1979 Stanley Cup playoffs

Playoff seeds

The top two teams in each division made the playoffs, along with the four next-best regular-season records from teams in the entire league finishing third or lower. All 12 clubs then were seeded 1–12 based on regular season points, regardless of conference or division, as follows:

1. New York Islanders, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions, NHL regular season champions – 116 points
2. Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 115 points
3. Boston Bruins, Adams Division champions – 100 points
4. Philadelphia Flyers – 95 points
5. New York Rangers – 91 points
6. Atlanta Flames – 90 points
7. Buffalo Sabres – 88 points
8. Pittsburgh Penguins – 85 points
9. Toronto Maple Leafs – 81 points
10. Los Angeles Kings – 80 points
11. Chicago Black Hawks, Smythe Division champions – 73 points
12. Vancouver Canucks – 63 points

Playoff bracket

The four division winners earned a bye to the Quarterfinals, while the other eight teams competed first in the Preliminary Round. The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system: in each round, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth.

Each series in the Preliminary Round was played in a best-of-three format while each series in the other three rounds were played in a best-of-seven format.

| RD1-seed05=1 | RD1-team05=Philadelphia | RD1-score05=2 | RD1-seed06=8 | RD1-team06=Vancouver | RD1-score06=1

| RD1-seed07=2 | RD1-team07=NY Rangers | RD1-score07=2 | RD1-seed08=7 | RD1-team08=Los Angeles | RD1-score08=0

| RD1-seed11=3 | RD1-team11=Atlanta | RD1-score11=0 | RD1-seed12=6 | RD1-team12=Toronto | RD1-score12=2

| RD1-seed15=4 | RD1-team15=Buffalo | RD1-score15=1 | RD1-seed16=5 | RD1-team16=Pittsburgh | RD1-score16=2

| RD2-seed01=1 | RD2-team01=NY Islanders | RD2-score01=4 | RD2-seed02=8 | RD2-team02=Chicago | RD2-score02=0

| RD2-seed03=4 | RD2-team03=Philadelphia | RD2-score03=1 | RD2-seed04=5 | RD2-team04=NY Rangers | RD2-score04=4

| RD2-seed05=2 | RD2-team05=Montreal | RD2-score05=4 | RD2-seed06=7 | RD2-team06=Toronto | RD2-score06=0

| RD2-seed07=3 | RD2-team07=Boston | RD2-score07=4 | RD2-seed08=6 | RD2-team08=Pittsburgh | RD2-score08=0

| RD3-seed01=1 | RD3-team01=NY Islanders | RD3-score01=2 | RD3-seed02=4 | RD3-team02=NY Rangers | RD3-score02=4

| RD3-seed03=2 | RD3-team03=Montreal | RD3-score03=4 | RD3-seed04=3 | RD3-team04=Boston | RD3-score04=3

| RD4-seed01=2 | RD4-team01=Montreal | RD4-score01=4 | RD4-seed02=4 | RD4-team02=NY Rangers | RD4-score02=1

Preliminary round

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (8) Vancouver Canucks

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Thomas Gradin (1) – 01:35 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Stan Smyl (1) – 00:09 Don Lever (1) – 10:38 |1-3-2 =06:30 – Bobby Clarke (1) 19:35 – Reggie Leach (1) |goalie1-1 =Gary Bromley 28 saves / 30 shots |goalie1-2 =Wayne Stephenson 23 saves / 26 shots

|2-1-1 =14:10 – pp – Don Lever (2) 16:11 – pp – Dennis Kearns (1) |2-1-2 =Tom Gorence (1) – 01:47 Reggie Leach (2) – pp – 18:39 |2-2-1 =01:48 – Thomas Gradin (2) |2-2-2 =Tom Gorence (2) – 01:12 |2-3-1 =16:40 – Thomas Gradin (3) |2-3-2 =Ken Linseman (1) – 13:36 Reggie Leach (3) – 19:06 Bill Barber (1) – 19:57 |goalie2-1 =Gary Bromley 31 saves / 36 shots |goalie2-2 =Robbie Moore 17 saves / 21 shots

|3-1-1 =Thomas Gradin (4) – 17:34 |3-1-2 =04:13 – pp – Bobby Clarke (2) 07:20 – Al Hill (1) |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =00:34 – pp – Reggie Leach (4) 08:53 – pp – Tom Gorence (3) 10:27 – Blake Dunlop (1) |3-3-1 =Don Kozak (1) – 15:11 |3-3-2 =03:05 – Bill Barber (2) 12:58 – Paul Holmgren (1) |goalie3-1 =Gary Bromley 21 saves / 28 shots |goalie3-2 =Robbie Moore 29 saves / 31 shots

