6-3-1 =05:14 – Henri Richard (3) 14:46 – Peter Mahovlich (2) 17:15 – Marc Tardif (1) 19:34 – pp – Jacques Laperriere (2) |6-3-2 =Derek Sanderson (2) – 16:52 |goalie6-1 =Ken Dryden 29 saves / 32 shots |goalie6-2 =Gerry Cheevers 35 saves / 43 shots

|7-1-1 =Frank Mahovlich (6) – 14:48 Rejean Houle (1) – 17:38 |7-1-2 =06:50 – Ken Hodge (2) |7-2-1 =J.C. Tremblay (2) – 15:44 |7-2-2 =No scoring |7-3-1 =Frank Mahovlich (7) – 00:14 |7-3-2 =01:02 – Johnny Bucyk (2) |goalie7-1 =Ken Dryden 46 saves / 48 shots |goalie7-2 =Gerry Cheevers 30 saves / 34 shots

(E2) New York Rangers vs. (E4) Toronto Maple Leafs

The New York Rangers finished second in the East Division with 109 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished fourth with 82 points. This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams with New York winning four of the seven previous series. They last met in the 1962 Stanley Cup semifinals which Toronto won in six games. New York won five of the six games in this year's regular season series.

|1-1-1 =Dave Keon (1) – 04:56 Dave Keon (2) – 19:55 |1-1-2 =06:05 – pp – Vic Hadfield (1) |1-2-1 =Paul Henderson (1) – 10:10 Paul Henderson (2) – 13:13 |1-2-2 =10:05 – pp – Rod Gilbert (1) 19:57 – Bob Nevin (1) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =01:20 – Vic Hadfield (2) 06:44 – Walt Tkaczuk (1) |goalie1-1 =Jacques Plante 26 saves / 31 shots |goalie1-2 =Ed Giacomin 24 saves / 28 shots

|2-1-1 =Garry Monahan (1) – 13:23 Paul Henderson (3) – 14:11 |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =Dave Keon (3) – 01:35 |2-2-2 =16:11 – Tim Horton (1) |2-3-1 =Paul Henderson (4) – 11:53 |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Jacques Plante 2 saves / 2 shots Bernie Parent 21 saves / 22 shots |goalie2-2 =Ed Giacomin 19 saves / 23 shots

|3-1-1 =05:03 – pp – Ron Ellis (1) |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =04:19 – pp – Paul Henderson (5) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =05:22 – Garry Monahan (2) |3-3-2 =Dave Balon (1) – 03:17 |goalie3-1 =Bernie Parent 33 saves / 34 shots |goalie3-2 =Gilles Villemure 21 saves / 24 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Bob Nevin (2) – pp – 12:54 |4-2-1 =19:33 – pp – Darryl Sittler (1) |4-2-2 =Vic Hadfield (3) – 04:41 Dave Balon (2) – pp – 07:41 Ron Stewart (1) – sh – 18:10 |4-3-1 =11:12 – Darryl Sittler (2) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Bernie Parent 26 saves / 29 shots |goalie4-2 =Ed Giacomin 24 saves / 25 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =00:34 – Ted Irvine (1) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =04:59 – Vic Hadfield (4) |5-3-1 =Jim McKenny (1) – pp – 13:42 |5-3-2 =06:25 – Bob Nevin (3) |goalie5-1 =Bernie Parent 26 saves / 29 shots |goalie5-2 =Ed Giacomin 24 saves / 25 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =Bob Nevin (4) – 12:39 |6-3-1 =17:26 – Jim McKenny (2) |6-3-2 =No scoring |6-4-1 =No scoring |6-4-2 =Bob Nevin (5) – 09:07 |goalie6-1 =Jacques Plante 36 saves / 38 shots |goalie6-2 =Ed Giacomin 27 saves / 28 shots

(W1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (W3) Philadelphia Flyers

The Chicago Black Hawks finished first in the West Division with 107 points. The Philadelphia Flyers finished third in the West Division with 73 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Chicago won this year's six game regular season series earning nine of twelve points.

