Road to the Cup - April 21, 1980 -- Boston 4, Isles 3 (OT) (Isles lead best-of-7 series 3-1)

40 Years Ago Tonight...

By Eric Hornick

Game 4

Boston 4, Isles 3 (OT)

he Islanders were ready to sweep the Bruins and move on to the semi-finals, but Terry O’Reilly had other ideas. O’Reilly scored at 17:13 of overtime as the Bruins defeated the Isles 4-3 to cut the Isles lead to 3 games to 1.

Ray Bourque had given the Bruins a 1-0 lead, but Mike Bossy, returning to the lineup after missing five games with an injury scored twice for the Isles to turn the advantage in the Isles’ favor thru 40 minutes.

Peter McNab, who had a big series, tied the score for the Bruins early in the third but when Clark Gillies scored with 6:20 to play it looked like the Isles were poised to advance.

With Gerry Cheevers on the bench, a former Ranger, Rick Middleton, tied the game at a familiar time to Islander fans: 19:40 of the third.  The Isles were outshot 32-17 through regulation but turned the tables in overtime, outshooting the Bruins 13-7.  However, O’Reilly’s goal gave the Bruins the win.

It was the Isles' only home playoff overtime in the Cup era; they wouldn’t lose another home playoff game in overtime for 13 years.

The Scoring:

1st Period

09:21 BOS Ray Bourque (2) Peter McNab, Brad McCrimmon

12:03 NYI Mike Bossy (2) Bryan Trottier, Stefan Persson

2nd Period

08:18 NYI PP Mike Bossy (3) Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies

3rd Period

03:09 BOS Peter McNab (7) Terry O'Reilly, Don Marcotte

13:20 NYI Clark Gillies (3) Butch Goring, Dave Langevin

19:40 BOS Rick Middleton (4) Terry O'Reilly, Brad Park

1st OT Period

17:13 BOS Terry O'Reilly (3) Peter McNab, Dick Redmond

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 2, Boston 1 (OT)

Game 2: Isles 5, Boston 4 (OT)
Game 3: Isles 5, Boston 3

Game 4: Boston 4, Isles 3 (OT)

Game 5: At Boston April 22

(Isles lead series, 3-1)

Mini-Skinny: 

The Isles were outshot 39-30....  Billy Smith suffered his first loss of the post-season, dropping to 6-1 in the playoffs.. There was only one fight (Bobby Nystrom vs. Brad McCrimmon). McCrimmon later served as an Islander assistant; he was killed in the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash.... The loss ended a six-game Islander winning streak in overtime, dating back to Lanny McDonald (TOR) defeating the Isles in game 7 in 1978 in the only Game 7 the Isles have ever hosted.

Overtime is (Usually) Our Time!

1st round vs LA : Game 3  (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24) 

2nd round vs Bos: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13) 

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 8 Games

Bryan Trottier 6-8-14

John Tonelli 4-5-9

Bob Bourne 5-4-9

Isles +/- Leaders thru 8 Games

Gord Lane +7

Bryan Trottier +7

Dave Langevin +7

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 8 Games

Garry Howatt 57

Duane Sutter 41

Clark Gillies 39

The Bruins had life; at least for 24 hours.  It was up to the Islanders to extinguish that the following night in Boston. We'll tell that story on Wednesday, the 40th anniversary of Game 5.

Road to the Cup - April 19, 1980 -- Isles 5, Boston 3 (Isles lead best-of-7 series 3-0)

40 Years Ago Tonight...

By Eric Hornick

Game 3
Isles 5, Boston 3

Bryan Trottier scored two goals and added two assists while Bob Nystrom scored a goal and added two assists as the as the Isles took a 3-0 lead in their quarterfinal series, defeating the Boston Bruins 5-3 before a raucous crowd at the Nassau Coliseum.

Following the brawls of game 2, the first period was relatively calm.  However, three fights renewed hostilities in the second period as Duane Sutter fought Mike Milbury and Clark Gillies twice fought Terry O'Reilly.  O'Reilly would be tossed in the third after he fought Garry Howatt.

Don Marcotte had given the Bruins a 1-0 lead midway through the first but John Tonelli and Bryan Trottier responded to five the Isles the lead before the first period ended. 

With Mike Bossy still out injured, Trottier would later earn assists on goals by Bob Bourne and Bob Nystrom, before those two players set up Trotts for his second goal of the game to essentially put the game on ice.

