1978–79 Boston Bruins season

The 1978–79 Boston Bruins season was the team's 55th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Bruins captured their fourth straight division title but were defeated in the postseason in heartbreaking fashion in seven games to their hated rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, and denied an opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup. Don Cherry was subsequently let go as head coach following this defeat.

Offseason

NHL draft

Round Overall Player Nationality Position 1 16 Al Secord Left wing 2 35 Graeme Nicolson Defenseman 3 52 Brad Knelson Defenseman 4 68 George Buat Right wing 5 85 Daryl MacLeod Left wing 6 102 Jeff Brubaker Left wing 7 119 Murray Skinner Goalie 8 136 Bobby Hehir Center 9 153 Craig MacTavish Center

Regular season Al Secord made his NHL debut with the Bruins during the 1978–79 season.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||W||October 12, 1978||8–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||1–0–0

|2||T||October 14, 1978||4–4 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||1–0–1

|3||W||October 15, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||2–0–1

|4||W||October 18, 1978||3–2 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||3–0–1

|5||W||October 20, 1978||5–1 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||4–0–1

|6||L||October 22, 1978||5–6 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||4–1–1

|7||W||October 24, 1978||7–2 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||5–1–1

|8||T||October 25, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||5–1–2

|9||W||October 28, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||6–1–2

|10||W||November 2, 1978||4–1 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1978–79) ||7–1–2

|11||L||November 4, 1978||3–7 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||7–2–2

|12||T||November 5, 1978||1–1 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||7–2–3

|13||W||November 9, 1978||6–2 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||8–2–3

|14||L||November 11, 1978||1–7 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||8–3–3

|15||T||November 12, 1978||4–4 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||8–3–4

|16||L||November 16, 1978||4–6 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||8–4–4

|17||W||November 17, 1978||6–2 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||9–4–4

|18||W||November 19, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||10–4–4

|19||W||November 23, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||11–4–4

|20||T||November 25, 1978||5–5 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||11–4–5

|21||W||November 26, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||12–4–5

|22||W||November 30, 1978||4–3 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||13–4–5

|23||W||December 2, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||14–4–5

|24||W||December 3, 1978||3–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||15–4–5

|25||W||December 5, 1978||5–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||16–4–5

|26||W||December 7, 1978||6–5 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||17–4–5

|27||L||December 9, 1978||2–9 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||17–5–5

|28||T||December 10, 1978||4–4 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||17–5–6

|29||W||December 12, 1978||7–3 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||18–5–6

|30||W||December 14, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||19–5–6

|31||W||December 16, 1978||4–1 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||20–5–6

|32||W||December 17, 1978||4–1 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||21–5–6

|33||W||December 21, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||22–5–6

|34||W||December 23, 1978||6–4 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||23–5–6

|35||T||December 27, 1978||1–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||23–5–7

|36||L||December 30, 1978||1–6 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||23–6–7

|37||W||December 31, 1978||7–3 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||24–6–7

|38||W||January 3, 1979||6–3 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||25–6–7

|39||W||January 5, 1979||5–3 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||26–6–7

|40||W||January 6, 1979||5–2 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||27–6–7

|41||W||January 11, 1979||6–4 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||28–6–7

|42||L||January 13, 1979||3–5 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||28–7–7

|43||L||January 14, 1979||3–6 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||28–8–7

|44||L||January 16, 1979||2–5 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||28–9–7

|45||W||January 18, 1979||4–0 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||29–9–7

|46||L||January 20, 1979||1–2 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||29–10–7

|47||W||January 22, 1979||3–1 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||30–10–7

|48||L||January 25, 1979||2–4 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1978–79) ||30–11–7

|49||L||January 27, 1979||1–3 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||30–12–7

|50||L||January 28, 1979||3–5 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||30–13–7

|51||T||January 31, 1979||2–2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||30–13–8

|52||W||February 1, 1979||6–1 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||31–13–8

|53||T||February 3, 1979||4–4 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1978–79) ||31–13–9

|54||W||February 4, 1979||6–1 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||32–13–9

|55||L||February 14, 1979||1–5 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||32–14–9

|56||L||February 15, 1979||3–5 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||32–15–9

|57||T||February 17, 1979||3–3 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||32–15–10

|58||W||February 20, 1979||5–3 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||33–15–10

|59||L||February 21, 1979||1–3 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||33–16–10

|60||W||February 24, 1979||4–3 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||34–16–10

|61||L||February 27, 1979||2–4 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||34–17–10

|62||T||March 1, 1979||4–4 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||34–17–11

|63||W||March 3, 1979||5–0 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||35–17–11

|64||W||March 4, 1979||6–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||36–17–11

|65||L||March 8, 1979||5–7 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||36–18–11