(2) New York Rangers vs. (7) Los Angeles Kings

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.

|1-1-1 =Charlie Simmer (1) – pp – 09:17 |1-1-2 =06:15 – pp – Lucien DeBlois (1) 14:16 – pp – Mike McEwen (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =06:15 – Steve Vickers (1) 09:08 – Dave Maloney (1) 13:38 – pp – Ron Greschner (1) 15:49 – Walt Tkaczuk (1) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =13:02 – Dave Maloney (2) |goalie1-1 =Mario Lessard 23 saves / 30 shots |goalie1-2 =John Davidson 31 saves / 32 shots

|2-1-1 =12:29 – pp – Syl Apps Jr. (1) |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =Phil Esposito (1) – 01:11 |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =Phil Esposito (2) – 06:11 |goalie2-1 =Mario Lessard 41 saves / 43 shots |goalie2-2 =John Davidson 35 saves / 36 shots

(3) Atlanta Flames vs. (6) Toronto Maple Leafs

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Walt McKechnie (1) – sh – 06:26 Walt McKechnie (2) – 09:14 |1-2-2 =16:37 – Jean Pronovost (1) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Mike Palmateer 27 saves / 28 shots |goalie1-2 =Dan Bouchard 19 saves / 21 shots

|2-1-1 =04:04 – Darryl Sittler (1) 04:16 – Darryl Sittler (2) 04:27 – Ron Ellis (1) |2-1-2 =Jean Pronovost (2) – pp – 10:51 |2-2-1 =03:09 – Pat Boutette (1) 08:38 – pp – Dan Maloney (1) 15:42 – Walt McKechnie (3) 17:32 – Pat Boutette (2) |2-2-2 =Guy Chouinard (1) – pp – 11:41 |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =Bobby Lalonde (1) – pp – 03:57 Willi Plett (1) – 10:02 |goalie2-1 =Mike Palmateer 22 saves / 26 shots |goalie2-2 =Dan Bouchard 20 saves / 27 shots Rejean Lemelin 15 saves / 15 shots

(4) Buffalo Sabres vs. (5) Pittsburgh Penguins

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.

|1-1-1 =Rod Schutt (1) – 11:32 |1-1-2 =10:49 – Mike Boland (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =12:48 – Rene Robert (1) |1-3-1 =Blair Chapman (1) – 05:21 Gary McAdam (1) – 13:54 Orest Kindrachuk (1) – 15:46 |1-3-2 =17:26 – Don Luce (1) |goalie1-1 =Denis Herron 28 saves / 31 shots |goalie1-2 =Bob Sauve 18 saves / 22 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =Rick Dudley (1) – 19:22 |2-2-1 =17:19 – Colin Campbell (1) |2-2-2 =Jacques Richard (1) – 02:59 |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =Rene Robert (2) – 19:11 |goalie2-1 =Denis Herron 27 saves / 30 shots |goalie2-2 =Bob Sauve 30 saves / 31 shots

|3-1-1 =Jim Hamilton (1) – 13:04 |3-1-2 =12:59 – pp – Gilbert Perreault (1) 16:35 – Craig Ramsay (1) |3-2-1 =Jim Hamilton (2) – 11:47 |3-2-2 =17:38 – Jerry Korab (1) |3-3-1 =George Ferguson (1) – 04:17 |3-3-2 =No scoring |3-4-1 =George Ferguson (2) – 00:47 |3-4-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Denis Herron 38 saves / 41 shots |goalie3-2 =Bob Sauve 20 saves / 24 shots

Quarterfinals

(1) New York Islanders vs. (8) Chicago Black Hawks

This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. New York won the only previous meeting in a two-game sweep in the 1977 Preliminary Round.