|1-1-1 =Bill Lesuk (1) – pp – 19:02 |1-1-2 =02:50 – pp – Bobby Hull (1) 07:05 – sh – Pat Stapleton (1) |1-2-1 =Bob Kelly (1) – 11:06 |1-2-2 =06:24 – pp – Bobby Hull (2) 18:26 – pp – Doug Jarrett (1) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =00:59 – Pit Martin (1) |goalie1-1 =Doug Favell 24 saves / 29 shots |goalie1-2 =Tony Esposito 33 saves / 35 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =16:18 – Bobby Hull (3) 17:00 – Stan Mikita (1) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =04:46 – Stan Mikita (2) 10:39 – Bobby Hull (4) 18:57 – Jim Pappin (1) |2-3-1 =Jim Mair (1) – pp – 06:18 Garry Peters (1) – 16:11 |2-3-2 =09:41 – Lou Angotti (1) |goalie2-1 =Bruce Gamble 32 saves / 38 shots |goalie2-2 =Tony Esposito 25 saves / 27 shots

|3-1-1 =10:18 – Rick MacLeish (1) |3-1-2 =Pat Stapleton (2) – pp – 13:30 |3-2-1 =06:42 – pp – Simon Nolet (1) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Bobby Hull (5) – pp – 05:52 Bobby Hull (6) – pp – 10:24 |goalie3-1 =Doug Favell 28 saves / 31 shots |goalie3-2 =Tony Esposito 28 saves / 30 shots

|4-1-1 =14:33 – pp – Serge Bernier (1) |4-1-2 =Jim Pappin (2) – 00:21 Jim Pappin (3) – pp – 09:16 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Pit Martin (2) – 09:54 |4-3-1 =10:07 – Simon Nolet (2) |4-3-2 =Cliff Koroll (1) – 03:24 Cliff Koroll (2) – 08:37 Jim Pappin (4) – 11:26 |goalie4-1 =Bruce Gamble 23 saves / 29 shots |goalie4-2 =Tony Esposito 38 saves / 40 shots

(W2) St. Louis Blues vs. (W4) Minnesota North Stars

The St. Louis Blues finished second in the West Division with 87 points. The Minnesota North Stars finished fourth in the West Division with 72 points. This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with St. Louis winning both of the previous series. They met in the previous year's Stanley Cup quarterfinals which the Blues won in six games. Minnesota won this year's six game regular season series earning eight of twelve points.

|1-1-1 =Jude Drouin (1) – 05:16 |1-1-2 =10:52 – Fran Huck (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =J.P. Parise (1) – pp – 03:57 Danny Grant (1) – pp – 07:12 |1-3-2 =19:54 – Garry Unger (1) |goalie1-1 =Cesare Maniago 42 saves / 44 shots |goalie1-2 =Glenn Hall 19 saves / 22 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =10:19 – Bill McCreary Sr. (1) |2-3-1 =Murray Oliver (1) – 00:09 Murray Oliver (2) – 10:58 |2-3-2 =03:45 – Jimmy Roberts (1) 08:34 – pp – Wayne Connelly (1) 19:40 – Jimmy Roberts (2) |goalie2-1 =Cesare Maniago 26 saves / 29 shots |goalie2-2 =Ernie Wakely 26 saves / 28 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Frank St. Marseille (1) – pp – 08:04 Noel Picard (1) – pp – 19:17 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Terry Crisp (1) – 08:39 |goalie3-1 =Cesare Maniago 24 saves / 27 shots |goalie3-2 =Ernie Wakely 29 saves / 29 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Garry Unger (2) – sh – 04:08 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =02:44 – Bobby Rousseau (1) 03:08 – Charlie Burns (1) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Gump Worsley 25 saves / 26 shots |goalie4-2 =Glenn Hall 20 saves / 22 shots

|5-1-1 =Murray Oliver (3) – pp – 05:03 Jude Drouin (2) – pp – 16:33 |5-1-2 =04:28 – Craig Cameron (1) |5-2-1 =Jude Drouin (3) – 02:49 |5-2-2 =02:42 – Craig Cameron (2) 09:43 – Wayne Connelly (2) |5-3-1 =Lou Nanne (1) – 16:25 |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Gump Worsley 33 saves / 36 shots |goalie5-2 =Glenn Hall 18 saves / 22 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =10:36 – Ted Hampson (1) 10:58 – Lou Nanne (2) 14:15 – pp – Bobby Rousseau 19:29 – pp – Doug Mohns (1) |6-2-2 =Frank St. Marseille (2) – pp – 04:45 |6-3-1 =07:01 – Doug Mohns (2) |6-3-2 =Garry Unger (2) – 17:20 |goalie6-1 =Gump Worsley 19 saves / 21 shots |goalie6-2 =Ernie Wakely 25 saves / 30 shots

Semifinals

(E3) Montreal Canadiens vs. (W4) Minnesota North Stars

This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Montreal won this year's six game regular season series earning eight of twelve points.

