The Rangers qualified for the playoffs but bowed out in the second round to Shero's old team, the Philadelphia Flyers.
The team's on- and off-ice activities during this campaign was the subject of Larry Sloman's 1982 book Thin Ice: A Season in Hell with the New York Rangers.
[1] [2]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals againstNote: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers.
[5] New York's picks at the 1979 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal, Canada.