Boston Bruins vs New York Rangers
Regular season · Sunday, December 23, 1979 · Madison Square Garden
Game summary
The Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers 4–3 on Sunday, December 23, 1979 at Madison Square Garden. The Bruins outshot the Rangers 24–17.
Goals came from Mario Marois, Rick Middleton, Don Murdoch, Anders Hedberg, Terry O'Reilly, Bobby Lalonde and Stan Jonathan.
Gerry Cheevers made 14 saves on 17 shots for the win; John Davidson stopped 20 of 24.
Scoring
1st period
Mario Marois (5)Don Maloney (26), Phil Esposito (17)0–109:47 NYR
2nd period
Rick Middleton (13)Rick Smith (5), Craig MacTavish (3)1–101:23 BOS
Don Murdoch (16)Steve Vickers (14), Carol Vadnais (10)1–203:46 NYR · 
Anders Hedberg (19)Ulf Nilsson (28)1–318:06 NYR
3rd period
Terry O'Reilly (10)Peter McNab (16), Ray Bourque (19)2–301:09 BOS · 
Bobby Lalonde (3)Ray Bourque (20)3–302:13 BOS · 
Stan Jonathan (6)Bobby Lalonde (9), Peter McNab (17)4–313:36 BOS
Team stats
BOSNYR
2417
0%0%
2/51/3
1024
00
00
00
00
Penalties
- 4:49 into the first period
Steve Vickers · tripping2 min - 8:05 into the first period
Al Secord · high sticking2 min - 8:05 into the first periodEd Hospodar · high sticking2 min
- 11:45 into the first periodRick Smith · tripping2 min
- 18:21 into the first periodJohn Davidson · tripping2 min
- 2:24 into the second periodRick Smith · tripping2 min
- 4:51 into the second periodEddie Johnstone · slashing2 min
- 8:33 into the second periodGary Doak · holding2 min
- 11:23 into the second periodRick Smith · high sticking2 min
- 11:23 into the second periodEddie Johnstone · high sticking2 min
- 19:28 into the second periodDean Talafous · hooking2 min
- 0:29 into the third periodUlf Nilsson · tripping2 min
- 20:00 into the third periodDave Maloney · game misconduct10 min
Season series
Boston Bruins
| 8Peter McNabC | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | – |
| 19Bobby LalondeC | 1 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 3 | – |
| 7Ray BourqueD | 0 | 2 | 2 | −1 | 4 | – |
| 16Rick MiddletonR | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 5 | – |
| 17Stan JonathanL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | – |
| 24Terry O'ReillyR | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 3 | – |
| 32Craig MacTavishC | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 1 | – |
| 23Rick SmithD | 0 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 0 | – |
| 14Bob MillerC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 18John WensinkL | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | – |
| 20Al SecordL | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | – |
| 27Dwight FosterR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – |
| 28Thomas SonginR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – |
| 6Dick RedmondD | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 | – |
| 25Gary DoakD | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | – |
| 26Mike MilburyD | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | – |
| 29Brad McCrimmonD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Goalie | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Gilles GilbertG | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 30Gerry CheeversG | W | 17 | 3 | .824 |
New York Rangers
| 8Steve VickersL | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 2 | – |
| 11Ulf NilssonC | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 1 | – |
| 12Don MaloneyL | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 2 | – |
| 14Don MurdochR | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 1 | – |
| 15Anders HedbergR | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 3 | – |
| 77Phil EspositoC | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 0 | – |
| 5Carol VadnaisD | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | – |
| 25Mario MaroisD | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | – |
| 10Ron DuguayC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 17Eddie JohnstoneR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 19Dean TalafousC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 21Frank BeatonL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 24Warren MillerR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 29Ray MarkhamC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 4Ron GreschnerD | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 3 | – |
| 23Ed HospodarD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 26Dave MaloneyD | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 1 | – |
| Goalie | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30John DavidsonG | L | 24 | 4 | .833 |
| 35Steve BakerG | 0 | 0 | – |