1971–72 NHL season

Amateur draft

The 1971 NHL amateur draft was held on June 10 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Guy Lafleur was selected first overall by the Montreal Canadiens.

Regular season

Among notable first year players this season were Montreal's Guy Lafleur, who despite scoring 29 goals was felt lacking in comparison to newly retired superstar Jean Beliveau by the Canadiens' faithful; Buffalo's Rick Martin, who set a new record for goals by a rookie with 44; Gilles Meloche, goaltender for the California Golden Seals who acquired him from Chicago; and Ken Dryden, the sensational new goalie for the Canadiens, who despite winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP the previous season was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, on the grounds that he had only played six prior regular season games.

43-year-old Gump Worsley, left unprotected (and unclaimed) in the waiver draft by the Minnesota North Stars, led the league with a 2.12 goals against average. Less fortunately, Philadelphia goaltender Bruce Gamble suffered a heart attack during a 3–1 win in Vancouver in February and was forced to retire from hockey.

In what was widely seen as a preemptive move to help forestall the incipient World Hockey Association, the NHL announced that Atlanta and Long Island had been granted expansion franchises to begin play in the 1972–73 season. The bids had been hastily put together in comparison with the 1967 and 1970 expansions.

Milestones this season included Gerry Cheevers setting an NHL record for the Boston Bruins (which has yet to be surpassed) with 33 straight undefeated games. On February 12, it was Gordie Howe Day in Detroit as his famous #9 was retired. On March 25, Bobby Hull scored his 600th NHL goal in a 5–5 tie with Boston at the Boston Garden.

An exciting scoring race in which Ranger Jean Ratelle had been leading Bruin Phil Esposito was shortcircuited when Ratelle broke his ankle in a game against California, putting him out for over a month of play. Ratelle still ended up third in scoring behind Esposito and Bruin Bobby Orr, while his teammates Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert – all three linemates on the renowned GAG line—finished fourth and fifth. A resurgent Frank Mahovlich, rejuvenated by a trade to Montreal, finished sixth, while Bobby Hull, in his final year in Chicago, finished seventh in points and second to Esposito in goals.

Although they had fallen somewhat from their overwhelming offensive dominance from the previous season, once again the Boston Bruins had the best record in the league, while the Chicago Black Hawks topped the West Division.

Final standings

Playoffs

Despite injuries to several key players, notably leading scorer Jean Ratelle, the New York Rangers beat the defending champions Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs, with strong play from unheralded players such as Walt Tkaczuk. The Rangers went on the sweep the Chicago Black Hawks in four straight games during the semi-final. Chicago had beaten the Pittsburgh Penguins in four straight games.

Boston easily handled the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games, facing a St. Louis Blues team that had eked out a hard-fought seven-game victory against the North Stars in the quarter-final. The powerful Bruins set a record for the most goals in a four-game series by pounding the Blues 28–8 over a four-game sweep.

Playoff bracket

For decades, the NHL had used first round playoff formats where first-place teams played third-place teams, and second-place teams played fourth-place teams. In response to the prior year when the Minnesota North Stars appeared to intentionally lose games to finish fourth in the West instead of third and avoid a tougher match-up with first-place Chicago, and also the Boston Bruins were "rewarded" for finishing first in the East with a tough series against eventual Stanley Cup Champion Montreal, the first round match-ups were changed so that the first-place team in each division played the fourth-place team, and the other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions.

The inter-divisional semifinals were thus modified accordingly, with winner of each #1 vs. #4 series now playing the winner of the #2 vs. #3 series in the other division. The winners of the semifinals then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Teams remained competing in a best-of-seven series in each round (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series).

| RD1-seed1=E1 | RD1-team1=Boston | RD1-score1=4 | RD1-seed2=E4 | RD1-team2=Toronto | RD1-score2=1 | RD1-seed3=W2 | RD1-team3=Minnesota | RD1-score3=3 | RD1-seed4=W3 | RD1-team4=St. Louis | RD1-score4=4 | RD1-seed5=W1 | RD1-team5=Chicago | RD1-score5=4 | RD1-seed6=W4 | RD1-team6=Pittsburgh | RD1-score6=0 | RD1-seed7=E2 | RD1-team7=New York | RD1-score7=4 | RD1-seed8=E3 | RD1-team8=Montreal | RD1-score8=2 | RD2-seed1=E1 | RD2-team1=Boston | RD2-score1=4 | RD2-seed2=W3 | RD2-team2=St. Louis | RD2-score2=0 | RD2-seed3=W1 | RD2-team3=Chicago | RD2-score3=0 | RD2-seed4=E2 | RD2-team4=New York | RD2-score4=4 | RD3-seed1=E1 | RD3-team1=Boston | RD3-score1=4 | RD3-seed2=E2 | RD3-team2=New York | RD3-score2=2

