The Hawks defeated the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers in the postseason before falling to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Chicago, dealing with the loss of Hull, got off to a quick start of the season, winning their first four games, before sliding into a slump that saw their record fall to 7–7–2.
[5] The Hawks opened the playoffs against the St. Louis Blues, who had a record of 32–34–12, earning 76 points, while placing fourth in the West Division.
The Black Hawks stayed hot, and easily beat the Rangers 4–1 to win the series and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in three years.
The Hawks opponent in the 1973 Stanley Cup Finals was the Montreal Canadiens, who were the best team in the league during the regular season, as they had a 52–10–16 record, earning 120 points.
The fifth game returned to Montreal; however, the Black Hawks stayed alive with a wild 8–7 victory, cutting the Canadiens lead to 3–2 in the series.