|66||W||March 10, 1979||4–3 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||37–18–11

|67||T||March 11, 1979||4–4 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1978–79) ||37–18–12

|68||L||March 13, 1979||2–7 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1978–79) ||37–19–12

|69||L||March 15, 1979||4–7 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||37–20–12

|70||W||March 17, 1979||4–2 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||38–20–12

|71||W||March 19, 1979||4–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||39–20–12

|72||L||March 22, 1979||1–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||39–21–12

|73||W||March 24, 1979||5–2 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||40–21–12

|74||L||March 28, 1979||2–9 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||40–22–12

|75||W||March 29, 1979||7–4 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||41–22–12

|76||W||March 31, 1979||4–1 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||42–22–12

|77||T||April 1, 1979||3–3 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||42–22–13

|78||T||April 4, 1979||3–3 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||42–22–14

|79||L||April 5, 1979||3–9 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||42–23–14

|80||W||April 8, 1979||6–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||43–23–14

Legend:

Player statistics

Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG RW 71 38 48 86 7331215 C 76 35 45 80 1029404 RW 80 26 51 77 2057305 C 80 27 45 72 12171105 LW 75 27 40 67 63161004 C 77 15 33 48 3020001 LW 79 20 27 47 106245 LW 76 28 18 46 10620004 RW 65 20 22 42 77-1614 D 40 7 32 39 1028300 D 74 1 34 35 14923000 D 64 7 26 33 210401 D 67 9 20 29 2822002 D 65 7 18 25 4620001 RW 44 11 13 24 14-1200 LW 71 16 7 23 1257000 D 63 6 11 17 2812100 LW 33 6 9 15 968001 D 64 2 8 10 10716000 C 14 4 2 6 0-1001 LW 7 1 4 5 24000 RW 17 3 1 4 0-3100 G 43 0 2 2 230000 D 3 0 0 0 00000 G 23 0 0 0 160000 D 1 0 0 0 00000 G 19 0 0 0 170000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 2509 43 23 9 10 132 3.16 1 1254 23 12 8 2 74 3.54 0 1037 19 8 6 2 62 3.59 1 Team: 4800 80 43 23 14 268 3.35 2

Playoffs Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG C 11 7 6 13 2202 RW 11 4 8 12 0201 LW 10 4 5 9 8101 LW 11 5 3 8 10000 C 11 5 3 8 0000 D 11 1 7 8 7001 RW 11 0 6 6 25000 LW 11 4 1 5 12000 D 11 1 4 5 8001 RW 11 2 2 4 6100 RW 11 1 3 4 0000 D 11 1 3 4 2010 D 11 0 4 4 12000 C 11 1 1 2 8000 D 7 0 2 2 4000 D 11 0 2 2 0000 LW 8 0 1 1 19000 G 6 0 0 0 0000 G 5 0 0 0 0000 LW 4 0 0 0 4000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LGAGAA SO 360 6 4 2 15 2.50 0 314 5 3 2 16 3.06 0 Team: 674 11 7 4 31 2.76 0

Playoffs

Quarterfinals Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Boston Bruins Date Away Score Home Score Notes April 16 Pittsburgh 2 Boston 6 April 18 Pittsburgh 3 Boston 4 April 21 Boston 2 Pittsburgh 1 April 22 Boston 4 Pittsburgh 1 Boston wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

Semifinals Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

In game seven of the Montreal-Boston semi-final, Boston's Rick Middleton scored with four minutes remaining in the third period to give the Bruins a 4–3 lead. Just over a minute later, linesman John D'Amico called a bench minor for too many men on the ice against the Bruins. Montreal's Guy Lafleur scored on the ensuing power play, sending the game to overtime, where Yvon Lambert gave the Canadiens the win and a trip to their fourth straight Stanley Cup Final.

Date Away Score Home Score Notes April 26 Boston 2 Montreal 4 April 28 Boston 2 Montreal 5 May 1 Montreal 1 Boston 2 May 3 Montreal 3 Boston 4 (OT) May 5 Boston 1 Montreal 5 May 8 Montreal 2 Boston 5 May 10 Boston 4 Montreal 5 (OT) Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3

The 1979 NHL Playoffs would mark the end of Don Cherry's tenure with the Bruins. Cherry, who had an uneasy relationship with Bruins General Manager Harry Sinden, was fired by the Bruins after a critical coaching mistake during a 1979 semi-final playoff series against the Canadiens. Up by a goal with less than two minutes left in the seventh game, the Bruins were penalized for having too many men on the ice. The Canadiens' Guy Lafleur scored the tying goal on the subsequent powerplay and ultimately won the game in overtime. Montreal went on to defeat the New York Rangers for their fourth straight Cup title.

References Bruins on Hockey Database