|1-1-1 =Reg Kerr (1) – 07:36 |1-1-2 =02:29 – Wayne Merrick (1) 18:41 – Mike Bossy (1) |1-2-1 =Bob Murray (1) – 06:46 |1-2-2 =02:27 – Bryan Trottier (1) 14:25 – pp – Mike Bossy (2) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =03:49 – Denis Potvin (1) 15:27 – Mike Bossy (3) |goalie1-1 =Tony Esposito 28 saves / 34 shots |goalie1-2 =Chico Resch 22 saves / 24 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =02:31 – Mike Bossy (4) |goalie2-1 =Tony Esposito 39 saves / 40 shots |goalie2-2 =Billy Smith 22 saves / 22 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Billy Harris (1) – pp – 18:08 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Lorne Henning (1) – 17:47 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Clark Gillies (1) – 03:00 Denis Potvin (2) – 11:45 |goalie3-1 =Tony Esposito 24 saves / 28 shots |goalie3-2 =Chico Resch 21 saves / 21 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Denis Potvin (3) – 15:09 |4-2-1 =07:05 – Mike Walton (1) |4-2-2 =Ed Westfall (1) – 01:24 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Mike Bossy (5) – 08:02 |goalie4-1 =Tony Esposito 21 saves / 24 shots |goalie4-2 =Billy Smith 27 saves / 28 shots

(2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (7) Toronto Maple Leafs

This was the fifteenth playoff meeting between these two teams; with the teams splitting the fourteen previous series. They met in previous year's Stanley Cup Semifinals, which Montreal won in a four-game sweep.

These teams did not meet again in the playoffs until 2021.

|1-1-1 =Lanny McDonald (1) – 09:36 |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Dan Maloney (2) – 03:23 |1-2-2 =04:33 – Steve Shutt (1) 13:05 – pp – Guy Lafleur (1) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =04:23 – Jacques Lemaire (1) 07:15 – Jacques Lemaire (2) 09:59 – pp – Yvon Lambert (1) |goalie1-1 =Mike Palmateer 28 saves / 33 shots |goalie1-2 =Ken Dryden 26 saves / 28 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =02:50 – Bob Gainey (1) 09:33 – Guy Lafleur (2) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =07:01 – pp – Jacques Lemaire (3) |2-3-1 =Lanny McDonald (2) – 19:43 |2-3-2 =13:19 – Bob Gainey (2) 14:36 – Steve Shutt (2) |goalie2-1 =Mike Palmateer 20 saves / 23 shots Paul Harrison 13 saves / 15 shots |goalie2-2 =Ken Dryden 27 saves / 28 shots

|3-1-1 =05:06 – pp – Darryl Sittler (3) 08:14 – Lanny McDonald (3) |3-1-2 =Mark Napier (1) – 02:48 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Larry Robinson (1) – 04:35 Jacques Lemaire (4) – pp – 06:12 |3-3-1 =17:40 – Darryl Sittler (4) |3-3-2 =No scoring |3-4-1 =No scoring |3-4-2 =Cam Connor (1) – 05:25 |goalie3-1 =Mike Palmateer 40 saves / 44 shots |goalie3-2 =Ken Dryden 38 saves / 41 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Yvon Lambert (2) – pp – 06:55 Larry Robinson (2) – 07:57 |4-2-1 =14:46 – Rocky Saganiuk (1) 16:06 – pp – Darryl Sittler (5) |4-2-2 =Pierre Mondou (1) – 08:06 Pat Hughes (1) – 10:31 |4-3-1 =13:29 – Walt McKechnie (4) 13:58 – Dan Maloney (3) |4-3-2 =No scoring |4-4-1 =No scoring |4-4-2 =Larry Robinson (3) – pp – 04:14 |goalie4-1 =Paul Harrison 30 saves / 35 shots |goalie4-2 =Ken Dryden 29 saves / 33 shots

(3) Boston Bruins vs. (6) Pittsburgh Penguins

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =02:29 – Peter McNab (1) 05:21 – Don Marcotte (1) 15:58 – Mike Milbury (1) |1-2-1 =Orest Kindrachuk (2) – 06:07 |1-2-2 =04:21 – Don Marcotte (2) 16:02 – pp – Bobby Schmautz (1) 17:27 – sh – Dick Redmond (1) |1-3-1 =Gregg Sheppard (1) – pp – 12:14 |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Denis Herron 27 saves / 33 shots |goalie1-2 =Gerry Cheevers 19 saves / 21 shots

|2-1-1 =Jim Hamilton (3) – pp – 14:11 |2-1-2 =15:10 – pp – Jean Ratelle (1) 16:16 – Dwight Foster (1) |2-2-1 =Orest Kindrachuk (3) – 14:52 |2-2-2 =14:15 – Peter McNab (2) |2-3-1 =Orest Kindrachuk (4) – 19:54 |2-3-2 =10:10 – Bob Miller (1) |goalie2-1 =Denis Herron 21 saves / 25 shots |goalie2-2 =Gerry Cheevers 24 saves / 27 shots