The Scoring:

1st Period

09:52 BOS Don Marcotte (2) Terry O'Reilly, Peter McNab

12:16 NYI John Tonelli (4) Alex McKendry, Wayne Merrick

17:08 NYI PP Bryan Trottier (5) Clark Gillies, Bob Nystrom

2nd Period

06:57 NYI Bob Bourne (5) Bryan Trottier

09:48 BOS Peter McNab (5) Rick Smith

15:54 NYI Bob Nystrom (3) Bob Bourne, Bryan Trottier

3rd Period

04:51 NYI Bryan Trottier (6) Bob Bourne, Bob Nystrom

12:15 BOS PP Peter McNab (6) Dwight Foster, Brad Park

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 2, Boston 1 (OT)

Game 2: Isles 5, Boston 4 (OT)
Game 3: Isles 5, Boston 3

Game 4: At Isles 4/21

(Isles lead series, 3-0)

Mini-Skinny: 

Each team had 35 shots on goal....  Billy Smith improved to 6-0 in the playoffs, besting Gerry Cheevers for the third straight game.... After 254 penalty minutes in game two, three were only 76 in game three (31 to Terry O'Reilly)... The Isles had a 3-0 lead in a series for only the time in their history; both of the previous series (1977 vs. Buffalo, 1979 vs. Chicago) ended in a sweep.

Overtime is Our Time!

1st round vs LA : Game 3  (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24) 

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 7 Games

Bryan Trottier 6-6-12

John Tonelli 4-5-9

Bob Bourne 5-4-9

Isles +/- Leaders thru 7 Games

Gord Lane +9

Bryan Trottier +8

Dave Langevin +6

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 7 Games

Garry Howatt 55

Duane Sutter 41

Clark Gillies 39

The Isles were in control of the series and in position to sweep the Big Bad Bruins.  Terry O'Reilly had other ideas and we'll tell that story on Tuesday, the 40th anniversary of Game 4.

Road to the Cup - April 17, 1980 -- Isles 5, Boston 4 (OT) (Isles lead best-of-7 series 2-0)

40 Years Ago Tonight...

By Eric Hornick

Game 2
Isles 5, Boston 4 (OT)

In one of the most memorable games of the Cup era, Bob Bourne scored 1:24 into overtime to break a 4-4 tie as the Isles took a 2-0 lead in their quarterfinal series with the Boston Bruins.

The second game in Boston was punctuated by a bench-clearing brawl at the end of the first period, following four other fights earlier in the period, including two between Clark Gillies and Terry O'Reilly.

The first period ended with a total of 248 penalty minutes (124 on each team) ; the 248 combined minutes remains a record to this day.  Only the Rangers (125 on 4/9/1981 in LA) have ever had more.  Each team had only 13 players available past the first period as Bob Lorimer, Garry Howatt, Gord Lane, Duane Sutter, Al Secord, Wayne Cashman, Stan Jonathan and a Bruin defenseman named Mike Milbury were all ejected.

It was the only time in the Cup era that the Isles played consecutive games that went to overtime and the Isles needed just 2:26 of extra time to win the two games.   It wouldn't be the last time that Gillies and Bourne would be tied together; their children (Brianna Gillies and Justin Bourne) were married in 2011.

Here's the entire game, as broadcast on TV-38 in Boston:

Here's the fight with 7 seconds to play in the first period, that preceded the large brawl (from Steve Albert and Ed Westfall on WOR).  Mike Milbury is yapping, but it's the second bout of O'Reilly and Gillies.

And here's the Islander call of the brawl that followed:

And one more -- here are the two goals scored 15 seconds apart as the game goes from 3-3 to 4-4 in a hurry:

Here's the winning goal, as called by Steve Albert and Ed Westfall on WOR.

