1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Game 3 Bruins vs Rangers #30 1971-72 NHL Playoffs Stanley Cup Finals

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Game 3 Bruins vs Rangers #30 1971-72 NHL Playoffs Stanley Cup Finals Madison Square Garden on May 4, 1972 was pure Broadway hockey, and the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Game 3 Bruins vs Rangers #30 1971-72 NHL Playoffs Stanley Cup Finals card preserves the night the New York Rangers roared back with a 5-2 victory. The front shows the packed-ice battle scene above the yellow GAME 3 at New York bar and the puck graphic reading RANGERS 5 BRUINS 2, while the reverse carries the complete bilingual scoring summary in English and French along with shots on goal and the Madison Square Garden crowd of 17,250. Brad Park struck twice, Rod Gilbert scored twice and set up another, and Pete Stemkowski finished the damage for New York, while Boston goals from Mike Walton and Bobby Orr, the latter assisted by Dallas Smith and Wayne Cashman at 1:10 of the second period, kept the drama alive. Park versus Orr was the great individual debate of the era and this was one of the nights Park answered his loudest, while Gilbert, Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield skated as the legendary Goal-A-Game Line that made the Rangers the toast of New York that spring. The broader story only adds to the appeal: the Rangers were in their first Final since 1950 and their fabled 1940 championship drought had the whole league watching, and this series against Orr and Esposito's Big Bad Bruins is still replayed every spring as classic hockey theater. Like its five companion game cards, this is one of only six 1971-72 NHL Playoffs cards seeded into first-series packs of the 340-card checklist. The reverse is the Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back with the full game summary in English and French, not a puzzle back. the lower right corner shows light whitening at the tip while the other three corners carry only modest tip wear, minor surface chipping appears along sections of the top edge, the side and bottom edges stay clean, and centering sits slightly right at roughly 55/45 left to right with even top to bottom borders. There are no creases, wrinkles or surface indentations and print registration is strong throughout. The visible tip whitening and edge chipping keep our estimate deliberately conservative at raw EX 5, an honest copy with plenty of life left. A marquee card from one of hockey's most romantic playoff runs. Grade Estimate: EX 5