The Canadiens' upset of Boston was so sensational that the Canadiens nearly suffered a fatal letdown against the Minnesota North Stars. The Canadiens' 6–3 loss in Montreal on April 22 to Minnesota, led by the goaltending of Cesare Maniago was the first playoff defeat for an Original Six team at the hands of a 1967 Expansion franchise.

|1-1-1 =Danny Grant (2) – pp – 11:45 |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =05:48 – Marc Tardif (2) 11:07 – Jacques Lemaire (3) 16:33 – pp – Jacques Lemaire (4) 18:51 – Jacques Lemaire (5) |1-3-1 =Bill Goldsworthy (1) – 17:12 |1-3-2 =07:26 – Marc Tardif (3) 15:21 – pp – Guy Lapointe (1) 17:40 – Frank Mahovlich (8) |goalie1-1 =Gump Worsley 26 saves / 33 shots |goalie1-2 =Ken Dryden 26 saves / 28 shots

|2-1-1 =J. P. Parise (2) – pp – 05:14 Jude Drouin (4) – 10:04 Ted Hampson (2) – pp – 15:58 Lou Nanne (3) – 19:04 |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =Murray Oliver (4) – 17:46 |2-2-2 =04:17 – Peter Mahovlich (3) 16:41 – Guy Lapointe (2) |2-3-1 =Charlie Burns (1) – 19:36 |2-3-2 =04:59 – Jean Beliveau (3) |goalie2-1 =Cesare Maniago 32 saves / 35 shots |goalie2-2 =Ken Dryden 29 saves / 34 shots

|3-1-1 =07:11 – Murray Oliver (5) |3-1-2 =Frank Mahovlich (9) – 08:47 Jacques Lemaire (6) – 17:39 |3-2-1 =15:56 – Danny Grant (3) |3-2-2 =Yvan Cournoyer (4) – 01:45 J.C. Tremblay (3) – pp – 05:17 Jacques Laperriere (3) – 08:30 |3-3-1 =19:34 – Bill Goldsworthy (2) |3-3-2 =Jacques Laperriere (4) – 02:26 |goalie3-1 =Cesare Maniago 25 saves / 31 shots |goalie3-2 =Ken Dryden 30 saves / 33 shots

|4-1-1 =16:35 – pp – Murray Oliver (6) 19:04 – pp – Danny Grant (4) |4-1-2 =Jean Beliveau (4) – 01:22 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Jean Beliveau (5) – 07:52 |4-3-1 =03:00 – J. P. Parise (3) 11:26 – Murray Oliver (7) 15:59 – Ted Hampson (3) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Cesare Maniago 35 saves / 37 shots |goalie4-2 =Ken Dryden 37 saves / 42 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =No scoring |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =02:24 – Peter Mahovlich (4) |5-3-1 =Danny Grant (5) – 01:40 |5-3-2 =01:14 – Guy Lapointe (3) 10:08 – pp – Peter Mahovlich (5) 12:50 – John Ferguson Sr. (4) 13:41 – Frank Mahovlich (10) 1435 – Yvan Cournoyer (5) |goalie5-1 =Cesare Maniago 24 saves / 30 shots |goalie5-2 =Ken Dryden 26 saves / 27 shots

|6-1-1 =09:50 – Charlie Burns (2) |6-1-2 =Yvan Cournoyer (6) – pp – 16:00 |6-2-1 =09:18 – Jude Drouin (5) |6-2-2 =Claude Larose (1) – 01:07 Rejean Houle (2) – 13:29 |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Cesare Maniago 34 saves / 37 shots |goalie6-2 =Ken Dryden 30 saves / 32 shots

(W1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (E2) New York Rangers

This was the third playoff series between these two teams with Chicago winning both previous series. They last met in the 1968 Stanley Cup quarterfinals which the Black Hawks won in six games. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series.

Bobby Hull and the Chicago Black Hawks were just too much for the Rangers and the Black Hawks advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in seven games. Hull won two games with goals on face-offs, despite Glen Sather's coverage to check him.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =12:59 – pp – Cliff Koroll (3) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Jean Ratelle (1) – 16:44 |1-3-2 =No scoring |1-4-1 =Pete Stemkowski (1) – 01:37 |1-4-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Ed Giacomin 31 saves / 32 shots |goalie1-2 =Tony Esposito 32 saves / 34 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =17:54 – Cliff Koroll (4) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =14:06 – Dennis Hull (1) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =19:45 – Dennis Hull (2) |goalie2-1 =Ed Giacomin 26 saves / 28 shots |goalie2-2 =Tony Esposito 32 saves / 32 shots