Quarterfinals

(E1) Boston Bruins vs. (E4) Toronto Maple Leafs

The Boston Bruins finished first in the league with 119 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished fourth in the East Division with 80 points. This was the twelfth playoff series between these two teams with Toronto winning eight of the eleven previous series. They last met in the 1969 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals which Boston won in four games. Boston won this year's six-game regular season series earning nine of twelve points.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =17:24 – Phil Esposito (1) 19:41 – Phil Esposito (2) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =03:47 – Don Marcotte (1) 15:27 – John McKenzie (1) 15:38 – Fred Stanfield (1) |goalie1-1 =Jacques Plante 24 saves / 29 shots |goalie1-2 =Gerry Cheevers 27 saves / 27 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =07:23 – Fred Stanfield (2) 14:01 – Phil Esposito (3) |2-2-1 =Dave Keon (1) – 01:23 Jim McKenny (1) – pp – 03:47 |2-2-2 =04:27 – Johnny Bucyk (1) |2-3-1 =Guy Trottier (1) – 08:42 |2-3-2 =No scoring |2-4-1 =Jim Harrison (1) – 02:58 |2-4-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Bernie Parent 37 saves / 40 shots |goalie2-2 =Gerry Cheevers 18 saves / 22 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Mike Walton (1) – pp – 18:38 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Bobby Orr (1) – pp – 01:24 |goalie3-1 =Bernie Parent 33 saves / 35 shots |goalie3-2 =Eddie Johnston 30 saves / 30 shots

|4-1-1 =17:45 – Dave Keon (2) |4-1-2 =Johnny Bucyk (2) – 16:36 |4-2-1 =11:11 – pp – Ron Ellis (1) 17:57 – sh – Jim McKenny (2) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =04:50 – Paul Henderson (1) |4-3-2 =Ken Hodge (1) – 01:15 Ed Westfall (1) – sh – 08:03 Phil Esposito (4) – 09:49 Ken Hodge (2) – 16:11 |goalie4-1 =Bernie Parent 31 saves / 36 shots |goalie4-2 =Eddie Johnston 38 saves / 42 shots

|5-1-1 =Jim McKenny (3) – pp – 11:12 |5-1-2 =15:42 – Fred Stanfield (3) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =05:18 – John McKenzie (2) |5-3-1 =Norm Ullman (1) – 06:09 |5-3-2 =07:38 – Ken Hodge (3) |goalie5-1 =Bernie Parent 34 saves / 37 shots |goalie5-2 =Gerry Cheevers 26 saves / 28 shots

(E2) New York Rangers vs. (E3) Montreal Canadiens

The New York Rangers finished second in the East Division with 109 points. The Montreal Canadiens finished third with 108 points. This was the tenth playoff series between these two teams with Montreal winning five of the nine previous series. They last met in the 1969 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals which Montreal won in four games. New York won this year's six-game regular season series earning eight of twelve points.

|1-1-1 =Claude Larose (1) – 18:55 |1-1-2 =16:30 – pp – Bill Fairbairn (1) 19:32 – Vic Hadfield (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Frank Mahovlich (1) – 07:48 |1-3-2 =12:43 – Vic Hadfield (2) |goalie1-1 =Ken Dryden 34 saves / 37 shots |goalie1-2 =Ed Giacomin 17 saves / 19 shots

|2-1-1 =Guy Lafleur (1) – 06:05 |2-1-2 =07:45 – Dale Rolfe (1) 10:26 – Ron Stewart (1) |2-2-1 =Claude Larose (2) – 02:29 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =00:20 – Bill Fairbairn (2) 15:34 – Walt Tkaczuk (1) 18:57 – Ted Irvine (1) |goalie2-1 =Ken Dryden 31 saves / 35 shots |goalie2-2 =Ed Giacomin 26 saves / 28 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =07:18 – pp – Frank Mahovlich (2) 18:13 – Marc Tardif (1) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Ron Stewart (2) – 07:21 |goalie3-1 =Ken Dryden 22 saves / 23 shots |goalie3-2 =Ed Giacomin 24 saves / 26 shots