|3-1-1 =03:10 – Gary McAdam (2) |3-1-2 =Peter McNab (3) – 18:43 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Rick Middleton (1) – pp – 05:03 |goalie3-1 =Denis Herron 29 saves / 31 shots |goalie3-2 =Gerry Cheevers 23 saves / 24 shots

|4-1-1 =15:20 – Rod Schutt (2) |4-1-2 =Bobby Schmautz (2) – 16:53 Jean Ratelle (2) – 18:46 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Jean Ratelle (3) – 08:50 Don Marcotte (3) – 19:19 |goalie4-1 =Denis Herron 27 saves / 30 shots |goalie4-2 =Gerry Cheevers 24 saves / 25 shots

(4) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (5) New York Rangers

This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. Philadelphia won the only previous meeting in seven games in the 1974 Stanley Cup Semifinals.

|1-1-1 =Don Maloney (1) – 04:32 Phil Esposito (3) – pp – 09:10 |1-1-2 =16:52 – pp – Bob Kelly (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =15:02 – Bill Barber (3) |1-4-1 =No scoring |1-4-2 =00:44 – Ken Linseman (2) |goalie1-1 =John Davidson 29 saves / 32 shots |goalie1-2 =Robbie Moore 22 saves / 24 shots

|2-1-1 =Steve Vickers (2) – 02:21 Ron Greschner (2) – sh – 18:22 |2-1-2 =07:45 – Frank Bathe (1) |2-2-1 =Don Maloney (2) – 02:32 Ron Greschner (3) – pp – 06:19 Eddie Johnstone (1) – 10:41 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =Don Murdoch (1) – pp – 09:44 Mike McEwen (2) – pp – 17:18 |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =John Davidson 32 saves / 33 shots |goalie2-2 =Robbie Moore 13 saves / 17 shots Wayne Stephenson 16 saves / 19 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Mel Bridgman (1) – 01:38 |3-2-1 =02:15 – Don Maloney (3) 02:41 – Don Maloney (4) 05:39 – sh – Anders Hedberg (1) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =14:17 – Ron Duguay (1) 19:48 – Don Murdoch (2) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =John Davidson 32 saves / 33 shots |goalie3-2 =Wayne Stephenson 20 saves / 24 shots

|4-1-1 =03:43 – Don Murdoch (3) 06:33 – Eddie Johnstone (2) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =02:00 – Phil Esposito (4) 05:15 – Bobby Sheehan (1) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =06:58 – pp – Don Murdoch (4) 11:39 – sh – Eddie Johnstone (3) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =John Davidson 28 saves / 29 shots |goalie4-2 =Robbie Moore 24 saves / 30 shots

|5-1-1 =Ron Greschner (4) – pp – 09:55 Walt Tkaczuk (2) – sh – 13:26 |5-1-2 =No scoring |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =Walt Tkaczuk (3) – 02:03 Steve Vickers (3) – 04:13 Ron Duguay (2) – sh – 08:19 Carol Vadnais (1) – 16:50 Eddie Johnstone (4) – 17:24 Anders Hedberg (2) – 19:26 |5-3-2 =10:37 – pp – Reggie Leach (5) 12:21 – Bob Dailey (1) 15:27 – Behn Wilson (1) |goalie5-1 =John Davidson 25 saves / 28 shots |goalie5-2 =Wayne Stephenson 15 saves / 21 shots

Semifinals

(1) New York Islanders vs. (4) New York Rangers

This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. The Islanders won the only previous meeting 2–1 in the 1975 Preliminary Round.