|3-1-1 =03:05 – Vic Hadfield (5) 13:37 – Rod Gilbert (2) 15:50 – Vic Hadfield (6) |3-1-2 =Stan Mikita (3) – 05:16 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =16:09 – Vic Hadfield (7) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Ed Giacomin 16 saves / 17 shots |goalie3-2 =Tony Esposito 28 saves / 32 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Jim Pappin (5) – 12:49 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Bill White (1) – 05:45 Danny O'Shea (1) – 07:28 Stan Mikita (4) – 17:23 |4-3-1 =14:34 – pp – Dave Balon (3) |4-3-2 =Dennis Hull (3) – 00:14 Chico Maki (1) – 12:09 Jerry Korab (1) – 18:24 |goalie4-1 =Ed Giacomin20 saves / 24 shots Gilles Villemure 8 saves / 11 shots |goalie4-2 =Tony Esposito 27 saves / 28 shots

|5-1-1 =Vic Hadfield (8) – 15:57 |5-1-2 =10:56 – Pat Stapleton (3) 15:41 – pp – Chico Maki (2) |5-2-1 =Rod Seiling (1) – 19:28 |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =No scoring |5-4-1 =No scoring |5-4-2 =06:35 – Bobby Hull (7) |goalie5-1 =Ed Giacomin 29 saves / 32 shots |goalie5-2 =Tony Esposito 27 saves / 29 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =Dennis Hull (4) – 10:19 |6-2-1 =07:07 – Rod Gilbert (3) |6-2-2 =Chico Maki (3) – 01:54 |6-3-1 =04:21 – Jean Ratelle (2) |6-3-2 =No scoring |6-4-1 =01:29 – Pete Stemkowski (2) |6-4-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Ed Giacomin 24 saves / 26 shots |goalie6-2 =Tony Esposito 46 saves / 49 shots

|7-1-1 =Pete Stemkowski (3) – 18:31 |7-1-2 =14:49 – pp – Jim Pappin (6) |7-2-1 =Rod Gilbert (4) – 11:43 |7-2-2 =13:27 – pp – Cliff Koroll (5) |7-3-1 =No scoring |7-3-2 =04:25 – Bobby Hull (8) 19:34 – Chico Maki (4) |goalie7-1 =Ed Giacomin 25 saves / 28 shots |goalie7-2 =Tony Esposito 36 saves / 38 shots

Stanley Cup Final

Main article: 1971 Stanley Cup Final

This was the fifteenth series between these two teams with the Montreal Canadiens winning nine of the fourteen previous series. They last met in the 1968 Stanley Cup semifinals which Montreal won in five games. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series.

The series went the full seven games, with the Canadiens winning in Chicago despite trailing 2–0 halfway into the second period of game seven. Jacques Lemaire took a shot from centre ice that miraculously escaped goaltender Tony Esposito cutting the Black Hawks' lead to 2–1. Henri Richard tied the game just before the end of the second period, and scored again 02:34 into the third, giving the Habs the lead. Montreal goalie Ken Dryden kept Chicago off the board for the rest of the game, and the Habs won their third Stanley Cup in four years. It was the final game for Canadiens superstar and captain Jean Beliveau who retired after the season. The Canadiens were the last road team to win a Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final until the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. It was Al MacNeil's final game as Montreal coach — after he had benched Richard for Game 5, The Pocket Rocket declared "[MacNeil] is the worst coach I ever played for!" Although Richard retracted his "angry comment", as he called it, MacNeil still resigned.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Jacques Lemaire (7) – pp – 12:29 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =07:54 – pp – Bobby Hull (9) |1-4-1 =No scoring |1-4-2 =01:11 – Jim Pappin (7) |goalie1-1 =Ken Dryden 56 saves / 58 shots |goalie1-2 =Tony Esposito 36 saves / 37 shots

|2-1-1 =Jacques Lemaire (8) – pp – 09:06 Peter Mahovlich (6) – 17:58 |2-1-2 =04:39 – pp – Bobby Hull (10) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =11:58 – Chico Maki (5) 13:50 – Jim Pappin (8) |2-3-1 =Frank Mahovlich (11) – 08:56 |2-3-2 =07:27 – Lou Angotti (2) 16:47 – Lou Angotti (3) |goalie2-1 =Ken Dryden 30 saves / 35 shots |goalie2-2 =Tony Esposito 24 saves / 27 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Cliff Koroll (6) – pp – 04:26 Bobby Hull (11) – 13:38 |3-2-1 =05:56 – Peter Mahovlich (7) 17:34 – pp – Frank Mahovlich (12) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =06:23 – Yvan Cournoyer (7) 12:13 – pp – Frank Mahovlich (13) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Ken Dryden 16 saves / 18 shots |goalie3-2 =Tony Esposito 36 saves / 40 shots