|4-1-1 =11:22 – Jacques Lemaire (1) 18:15 – Marc Tardif (2) |4-1-2 =Bill Fairbairn (3) – pp – 04:47 Bobby Rousseau (1) – 07:24 Bobby Rousseau (2) – 13:48 Vic Hadfield (3) – 19:41 |4-2-1 =13:21 – Yvan Cournoyer (1) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =05:48 – Terry Harper (1) |4-3-2 =Pete Stemkowski (1) – 14:55 Ted Irvine (2) – 19:26 |goalie4-1 =Ken Dryden 23 saves / 28 shots |goalie4-2 =Ed Giacomin 29 saves / 33 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =No scoring |5-2-1 =Frank Mahovlich (3) – 06:53 |5-2-2 =04:24 – pp – Vic Hadfield (4) |5-3-1 =Jimmy Roberts (1) – 03:12 |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Ken Dryden 33 saves / 34 shots |goalie5-2 =Ed Giacomin 30 saves / 32 shots

|6-1-1 =11:32 – Yvan Cournoyer (2) |6-1-2 =Bill Fairbairn (4) – 09:31 |6-2-1 =14:48 – Jacques Lemaire (2) |6-2-2 =Bill Fairbairn (5) – 09:33 |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =Walt Tkaczuk (2) – 00:29 |goalie6-1 =Ken Dryden 32 saves / 35 shots |goalie6-2 =Ed Giacomin 23 saves / 25 shots

(W1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (W4) Pittsburgh Penguins

The Chicago Black Hawks finished first in the West Division with 107 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins finished fourth in the West Division with 66 points (winning the tiebreaker with Philadelphia in head-to-head season series 3–2–1). This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Chicago won this year's six-game regular season series earning eleven of twelve points.

|1-1-1 =Bobby Leiter (1) – 01:25 |1-1-2 =15:09 – Pit Martin (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =03:25 – sh – Jim Pappin (1) 16:37 – Pit Martin (2) |goalie1-1 =Jim Rutherford 35 saves / 38 shots |goalie1-2 =Tony Esposito 28 saves / 29 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =00:35 – Pit Martin (3) 05:52 – J.P. Bordeleau (1) |2-2-1 =Jean Pronovost (1) – sh – 10:51 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =Bobby Leiter (2) – pp – 12:45 |2-3-2 =11:17 – Chico Maki (1) |goalie2-1 =Jim Rutherford 32 saves / 35 shots |goalie2-2 =Tony Esposito 26 saves / 28 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =J.P. Bordeleau (2) – 05:33 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Stan Mikita (1) – 12:41 |goalie3-1 =Jim Rutherford 38 saves / 40 shots |goalie3-2 =Gary Smith 31 saves / 31 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Jim Pappin (2) – 03:08 |4-2-1 =09:13 – Ken Schinkel (1) 14:10 – Syl Apps Jr. (1) 17:19 – Ken Schinkel (2) 19:30 – Ron Schock (1) |4-2-2 =Bobby Hull (1) – 16:40 |4-3-1 =17:52 – Bobby Leiter (3) |4-3-2 =Bobby Hull (2) – 01:22 Bobby Hull (3) – 11:28 Dennis Hull (1) – 15:38 |4-4-1 =No scoring |4-4-2 =Pit Martin (4) – 00:12 |goalie4-1 =Jim Rutherford 26 saves / 32 shots |goalie4-2 =Gerry Desjardins 29 saves / 34 shots

(W2) Minnesota North Stars vs. (W3) St. Louis Blues

The Minnesota North Stars finished second in the West Division with 86 points. The St. Louis Blues finished third with 67 points. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with St. Louis winning two of the three previous series. They last met in the previous year's Quarterfinals which the North Stars won in six games. Minnesota won four of the six games in this year's regular season series.