|1-1-1 =Don Murdoch (5) – pp – 15:01 Eddie Johnstone (5) – 17:57 |1-1-2 =10:41 – Bryan Trottier (2) |1-2-1 =Ron Duguay (3) – 09:43 Bobby Sheehan (2) – 16:34 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =John Davidson 21 saves / 22 shots |goalie1-2 =Chico Resch 34 saves / 38 shots

|2-1-1 =Walt Tkaczuk (4) – 03:12 |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =Bobby Sheehan (3) – pp – 08:32 |2-2-2 =01:37 – Wayne Merrick (2) |2-3-1 =Phil Esposito (5) – 15:48 |2-3-2 =05:13 – Bob Lorimer (1) 09:35 – Bobby Nystrom (1) |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =08:02 – Denis Potvin (4) |goalie2-1 =John Davidson 33 saves / 37 shots |goalie2-2 =Billy Smith 34 saves / 37 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =03:14 – Bobby Sheehan (4) 16:23 – Phil Esposito (6) |3-2-2 =Bob Bourne (1) – 14:04 |3-3-1 =13:55 – Steve Vickers (4) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =John Davidson 16 saves / 17 shots |goalie3-2 =Chico Resch 29 saves / 32 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =01:18 – Don Maloney (5) |4-2-2 =John Tonelli (1) – 01:53 |4-3-1 =06:50 – Don Maloney (6) |4-3-2 =Billy Harris (2) – 02:56 |4-4-1 =No scoring |4-4-2 =Bobby Nystrom (2) – 03:40 |goalie4-1 =John Davidson 23 saves / 26 shots |goalie4-2 =Billy Smith 28 saves / 30 shots

|5-1-1 =Don Maloney (7) – 15:29 |5-1-2 =17:48 – sh – Lorne Henning (2) |5-2-1 =Lucien DeBlois (2) – 07:29 |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =Ron Greschner (5) – 09:04 Anders Hedberg (3) – 17:47 |5-3-2 =04:20 – Mike Kaszycki (1) 09:33 – Bobby Nystrom (3) |goalie5-1 =John Davidson 25 saves / 28 shots |goalie5-2 =Billy Smith 26 saves / 30 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =Mike Bossy (6) – pp – 08:56 |6-2-1 =05:03 – Don Murdoch (6) 08:45 – pp – Ron Greschner (6) |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =John Davidson 21 saves / 22 shots |goalie6-2 =Chico Resch 25 saves / 27 shots

(2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3) Boston Bruins

This was the 18th playoff series meeting between these two teams, which Montreal led 15–2 in previous meetings. This series served as the final chapter in this rivalry for the late 1970s following Montreal's Cup Finals victories over Boston in 1977 and 1978 in four and six games respectively.

This series is best remembered for its dramatic conclusion in the late stages of game seven. Boston's Rick Middleton scored the go-ahead goal with four minutes remaining in regulation. Montreal's dynasty and success over Boston in the playoffs were suddenly in serious jeopardy. However, with time winding down to less than three minutes remaining, Boston committed a series-defining penalty for having too many men on the ice. With Montreal on the power play, Guy Lafleur scored the game-tying goal with 1:14 remaining to force overtime. Approaching the midway point of the first overtime, Yvon Lambert would score the series-winning goal to send the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Finals for the fourth straight year. This marked the 14th straight playoff meeting between the two teams that ended with the Canadiens defeating the Bruins.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =13:52 – Jacques Lemaire (5) |1-2-1 =Jean Ratelle (4) – pp – 03:37 Don Marcotte (4) – 05:34 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =03:44 – Guy Lafleur (3) 12:17 – Pierre Larouche (1) 19:33 – Doug Jarvis (1) |goalie1-1 =Gerry Cheevers 17 saves / 20 shots |goalie1-2 =Ken Dryden 19 saves / 21 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =Rick Middleton (2) – 07:42 Peter McNab (4) – 10:34 |2-2-2 =17:41 – Jacques Lemaire (6) 18:11 – Bob Gainey (3) 19:05 – Mario Tremblay (1) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =04:50 – Guy Lafleur (4) 15:43 – Rick Chartraw (1) |goalie2-1 =Gerry Cheevers 15 saves / 20 shots |goalie2-2 =Ken Dryden 21 saves / 23 shots

|3-1-1 =12:19 – Stan Jonathan (1) |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =16:48 – Brad Park (1) |3-3-2 =Larry Robinson (4) – 13:23 |goalie3-1 =Gilles Gilbert 17 saves / 18 shots |goalie3-2 =Ken Dryden 29 saves / 31 shots

