The Bruins also had home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals, and were made heavy favorites to win the series.

A key confidence-building win late in the regular season saw the Flyers defeating the Bruins 5–3 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

Bobby Orr, having saved the Flyers' shot by blocking the open Boston net with his leg, then took the puck up the ice and scored on a slapshot past goaltender Bernie Parent with a little over a minute remaining in regulation time to propel the Bruins to a 3–2 win.

The Flyers, led by Parent's play in goal, won the next two games on home ice to take a 3–1 series lead.

Parent made a spectacular kick save to stop a tremendous slapshot from Ken Hodge with less than three minutes left to play.

Coincidentally, the Flyers were the first team to clinch the Stanley Cup at home since the Bruins did so four years earlier on Orr's famous overtime goal vs. the St. Louis Blues in Game 4.