Kevin O'Shea's series-winning goal in overtime of Game 7 was the first time in Stanley Cup Playoff history that the road team won Game 7 in overtime.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =14:25 – Dean Prentice (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =04:19 – Dean Prentice (2) 12:01 – Bob Nevin (1) |goalie1-1 =Jacques Caron 41 saves / 44 shots |goalie1-2 =Gump Worsley 27 saves / 27 shots

|2-1-1 =Frank St. Marseille (1) – pp – 12:14 |2-1-2 =02:51 – pp – Doug Mohns (1) |2-2-1 =Frank St. Marseille (2) – 02:00 Frank St. Marseille (3) – 05:38 |2-2-2 =04:27 – pp – J. P. Parise (1) 07:38 – Danny Grant (1) |2-3-1 =Garry Unger (1) – 08:05 Phil Roberto (1) – 10:59 |2-3-2 =01:45 – Jude Drouin (1) 11:32 – Dean Prentice (3) |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =01:36 – Bill Goldsworthy (1) |goalie2-1 =Ernie Wakely 23 saves / 29 shots |goalie2-2 =Cesare Maniago 33 saves / 38 shots

|3-1-1 =09:28 – Phil Roberto (2) |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =10:07 – pp – Phil Roberto (3) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Jude Drouin (2) – pp – 00:40 |goalie3-1 =Jacques Caron 29 saves / 30 shots |goalie3-2 =Gump Worsley 33 saves / 35 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Jude Drouin (3) – 10:56 |4-2-1 =12:12 – Phil Roberto (4) 13:45 – Kevin O'Shea (1) |4-2-2 =Danny Grant (2) – 00:21 |4-3-1 =11:50 – pp – Barclay Plager (1) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Jacques Caron 28 saves / 30 shots |goalie4-2 =Cesare Maniago 35 saves / 38 shots

|5-1-1 =Gary Sabourin (1) – 16:34 Phil Roberto (5) – pp – 19:59 |5-1-2 =01:42 – Barry Gibbs (1) 17:55 – Tom Reid (1) |5-2-1 =Garry Unger (2) – pp – 19:34 |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =02:55 – pp – J. P. Parise (2) 05:45 – Jude Drouin (4) |goalie5-1 =Jacques Caron 23 saves / 27 shots |goalie5-2 =Gump Worsley 30 saves / 33 shots

|6-1-1 =03:04 – pp – Phil Roberto (6) 06:21 – Bob Plager (1) |6-1-2 =Bill Goldsworthy (2) – 04:03 |6-2-1 =11:07 – Garry Unger (3) |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =16:13 – Jack Egers (1) |6-3-2 =J. P. Parise (3) – 15:01 |goalie6-1 =Jacques Caron 28 saves / 30 shots |goalie6-2 =Gump Worsley 11 saves / 13 shots Cesare Maniago 23 saves / 25 shots

|7-1-1 =Gary Sabourin (2) – 12:04 |7-1-2 =No scoring |7-2-1 =No scoring |7-2-2 =No scoring |7-3-1 =No scoring |7-3-2 =00:15 – Charlie Burns (1) |7-4-1 =Kevin O'Shea (2) – 10:07 |7-4-2 =No scoring |goalie7-1 =Jacques Caron 28 saves / 29 shots |goalie7-2 =Cesare Maniago 25 saves / 27 shots

Semifinals

(E1) Boston Bruins vs. (W3) St. Louis Blues

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous series came in the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals which Boston won in four games. Boston won this year's six-game regular season series earning nine of twelve points.

|1-1-1 =Garry Unger (4) – pp – 03:18 |1-1-2 =04:22 – Fred Stanfield (4) 11:03 – Mike Walton (2) 17:27 – Johnny Bucyk (3) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =10:48 – pp – Fred Stanfield (5) 19:32 – Fred Stanfield (6) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =14:55 – pp – Phil Esposito (5) |goalie1-1 =Jacques Caron 21 saves / 26 shots Ernie Wakely 17 saves / 18 shots |goalie1-2 =Eddie Johnston 25 saves / 26 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =07:17 – pp – Johnny Bucyk (4) 08:39 – Phil Esposito (6) 09:54 – Ed Westfall (2) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =06:33 – Garnet Bailey (1) 09:27 – pp – John McKenzie (3) |2-3-1 =Mike Murphy (1) – 04:37 Phil Roberto (7) – 05:26 |2-3-2 =03:47 – pp – Johnny Bucyk (5) 10:34 – Mike Walton (3) 14:29 – Don Marcotte (2) 16:07 – Johnny Bucyk (6) 16:47 – Ed Westfall (3) |goalie2-1 =Jacques Caron 9 saves / 13 shots Ernie Wakely 12 saves / 18 shots |goalie2-2 =Gerry Cheevers 31 saves / 33 shots