|4-1-1 =15:15 – Jean Ratelle (5) |4-1-2 =Pierre Mondou (2) – pp – 18:59 |4-2-1 =13:21 – Jean Ratelle (6) |4-2-2 =Guy Lafleur (5) – 07:58 |4-3-1 =16:18 – Peter McNab (5) |4-3-2 =Guy Lapointe (1) – 17:54 |4-4-1 =03:46 – Jean Ratelle (7) |4-4-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Gilles Gilbert 21 saves / 24 shots |goalie4-2 =Ken Dryden 28 saves / 32 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =08:35 – Guy Lafleur (6) 09:00 – Guy Lafleur (7) 19:02 – Larry Robinson (5) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =Wayne Cashman (1) – pp – 18:32 |5-3-2 =10:03 – pp – Serge Savard (1) 12:00 – Mario Tremblay (2) |goalie5-1 =Gilles Gilbert 35 saves / 40 shots |goalie5-2 =Ken Dryden 21 saves / 22 shots

|6-1-1 =10:02 – Stan Jonathan (2) 12:21 – Don Marcotte (5) |6-1-2 =Larry Robinson (6) – 08:05 Pierre Mondou (3) – 12:48 |6-2-1 =16:30 – Wayne Cashman (2) |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =07:23 – Stan Jonathan (3) 15:24 – Stan Jonathan (4) |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Gilles Gilbert 25 saves / 27 shots |goalie6-2 =Ken Dryden 18 saves / 23 shots

|7-1-1 =Rick Middleton (3) – pp – 10:09 |7-1-2 =14:19 – pp – Jacques Lemaire (7) |7-2-1 =Wayne Cashman (3) – 00:27 Wayne Cashman (4) – 16:12 |7-2-2 =No scoring |7-3-1 =Rick Middleton (4) – 16:01 |7-3-2 =06:10 – Mark Napier (2) 08:16 – pp – Guy Lapointe (2) 18:46 – pp – Guy Lafleur (8) |7-4-1 =No scoring |7-4-2 =09:33 – Yvon Lambert (3) |goalie7-1 =Gilles Gilbert 47 saves / 52 shots |goalie7-2 =Ken Dryden 26 saves / 30 shots

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1979 Stanley Cup Finals

This was the 12th playoff series (and only Finals) meeting between these two teams. New York led 6–5 in previous meetings. Their last encounter was won by New York in six games in the 1974 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals.

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 as follows: Canadiens winning in and , Rangers winning in .

|1-1-1 =Steve Vickers (5) – pp – 06:28 Ron Greschner (7) – 14:27 |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Phil Esposito (7) – pp – 09:30 Dave Maloney (3) – sh – 12:32 |1-2-2 =07:07 – Guy Lafleur (9) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =John Davidson 31 saves / 32 shots |goalie1-2 =Ken Dryden 9 saves / 13 shots Michel Larocque 9 saves / 9 shots

|2-1-1 =Anders Hedberg (4) – 01:02 Ron Duguay (4) – 06:21 |2-1-2 =08:34 – Yvon Lambert (4) 12:24 – Guy Lafleur (10) 16:27 – Bob Gainey (4) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =06:51 – Steve Shutt (3) 17:35 – pp – Jacques Lemaire (8) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =04:38 – Mark Napier (3) |goalie2-1 =John Davidson 27 saves / 33 shots |goalie2-2 =Ken Dryden 23 saves / 25 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Steve Shutt (4) – pp – 07:27 Doug Risebrough (1) – 15:44 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =06:06 – Ron Duguay (5) |3-3-2 =Mario Tremblay (3) – 14:48 Jacques Lemaire (9) – 17:10 |goalie3-1 =John Davidson 19 saves / 23 shots |goalie3-2 =Ken Dryden 19 saves / 20 shots

|4-1-1 =01:19 – Pat Hickey (1) 17:03 – Don Murdoch (7) |4-1-2 =Rejean Houle (1) – 02:39 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Yvon Lambert (5) – 18:05 |4-3-1 =04:26 – Phil Esposito (8) |4-3-2 =Bob Gainey (5) – 06:27 |4-4-1 =No scoring |4-4-2 =Serge Savard (2) – 07:25 |goalie4-1 =John Davidson 38 saves / 42 shots |goalie4-2 =Ken Dryden 18 saves / 21 shots

|5-1-1 =Carol Vadnais (2) – 16:52 |5-1-2 =10:36 – Rick Chartraw (2) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =01:02 – pp – Jacques Lemaire (10) 11:01 – Bob Gainey (6) 18:49 – Jacques Lemaire (11) |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =John Davidson 27 saves / 31 shots |goalie5-2 =Ken Dryden 14 saves / 15 shots

References

;Bibliography

before = 1978 Stanley Cup playoffs | after = 1980 Stanley Cup playoffs | title = Stanley Cup playoffs | years = |