The Scoring:

1st Period
16:08 NYI Bryan Trottier (4) Ken Morrow, Bob Bourne

2nd Period
01:32 BOS Rick Smith (1) Rick Middleton
10:40 NYI John Tonelli (3) Stefan Persson
12:00 BOS Brad McCrimmon (1) Dick Redmond, Dwight Foster
14:33 NYI SH Lorne Henning (1) Bryan Trottier, Denis Potvin
16:55 BOS Brad Park (3)

3rd Period
10:51 BOS Bob Miller (3) Ray Bourque, Don Marcotte
11:06 NYI Bob Nystrom (2) John Tonelli, Bryan Trottier

Overtime
01:24 NYI Bob Bourne (4)

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 2, Boston 1 (OT)

Game 2: Isles 5, Boston 4 (OT)
Game 3: At Isles 4/19

Game 4: At Isles 4/21

(Isles lead series, 1-0)

Mini-Skinny: 

The Isles were outshot 33-23; it was the first time in the playoffs that they had been outshot...  Billy Smith improved to 5-0 in the playoffs, besting Gerry Cheevers....This was the only OT goal in Bob Bourne's playoff career...It was the fifth game in six nights for Boston...There were only three minor penalties called in the final two periods; the 254 combined penalty minutes set a Stanley Cup record at the time (it's now third); the Isles' 128 was the most-ever at the time (it's now tied-7th)...The Isles didn't win two regular seasons in Boston in a regular season until 1999-2000 but did it in 24 hours in the playoffs...Neither team led for more than six minutes at a time as there were four ties;  Bob Nystrom forced overtime with a goal just 15 seconds after Bob Miller put the Bruins ahead...Lorne Henning's goal was his first of three in the 1980 playoffs; all three were shorthanded.  Henning is one of only six players in Stanley Cup history to score three shorthanded goals in a playoff year.

Overtime is Our Time!

1st round vs LA : Game 3  (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24) 

The Isles were in control of the series and heading back to Long Island.  We'll tell that story on Sunday, the 40th anniversary of Game 3.

Road to the Cup - April 16, 1980 -- Isles 2, Boston 1 (Isles lead best-of-7 series 1-0)

40 Years Ago Tonight...

By Eric Hornick

Game 1
Isles 2, Boston 1 (OT)

 

After their first round win over Los Angeles, the Isles needed to wait nearly 48 hours to find that the Bruins were their opponents; two days later they were at Boston Garden to face the Big Bad B's.

Clark Gillies converted a pass from Butch Goring for the winning goal just 1:02 into overtime as the Isles defeated the Bruins 2-1 to take the opening game of the series.

Following a scoreless first two periods, Peter McNab scored in the opening minute of the third to give the Bruins the lead.  Garry Howatt tied it less than three minutes later to set the stage for Gillies in overtime.

The Scoring:

1st Period

None

2nd Period

None

3rd Period

00:51 BOS Peter McNab (4) Brad Park, Mike Milbury

03:49 NYI Garry Howatt (3) Bryan Trottier, Bob Nystrom

Overtime

01:02 NYI Clark Gillies (2) Butch Goring, Gord Lane

Here's Jethro's overtime goal.  Brad Park, who found himself in the goal after JP Parise's winner five years earlier, figures into this one as well.  Steve Albert and Ed Westfall had the call on Channel 9:

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 2, Boston 1 (OT)

Game 2: At Boston 4/17
Game 3: At Isles 4/19

Game 4: At Isles 4/21

(Isles lead series, 1-0)

Mini-Skinny: 

The Isles out-shot Boston 27-23; they also out-shot the Kings in all four games in the series.  Billy Smith improved to 4-0 in the playoffs, besting Gerry Cheevers...There were no fights in the game, but that would totally change in game two the following night...This was the only OT goal in Clark Gillies' playoff career...It was the 4th game in five nights for Boston. .. It was the second shortest OT game in club history to that point; 40 years later it is still one of only 50 Stanley Cup games to be settled in the first minute of overtime....At the time, Butch Goring (who assisted on Gillies' goal) had the earliest overtime goal vs. Boston in Cup play,  Alexandre Burrows would break that record in 2011.

Overtime is Our Time!

1st round vs LA : Game 3  (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)

There were a lot of back-to-backs in early rounds of the playoffs in that era. Game 2, the Bruins' 5th game in 6 days, would be one of the most memorable in Islanders history.  We'll tell that story tomorrow. 

Road to the Cup - April 12, 1980 -- Isles 6, Los Angeles 0 (Isles win best-of-5 series 3-1)

40 Years Ago Tonight...

By Eric Hornick

Game 4
Isles 6, Los Angeles 0

 

Throughout the Cup era, former Islander first round picks would play huge roles --from Denis Potvin to Clark Gillies and from Mike Bossy to the Sutter brothers.  Even Paul Boutilier and Steve Tambellini had their moments, and have their names on the trophy to prove it.  