|4-1-1 =01:00 – Peter Mahovlich (8) 06:55 – pp – Jean Beliveau (6) 16:33 – Guy Lapointe (4) |4-1-2 =Stan Mikita (5) – pp – 03:09 |4-2-1 =09:07 – Yvan Cournoyer (8) 15:53 – pp – Yvan Cournoyer (9) |4-2-2 =Dennis Hull (5) – 12:30 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Ken Dryden 30 saves / 32 shots |goalie4-2 =Tony Esposito 27 saves / 32 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =10:57 – pp – Dennis Hull (6) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =11:26 – Cliff Koroll (7) |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Ken Dryden 20 saves / 22 shots |goalie5-2 =Tony Esposito 31 saves / 31 shots

|6-1-1 =12:33 – Yvan Cournoyer (10) |6-1-2 =Jim Pappin (9) – 11:25 |6-2-1 =05:04 – Peter Mahovlich (9) |6-2-2 =Chico Maki (6) – 17:40 Jim Pappin (10) – 18:48 |6-3-1 =05:10 – Frank Mahovlich (14) 08:56 – sh – Peter Mahovlich (10) |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Ken Dryden 27 saves / 30 shots |goalie6-2 =Tony Esposito 12 saves / 16 shots

|7-1-1 =No scoring |7-1-2 =19:12 – pp – Dennis Hull (7) |7-2-1 =Jacques Lemaire (9) – 14:18 Henri Richard (4) – 18:20 |7-2-2 =07:33 – Danny O'Shea (2) |7-3-1 =Henri Richard (5) – 02:34 |7-3-2 =No scoring |goalie7-1 =Ken Dryden 31 saves / 33 shots |goalie7-2 =Tony Esposito 22 saves / 25 shots

Awards

A new award for the most outstanding player as voted by the members of the NHL Players Association, the Lester B. Pearson Award, was introduced this season and the first winner was Phil Esposito.

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Other statistics

• Plus/minus leader: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins

Coaches

East

• Boston Bruins: Tom Johnson
• Buffalo Sabres: George "Punch" Imlach
• Detroit Red Wings: Ned Harkness and Doug Barkley
• Montreal Canadiens: Claude Ruel and Al MacNeil
• New York Rangers: Emile Francis
• Toronto Maple Leafs: John McLellan
• Vancouver Canucks: Hal Laycoe

West

• California Golden Seals: Fred Glover
• Chicago Black Hawks: Billy Reay
• Los Angeles Kings: Larry Regan
• Minnesota North Stars: Jack Gordon
• Philadelphia Flyers: Vic Stasiuk
• Pittsburgh Penguins: Red Kelly
• St. Louis Blues: Scotty Bowman and Al Arbour

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1970–71 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Reggie Leach, Boston Bruins
• Ivan Boldirev, Boston Bruins
• Gilbert Perreault, Buffalo Sabres
• Jerry Korab, Chicago Black Hawks
• Gilles Meloche, Chicago Black Hawks
• Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens
• Rick MacLeish, Philadelphia Flyers
• Curt Bennett, St. Louis Blues
• Rene Robert, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Darryl Sittler, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Dale Tallon, Vancouver Canucks

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1970–71 (listed with their last team):

• Jean-Guy Talbot, Buffalo Sabres
• Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens
• John Ferguson, Montreal Canadiens
• Andy Bathgate, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Glenn Hall, St. Louis Blues
• George Armstrong, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Charlie Hodge, Vancouver Canucks NOTE: Bathgate would finish his major professional career in the World Hockey Association.

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games. HNIC also produced Wednesday night regular season game telecasts for CTV.

This was the fifth season under the U.S. rights agreement with CBS, airing Sunday afternoon regular season and playoff games. CBS also televised Game 7 of the 1971 Stanley Cup Final on a Thursday night, marking the first time an American network televised an NHL prime time game, but the telecast was blacked out in the Chicago Black Hawks' broadcast territory.

References

• {{cite book |last1=Fischler |first1=Stan |last2=Fischler |first2=Shirley

;Notes

References

1. [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/21/archives/hockey-playoffs-confusing-fans-format-changed-to-prevent-onesided.html Eskenazi, Gerald. "Hockey Playoffs Confusing Fans," ''The New York Times'', Sunday, March 21, 1971.] Retrieved September 25, 2023.
2. "Henri Richard".