|3-1-1 =02:05 – pp – Mike Murphy (2) |3-1-2 =Ed Westfall (4) – sh – 08:40 John McKenzie (4) – pp – 10:36 Phil Esposito (7) – 19:42 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Mike Walton (4) – 02:58 Ken Hodge (4) – 06:28 John McKenzie (5) – pp – 11:12 |3-3-1 =18:15 – Gary Sabourin (3) |3-3-2 =Mike Walton (5) – 11:09 |goalie3-1 =Peter McDuffe 31 saves / 38 shots |goalie3-2 =Eddie Johnston 27 saves / 29 shots

|4-1-1 =18:16 – Terry Crisp (1) |4-1-2 =Phil Esposito (8) – 01:29 Johnny Bucyk (7) – pp – 09:27 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Johnny Bucyk (8) – pp – 04:44 Phil Esposito (9) – pp – 17:53 |4-3-1 =08:50 – Andre Dupont (1) 15:25 – Chris Evans (1) |4-3-2 =Wayne Cashman (1) – 19:22 |goalie4-1 =Jacques Caron 22 saves / 26 shots |goalie4-2 =Gerry Cheevers 33 saves / 36 shots

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

This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with Chicago winning all three previous series. They last met in the previous year's Semifinals which the Black Hawks won in seven games. New York won this year's six-game regular season series earning seven of twelve points.

|1-1-1 =Ted Irvine (3) – 12:51 |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Brad Park (1) – 16:07 Walt Tkaczuk (3) – 16:42 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =12:30 – Stan Mikita (2) 14:40 – J. P. Bordeleau (3) |goalie1-1 =Ed Giacomin 25 saves / 27 shots |goalie1-2 =Tony Esposito 25 saves / 28 shots

|2-1-1 =Vic Hadfield (5) – 14:38 |2-1-2 =09:46 – Dennis Hull (2) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =14:15 – Stan Mikita (3) |2-3-1 =Rod Gilbert (1) – pp – 00:54 Brad Park (2) – 08:15 Rod Gilbert (2) – 12:36 Pete Stemkowski (2) – 19:51 |2-3-2 =06:17 – pp – Pat Stapleton (1) |goalie2-1 =Gilles Villemure 32 saves / 35 shots |goalie2-2 =Tony Esposito 27 saves / 31 shots

|3-1-1 =17:31 – Pete Stemkowski (3) |3-1-2 =Dennis Hull (3) – 05:12 |3-2-1 =06:20 – sh – Bruce MacGregor (1) 10:56 – Dale Rolfe (2) |3-2-2 =Dennis Hull (4) – pp – 09:49 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Gilles Villemure 21 saves / 23 shots |goalie3-2 =Gary Smith 36 saves / 39 shots

|4-1-1 =05:49 – pp – Phil Goyette (1) 15:32 – Bobby Rousseau (3) |4-1-2 =Bobby Hull (4) – sh – 05:37 |4-2-1 =04:37 – pp – Rod Gilbert (3) 16:25 – Vic Hadfield (6) 18:22 – Gene Carr (1) |4-2-2 =Pat Stapleton (2) – pp – 12:10 |4-3-1 =03:40 – Bobby Rousseau (4) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Gilles Villemure 23 saves / 25 shots |goalie4-2 =Tony Esposito 31 saves / 37 shots

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1972 Stanley Cup Finals

This was the eighth series between these two teams with Boston winning five of the seven previous series. They last met in the 1970 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals which the Bruins won in six games. The Bruins made their twelfth appearance in the Finals; they most recently made the Finals in 1970 where they defeated the St. Louis Blues in four games. This was the New York Rangers eighth Finals appearance and first since 1950 where they lost to the Detroit Red Wings in seven games. Boston won five of the six games in this year's regular season series.

|1-1-1 =Dale Rolfe (3) – 03:52 |1-1-2 =05:07 – Fred Stanfield (7) 15:48 – Ken Hodge (5) 17:29 – sh – Derek Sanderson (1) 18:14 – sh – Ken Hodge (6) |1-2-1 =Rod Gilbert (4) – pp – 11:54 |1-2-2 =10:46 – Ken Hodge (7) |1-3-1 =Vic Hadfield (7) – pp – 01:56 Walt Tkaczuk (4) – 07:48 Bruce MacGregor (2) – 09:17 |1-3-2 =17:44 – Garnet Bailey (2) |goalie1-1 =Ed Giacomin 22 saves / 28 shots |goalie1-2 =Gerry Cheevers 24 saves / 29 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =16:15 – pp – Johnny Bucyk (9) |2-2-1 =Rod Gilbert (5) – 07:23 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =11:53 – pp – Ken Hodge (8) |goalie2-1 =Gilles Villemure 23 saves / 25 shots |goalie2-2 =Eddie Johnston 27 saves / 28 shots