But 40 years ago tonight was the the time for Alex McKendry (yes, Alex McKendry) to shine.  McKendry was a first round pick in 1976, and like the rest of the bottom-third of that first round, had a rather pedestrian NHL career as he played in only 46 regular season games and six playoff games.  It's what he did in the third period of this game that Isles fans should remember.

McKendry scored two goals and added an assist in the third period (all in an 8:29 span) as the Isles blew open a close game for a series-clinching 6-0 win over the Kings at the old Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California.

McKendry, playing his second game of the series, had only four career playoff points, and three were in this period as the Isles completed the first-round series win.

The Scoring:

1st Period

15:05 NYI Garry Howatt (2) Bob Nystrom, Lorne Henning

2nd Period

09:27 NYI PP Bob Bourne (3) Gord Lane, Bob Nystrom

3rd Period

01:46 NYI Alex McKendry (1) John Tonelli

05:22 NYI John Tonelli (2) Alex McKendry, Wayne Merrick

06:17 NYI Butch Goring (2)

10:15 NYI Alex McKendry (2) John Tonelli

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 8, Los Angeles 1

Game 2: Los Angeles 6, Isles 3
Game 3: Isles 4, Los Angeles 3

Game 4: Isles 6, Los Angeles 0

(Isles win series, 3-1)

Mini-Skinny:

Bob Bourne and Bryan Trottier had three goals in the series to share the team lead; John Tonelli (2-4-6) and Butch Goring (2-3-5) led the Isles in points...The two players traded for Butch -- Dave Lewis and Billy Harris -- combined for one assist and a -9 rating in the series. .....The Isles outshot Los Angeles 32-20; they outshot the Kings in all four games in the series.  Billy Smith improved to 3-0 in the series and cemented himself as the Isles number one playoff goalie; it was his second career shutout and remains to this day the most one-sided shutout win in Islander history.... Garry Howatt and Dave Langevin fought Steve Carlson and Dean Hopkins with nine minutes to play, following a Langevin spear.  It was the 4th and 5th fight of the 3-game series. ..The 31 goals scored in this series are the most-ever in an Islander 4-game series; at the time it was the third-highest scoring 4-game series in Stanley Cup history.

The Isles would have a few days to get ready for the quarter-finals.  In both 1980 and 1981 the playoff teams were seeded 1-16 and were re-seeded after each round.  The Isles' eventual opponent in round 2 were the Boston Bruins, but they had lost earlier in the evening to fall behind Pittsburgh two games to one.

The Bruins would eventually advance but when the Isles hit Boston Garden ice on April 16th, the Bs would be playing their fourth game in five days.

We'll pick up the story with two remarkable games in Boston.

Road to the Cup - April 11, 1980 -- Isles 4, Los Angeles 3 OT (Isles lead best-of-5 series 2-1)

40 Years Ago Tonight...

By Eric Hornick

Game 3
Isles 4, Los Angeles 3 (OT)

On this day in 1975, JP Parise scored one of the most memorable goals in Islander history, beating Eddie Giacomin at 11 seconds of OT for a series-clinching win over the Rangers.

That goal however might not be as important as the goal Ken Morrow scored 6:55 into overtime on this night in 1980, as the Isles rallied from a 3-1 third period deficit to defeat the Kings 4-3 at the old Forum in Inglewood, California.

Remember - this was a best of five series and the Islanders were without Mike Bossy, who had been injured in Game 2.  (His replacement, Alex McKendry, would have a big moment in game 4) so when the Isles headed to the dressing room after 40 minutes it felt like not only was their season on the line, but so was the very composition of this team, which had been beaten in playoff series in 1978 by Toronto and in 1979 by the Rangers.

Back in the East, it was well after midnight when Clark Gillies and Butch Goring (playing his first game in Los Angeles since being traded by the Kings) scored goals 3:12 apart in the third period to get the Isles even.

That sent the game to overtime, and destiny to the stick of Ken Morrow, who less than seven weeks earlier had won gold in Lake Placid.  Morrow wasn't a big goal scorer - except in the playoffs of course - and his first professional goal gave the Isles the win.

(That's the radio call of Bob Lawrence and Jean Potvin; six weeks later Jean's "Alright" would be replaced with "Yes","Yes".  Tim Ryan and Ed Westfall had the call on Channel 9.)

