1973-1974 Season - Description, pictures, highlights and more | Historical Website of the Montreal Canadiens

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1973-1974

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Scotty
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TEAM	GP Games played - Number of games the team has played	W Wins - Games the team has won, either in regulation or in overtime	L Losses - Games the team has lost in regulation	T Ties - Games that have ended in a tie	PTS Points - Team points, calculated from W, L, T, OTL and SOL; used to determine standings	GF Goals for - Number of goals the team has scored	GA Goals against - Number of goals scored against the team
Boston Bruins	78	52	17	9	113	349	221
Montreal Canadiens	78	45	24	9	99	293	240
New York Rangers	78	40	24	14	94	300	251
Toronto Maple Leafs	78	35	27	16	86	274	230
Buffalo Sabres	78	32	34	12	76	242	250
Detroit Red Wings	78	29	39	10	68	255	319
Vancouver Canucks	78	24	43	11	59	224	296
New York Islanders	78	19	41	18	56	182	247

Roster 25 PLAYERS

CLAUDE
LAROSE

GLENN
GOLDUP

PIERRE
BOUCHARD

FRANK
MAHOVLICH

YVAN
COURNOYER

YVON
LAMBERT

Season's leaders see the complete stats

#	SKATERS	GP Games played - Number of games the player has set foot on the ice	G Goals - Number of goals the player has scored	A Assists - Number of goals the player has assisted in	PTS Points - Scoring points, calculated as the sum of G and A
27	Frank Mahovlich	71	31	49	80
12	Yvan Cournoyer	67	40	33	73
20	Peter Mahovlich	78	36	37	73
25	Jacques Lemaire	66	29	38	67
10	Guy Lafleur	73	21	35	56

#	#1 GOALIE	GP Games played - Number of games the player has set foot on the ice	RECORD Record - Goalie record (W-L-T)	SO Shutouts - Number of games where the goaltender has not allowed a goal	GAA Goals against average - Mean goals-per-game scored on the goaltender
30	Wayne Thomas	42	23-12-5	1	2.76

Season results

DATE	AWAY		HOME

10/10/1973	MTL 5	vs	MIN 2
13/10/1973	VAN 3	vs	MTL 4
17/10/1973	TOR 5	vs	MTL 3
20/10/1973	ATL 4	vs	MTL 2
21/10/1973	MTL 3	vs	NYR 2
24/10/1973	MTL 3	vs	PIT 2
25/10/1973	MTL 4	vs	PHI 0
27/10/1973	MIN 2	vs	MTL 4
31/10/1973	PIT 1	vs	MTL 1
3/11/1973	CAL 2	vs	MTL 6
4/11/1973	MTL 1	vs	BUF 1
7/11/1973	MTL 4	vs	TOR 1
8/11/1973	MTL 1	vs	BOS 2
10/11/1973	STL 5	vs	MTL 0
14/11/1973	BOS 4	vs	MTL 3
17/11/1973	BUF 5	vs	MTL 8
18/11/1973	MTL 4	vs	DET 6
21/11/1973	MTL 4	vs	MIN 3
24/11/1973	MTL 5	vs	PIT 2
25/11/1973	MTL 6	vs	CHI 4
28/11/1973	LA 3	vs	MTL 5
1/12/1973	CHI 5	vs	MTL 0
2/12/1973	MTL 3	vs	ATL 1
6/12/1973	MTL 4	vs	NYI 2
8/12/1973	NYI 1	vs	MTL 3
11/12/1973	MTL 2	vs	VAN 2
14/12/1973	MTL 2	vs	CAL 2
15/12/1973	MTL 6	vs	LA 2
18/12/1973	CAL 1	vs	MTL 4
20/12/1973	MTL 2	vs	BUF 2
22/12/1973	BUF 1	vs	MTL 7
23/12/1973	MTL 1	vs	NYI 1
26/12/1973	MTL 2	vs	TOR 9
29/12/1973	NYR 1	vs	MTL 7
2/01/1974	MTL 4	vs	STL 8
5/01/1974	VAN 3	vs	MTL 5
7/01/1974	PHI 1	vs	MTL 2
10/01/1974	NYI 3	vs	MTL 8
12/01/1974	MTL 7	vs	BOS 3
15/01/1974	LA 2	vs	MTL 1
17/01/1974	MIN 1	vs	MTL 6
19/01/1974	BOS 8	vs	MTL 0
20/01/1974	MTL 3	vs	DET 2
23/01/1974	TOR 3	vs	MTL 4
24/01/1974	MTL 4	vs	BUF 1
26/01/1974	CHI 1	vs	MTL 4
1/02/1974	MTL 3	vs	ATL 5
3/02/1974	MTL 4	vs	DET 1
5/02/1974	MTL 3	vs	STL 2
6/02/1974	MTL 3	vs	MIN 4
9/02/1974	NYR 2	vs	MTL 7
10/02/1974	MTL 1	vs	PHI 3
13/02/1974	ATL 3	vs	MTL 2
15/02/1974	DET 4	vs	MTL 9
17/02/1974	PHI 2	vs	MTL 2
19/02/1974	MTL 3	vs	NYI 5
21/02/1974	VAN 2	vs	MTL 5
23/02/1974	LA 4	vs	MTL 4
24/02/1974	STL 2	vs	MTL 3
26/02/1974	MTL 6	vs	ATL 5
28/02/1974	PIT 1	vs	MTL 7
2/03/1974	CAL 4	vs	MTL 3
3/03/1974	MTL 0	vs	PHI 6
6/03/1974	MTL 2	vs	NYR 9
9/03/1974	NYR 2	vs	MTL 4
10/03/1974	MTL 5	vs	PIT 4
13/03/1974	MTL 3	vs	CHI 3
16/03/1974	CHI 3	vs	MTL 1
17/03/1974	NYI 2	vs	MTL 4
20/03/1974	DET 7	vs	MTL 6
23/03/1974	STL 3	vs	MTL 7
24/03/1974	MTL 3	vs	BOS 6
26/03/1974	MTL 4	vs	VAN 3
29/03/1974	MTL 4	vs	CAL 3
30/03/1974	MTL 5	vs	LA 2
3/04/1974	TOR 5	vs	MTL 3
6/04/1974	BOS 2	vs	MTL 6
7/04/1974	MTL 4	vs	NYR 6

