The team fell out of the gate, going 3-8-3 after 14 games before a seven game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) got them back to .500 by November 25. The team would not waver more than three points from that mark for the rest of the season. Though the season was okay, it was below expectations. Gary Smith was still strong in goal (registering his third straight 20-win season), but he was no longer winning game-after-game by himself. The most pleasant surprise was Dennis Ververgaert, who had the best season of his career. In the All-Star Game in Philadelphia, he scored two goals in ten seconds, a record that would stand for 21 years. On the season, he registered 37 goals and 71 points. Also having his best career season was Chris Oddleifson (62 points), while Don Lever had another productive season (65 points). John Gould registered his second straight 30-goal season (32). After two poor seasons, Dennis Kearns set a new club mark for defenseman with 46 assists. And a big defenseman who played only 27 games in his rookie year added some much-needed toughness to the blueline. At six-feet-three and 210 pounds, Harold Snepsts notched 27 points in 71 games and earned a team-leading total of 125 penalty minutes. Just as the previous season, the Canucks managed 51 points at home, but this time only 30 on the road, for a total of 81 points; one back of division-leading Chicago.

The 11th-place Canucks would meet the sixth-place New York Islanders in the first round. In only their fourth season in the league, Bill Torrey had already begun to build the team that would become a dynasty in the early '80s. After two horrible seasons, the Islanders jumped to 88 points in 1974-75 and 101 points this season. With young stars like defenseman Denis Potvin, rookie centerman Bryan Trottier, and the formidable goaltending duo of Billy Smith and Glenn "Chico" Resch, the Isles ran roughshod over the Canucks. The best-of-three series took the minimum number of games, with the Isles winning Game One on Long Island 5-3 before completing the sweep with a 3-1 win in Game 2 in Vancouver.