The Scoring:

1st Period

01:31 LAK Mark Hardy (1)

03:47 NYI PP Bob Bourne (2) Denis Potvin

06:42 LAK PP Charlie Simmer (1) Mark Hardy, Marcel Dionne

2nd Period

10:47 LAK Charlie Simmer (2) Dave Taylor, Marcel Dionne

3rd Period

03:22 NYI Clark Gillies (1) Butch Goring, Duane Sutter

06:34 NYI Butch Goring (1) Denis Potvin

1st OT Period

06:55 NYI Ken Morrow (1)

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 8, Los Angeles 1

Game 2: Los Angeles 6, Isles 3
Game 3: Isles 4, Los Angeles 3

Game 4: April 12 @ Los Angeles

(Isles lead 2-1)

Mini-Skinny:

The Isles improved to 9-3 all-time in overtime with their fourth straight win; it was their first road overtime win since May 3, 1977 in Montreal - Billy Harris won that game but was on the losing side in this one... Dave Lewis, who was traded to LA once the Isles determined that Morrow was ready to play in the NHL was on-ice for the winning goal as was another former Islander, Andre St. Laurent.....The Isles outshot Los Angeles 38-23 as the starting goalies (Billy Smith and Mario Lessard) both made it through the game for the first time in the series. ...Clark Gillies fought Jerry "King Kong" Korab in the second period; it was only a warmup for what would happen the following week in Boston...Charlie Simmer, who had scored 56 times in the regular season, scored twice for LA.  Nine months later he would race Mike Bossy towards 50 in 50.

On Long Island, a 16-year-old's screams awoke his parents after Morrow's goal; hopefully they have since forgiven me.  The Isles had overcome a huge obstacle.  It was really the last time in that playoffs that they didn't feel like they were in command of a series, and they had a chance to eliminate Los Angeles 24 hours later.

Road to the Cup - April 9, 1980 -- Los Angeles 6, Isles 3 (best-of-5 series tied 1-1)

40 Years Ago Tonight...

By Eric Hornick

Game 2
Los Angeles 6, Isles 3

For most of the late 1970's, Al Arbour said that he had two number one goalies, so after Billy Smith cruised to a victory in Game 1, it was Glenn "Chico" Resch's turn in Game 2.

You can easily argue that Resch's Islander career essentially ended with this game, as the Kings scored two first period shorthanded goals, and led 6-0 midway through the game before the Islanders scored three goals in the final 24:11 to make the final score more respectable.

The series was tied, and headed to Southern California.

The Scoring:

1st Period
05:54 LAK SH Mike Murphy (1)
13:59 LAK Dave Taylor (1) Marcel Dionne, Robert Palmer
15:21 LAK Glenn Goldup (1) Jerry Korab
18:31 LAK SH Andre St. Laurent (1)

2nd Period
04:00 LAK Dave Taylor (2) Dave Lewis, Robert Palmer
11:59 LAK Steve Carlson (1)
15:49 NYI PP         Bob Bourne (1) Stefan Persson, Denis Potvin
16:55 NYI         John Tonelli (1)

3rd Period
07:28 NYI         Garry Howatt (1) Stefan Persson, Butch Goring

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 8, Los Angeles 1

Game 2: Los Angeles 6, Isles 3
Game 3: April 11 @ Los Angeles

(Series tied 1-1)

Mini-Skinny:

It was the third time the Isles had allowed at least six goals in a playoff game; ironically all three games were at home....The Isles outshot Los Angeles 34-33... Mario Lessard earned the win for Los Angeles; Resch was chased after the first period; he would make only one other playoff start with the Islanders....It was not a "banner night" for Denis Potvin (-4) or Butch Goring (-3)....The Isles allowed two shorthanded goals in a period for the first of only two times in their history...Garry Howatt  fought Jay Wells in the second period...Andre St. Laurent played in 59 Stanley Cup games; his winning goal was the only one he ever scored shorthanded.... Mike Murphy opened the game with the only shorty he scored in 66 Cup games; he had 35 others in regular season play...Mike Bossy left the game in the second period after injuring his thumb.

Among the 14,047 fans that night was me; I walked out of the Coliseum wondering if I had seen the final home game of the season.  Long past midnight two nights later I still had that thought, but Ken Morrow thankfully had other ideas.

(At this point the Rangers were closer to the Cup than the Isles, having beaten the Atlanta Flames twice)