THE REGULAR SEASON

A number of unforeseen absences forced the Canadiens to rework their roster for the 1973-74 season. Promising young forwards, Marc Tardif and Rejean Houle, decided to test their luck in the WHA, while Ken Dryden chose to concentrate on completing his legal studies.

Yvon Lambert, the AHL’s most valuable player the year before, filled one of the slots up front, beginning his eight-year tenure with the Habs as one of the league’s top power forwards. Also stepping up to fill the void was Steve Shutt, who enjoyed an increase in ice time and displayed more of a scoring touch than in his initial campaign, notching 15 goals and 35 points.

Between the pipes, the trio of Michel Larocque and Michel Plasse and Wayne Thomas divided the duties. Thomas, who saw the most action, posted a 2.76 goals-against average over 42 games, good enough for fourth among NHL netminders.

The team’s scoring was driven by veterans, with the Mahovlich brothers and Yvan Cournoyer combining as the team’s only truly potent line, putting a collective 226 points into the record books with both the “Roadrunner” and the “Little M” among league leaders with 40 and 36 goals respectively.

On defense, Larry Robinson carved out a full-time post and was a physical presence in all 78 games on the schedule, improving with every game while veteran role players, Claude Larose and Jim Roberts, continued to stymie opposing forwards

Jacques Laperriere and Frank Mahovlich played their final NHL games in 1973-74. Laperriere, limited to only 42 games by injuries, missed the postseason and retired. Mahovlich decided to jump to the WHA, finishing his pro career in the rebel league.

A 45-24-9 regular season record dropped the Canadiens to second place. Boston regained the top spot in the East, finishing 14 points ahead of Montreal.

THE PLAYOFFS

The Canadiens opponent in the quarterfinals was the New York Rangers, a solid second or third place team since the beginning of the decade. Under Emile Francis the Rangers had qualified for the playoffs for eight straight seasons, their best long-term performance since the mid-1930s.

With eight 20-goal men in the lineup and the acrobatic Eddie Giacomin in goal, the Rangers would prove to be no pushovers. The teams opened the series at the Forum, trading 4-1 decisions before relocating to Madison Square Garden, where they once again split the games.

A 3-2 New York win in overtime before Forum fans in the fifth game gave the Rangers the lead for the second time in the series and the curtain came down on the Canadiens’ season in Manhattan, where they dropped the sixth game 5-2.

The Rangers went on to lose to eventual the Stanley Cup Champion Flyers in the next round.

The playoffs roadmap

Quarter-finals - New York Rangers
Date	AWAY	HOME
April 10th, 1974	NYR 4	MTL 1
April 11th, 1974	NYR 1	MTL 4
April 13th, 1974	MTL 4	NYR 2
April 14th, 1974	MTL 4	NYR 6
April 16th, 1974	NYR 3	MTL 2
April 18th, 1974	MTL 2	NYR 5
NY Rangers won best-of-seven series 4-2

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