|3-1-1 =01:22 – pp – Brad Park (3) 11:19 – pp – Rod Gilbert (6) 13:00 – pp – Brad Park (4) |3-1-2 =Mike Walton (6) – 14:04 |3-2-1 =03:46 – Rod Gilbert (7) 19:23 – Pete Stemkowski (4) |3-2-2 =Bobby Orr (2) – 01:10 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Ed Giacomin 32 saves / 34 shots |goalie3-2 =Gerry Cheevers 34 saves / 39 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Bobby Orr (3) – 05:26 Bobby Orr (4) – pp – 08:17 |4-2-1 =18:38 – Ted Irvine (4) |4-2-2 =Don Marcotte (3) – sh – 16:33 |4-3-1 =18:35 – pp – Rod Seiling (1) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Ed Giacomin 21 saves / 24 shots |goalie4-2 =Eddie Johnston 21 saves / 23 shots

|5-1-1 =Dale Rolfe (4) – 13:45 |5-1-2 =03:55 – Wayne Cashman (2) 16:07 – pp – Ken Hodge (9) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =Bobby Rousseau (5) – 02:56 Bobby Rousseau (6) – 12:45 |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Gilles Villemure 36 saves / 38 shots |goalie5-2 =Eddie Johnston 23 saves / 26 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =Bobby Orr (5) – pp – 11:18 |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =Wayne Cashman (3) – pp – 05:10 Wayne Cashman (4) – 18:11 |goalie6-1 =Gilles Villemure 24 saves / 27 shots |goalie6-2 =Gerry Cheevers 33 saves / 33 shots

Awards

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 and Joe Crozier
• Detroit Red Wings: Johnny Wilson
• Montreal Canadiens: Scotty Bowman
• New York Rangers: Emile Francis
• Toronto Maple Leafs: John McLellan
• Vancouver Canucks: Hal Laycoe

West

• California Golden Seals: Vic Stasiuk
• Chicago Black Hawks: Billy Reay
• Los Angeles Kings: Fred Glover
• Minnesota North Stars: Jack Gordon
• Philadelphia Flyers: Fred Shero
• Pittsburgh Penguins: Red Kelly
• St. Louis Blues: Sid Abel, Bill McCreary Sr. and Al Arbour

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1971–72 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Terry O'Reilly, Boston Bruins
• Rick Martin, Buffalo Sabres
• Craig Ramsay, Buffalo Sabres
• Marcel Dionne, Detroit Red Wings
• Billy Smith, Los Angeles Kings
• Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
• Bill Clement, Philadelphia Flyers
• Dave Schultz, Philadelphia Flyers
• Mike Murphy, St. Louis Blues
• Wayne Stephenson, St. Louis Blues
• Rick Kehoe, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Jocelyn Guevremont, Vancouver Canucks
• Dennis Kearns, Vancouver Canucks

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1971–72 listed with their last team:

• John McKenzie, Boston Bruins
• Ted Green, Boston Bruins
• Dick Duff, Buffalo Sabres
• Eric Nesterenko, Chicago Black Hawks
• Ab McDonald, Detroit Red Wings
• Bob Pulford, Los Angeles Kings
• J.C. Tremblay, Montreal Canadiens
• Phil Goyette, New York Rangers
• Val Fonteyne, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Bill Hicke, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Brit Selby, St. Louis Blues
• Don Marshall, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Rosaire Paiement, Vancouver Canucks

NOTE: McKenzie, Green, Tremblay, Fonteyne, Selby, Nesterenko, McDonald, Hicke and Paiement would continue their careers in the World Hockey Association.

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games. HNIC also produced Wednesday night regular season game telecasts for CTV. Due to a National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians strike that affected the CBC, this season's Stanley Cup playoff games aired instead on CTV.

This was the sixth and final season under the U.S. rights agreement with CBS, airing Sunday afternoon regular season and playoff games. CBS also televised Game 6 of the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals on a Thursday night. NBC then signed a new contract to broadcast games.

References

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

;Notes