Boston defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 and the St. Louis Blues 4–0 to advance to the final. New York defeated the defending champion Montreal Canadiens 4–2 and the Chicago Black Hawks 4–0 to set up an "Original Six" final.
Game summaries
, who tallied 4 goals and 4 assists in the series, won the Conn Smythe Trophy for the second time. It was also Orr's second Cup-clinching goal, having accomplished both feats in the 1970 finals. Phil Esposito had 41 shots in the series but was held without a goal.
Game one
Game one in Boston saw both teams play poorly. The Bruins at one point led 5–1 as Ken Hodge completed a hat trick, and Hodge and Derek Sanderson scored short-handed goals on the same Ranger power play at the end of the first period. However, the Rangers tied the game with goals from Gilbert, Hatfield, Tkaczuk, and Bruce MacGregor. With 2:16 remaining in the third period, Garnet "Ace" Bailey beat Rangers star defenseman Brad Park to have the Bruins prevail 6–5. Gary Doak of the Rangers was ejected from the game after a heated argument with referee Bill Friday over a penalty he received at 18:50 of the first period.
Game two
Game two had Gilles Villemure replace Ed Giacomin in goal for the Rangers. He played well, but the Bruins did too and won 2–1.
Game three
In New York, Giacomin was back in goal for game three as the Rangers won 5–2. Brad Park opened the scoring with a power play goal and scored another in the first period. Rod Gilbert also had two goals in the game.
Game four
Giacomin was having trouble with a knee he injured during the Chicago series and lost game four 3–2.
Game five
Game five in Boston had Villemure again replace Giacomin. Boston led 2–1 after two periods. However, Bobby Rousseau scored twice in the third period, his second at 12:45 turned out to be the winner in a 3–2 win for the Rangers.
Game six in New York saw Boston play flawlessly and Gerry Cheevers picked up a shutout, 3–0. Bobby Orr's first-period marker ended up standing as the Stanley Cup-winning goal, and he also assisted on the Bruins' second goal. Orr spent 10 minutes in the penalty box after arguing with referee Art Skov but upon his return on the ice played a crucial role in killing off a penalty to the Bruins. Wayne Cashman scored two goals, one of which trickled in behind Gilles Villemure.
Broadcasting
Hockey Night in Canada moved all playoff coverage from CBC to CTV to avoid conflict with the lengthy NABET strike against the CBC. In the United States, CBS took a rather calculated risk in not televising the game five match on May 9. This was despite the fact that game five was a potential clincher with the Bruins up three games to one on the Rangers. CBS ultimately lucked out, and televised the clincher on Thursday night, May 11.
