The Skinny: Isles 2, Florida 1 (Isles lead series, 1-0)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Eastern Conference Qualifying Round Game 1

Isles 2, Florida 1

Isles lead best-of-5 series 1-0

The Isles are the most successful team in NHL history in best-of-5 series; they got their Qualifying Round Series off to a good start with a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anthony Beauvillier had the goals for the Isles as the Orange and Blue grabbed a 2-0 lead; Jonathan Huberdeau scored 23 seconds into the third, but the Panthers couldn't find the equalizer as Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves in his Islander playoff debut. 

The teams are off Sunday and Monday, before playing 12:00 games on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Scoring: 

1st Period

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) Derick Brassard (1) 12:00 FLA 0,NYI 1

2nd Period

Anthony Beauvillier (1) Devon Toews (1), Josh Bailey (1) 03:39 FLA 0,NYI 2 PPG

3rd Period

Jonathan Huberdeau (1) MacKenzie Weegar (1), Aleksander Barkov (1) 00:23 FLA 1,NYI 2

The Series (Isles lead 1-0)

Game 1: Isles 2, Florida 1

Game 2: Tuesday 12:00

Game 3: Wednesday 12:00

Game 4 (if needed): Friday (TBD)

Game 5 If needed):  Sunday, August 9 (TBD)

The Skinny

J-G Pageau opened the scoring with his 13th career playoff goal; Pageau also opened the scoring in the last playoff series he played (in 2017 for Ottawa against Tampa Bay)…Derick Brassard, playing in his 100th Stanley Cup Playoff game, earned an assist on the goal… Anthony Beauvillier's goal was his second career playoff goal; it extended the Isles' streak of scoring a power play goal to four straight playoff games, dating back to last May…The Isles improve to 6-2 in game 1's of best-of-5s, with the others all contested from 1980-1986…The Isles were able to play their whole fourth line together for the first time since December 19, 2019 and had Adam Pelech in the lineup for the first time in 2020…The shots finished 28-28; it's the first time since April 17, 2016 (also vs. Florida) that the shots have been even in an Isles playoff game…Devon Toews now has six points (1-5-6) in his first nine career playoff games…The Isles have now played either an exhibition, regular season or post-season game in every calendar month but June.

The Injury

Isles played the last 37:16 without Johnny Boychuk, who did not return after being checked in the head by Mike Matheson.  Matheson was penalized on the play and the Isles scored the eventual game-winner on the ensuing power play.

Five for 55

With Boychuk's injury, the other five Islander defenders each played at least 20:00. That is the first time that has happened in the Real Time era in a game decided in regulation.  Both Scott Mayfield (24:31) and Devon Toews (22:40) had career playoff highs.

Déjà vu All Over Again (Thanks Yogi)

Nine Islanders who dressed today also faced Florida in 2016 (Greiss, Leddy, Pulock, Bailey, Clutterbuck, Martin, Nelson, Cizikas, Boychuk); Thomas Hickey had an overtime goal in that series. Only four Panthers (Ekblad, Huberdeau, Barkov and Matheson) played in that series.

Déjà vu All Over Again and Again

The Isles'  last three playoff games against Florida (Games 5 and 6 in 2016 and today) have all been Islander wins by 2-1 scores.  Unlike the two in 2016, this game ended in regulation.

Join the Club 

J-G Pageau is the fifth Islander to score in his first regular season and first playoff game with the team.  Two others: Mike Bossy and Patrick Flatley did so in the same season.

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles are 34-17 (.667) all-time in overtime, including 18-10 (.643) at home. The .667 overall percentage and .643 home percentages are both the best in NHL history. The Isles are 0-0 in overtime this season; nine of the 27 playoff games the Isles have played since 2015 have gone to overtime with the Isles holding a 5-4 record.  

Lead/Tie/Trail

In game 1, the Isles led for 48:00 and the game was tied for 12:00

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles improve to 149-124 in 273 all-time playoff games.  They are 85-46 at home (including 2-5 at Barclays and 1-0 in Toronto) and 64-78 on the road.  

Coach Trotz

Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 845-618-60-151 in 1,674 games and will begin next season just five wins shy of supplanting Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  925

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    845

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,705

3. Barry Trotz        1,674

4. Al Arbour 1,607 

The matchup between the Isles and Panthers is led by two coaches who have combined for 1,770 wins and 3,379 games.  No other match-up in NHL history has featured two coaches with as much experience.

The previous mark was in the 1993 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals when Al Arbour bested Scotty Bowman's Penguins.  At the time, Arbour had coached 1,522 regular season games, winning 745, while Bowman had won 834 of his 1,440 games coached.  Trotz and Quenneville combine for 191 more wins and 417 more games.

Coach Trotz (Playoffs)

Barry Trotz has now coached 122 playoff games (60-62).  His 60 wins are 19th all time, one behind Jacques Lemaire and three behind Fred Shero and Claude Julien.  Trotz won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018; Joel Quenneville (3) and Mike Sullivan (2) are the only active coaches with multiple Stanley Cups.

Most playoff wins by Islander coaches:

• Al Arbour 123

• Jack Capuano 10

• Terry Simpson 9

• Barry Trotz 5

• Peter Laviolette 4

• Ted Nolan 1

• Steve Stirling 1

Most playoff games coached (Islanders):

• Al Arbour 209

• Jack Capuano 24

• Terry Simpson 20

• Peter Laviolette 12

• Barry Trotz 9

• Steve Stirling 5

• Ted Nolan 5

Most overtime wins/overtime record:

• Al Arbour 26 (26-9)

• Jack Capuano 4 (4-5)

• Terry Simpson 3 (3-0)

• Barry Trotz 1 (1-1)

• Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

• Steve Stirling 0 (0-1)

Most playoff series wins:

• Al Arbour 29

• Barry Trotz 1

• Jack Capuano 1

• Terry Simpson 1

First Things First

The Isles are 1-0 when scoring first and are 0-0 when allowing the first goal in the playoffs.

The Shots

Isles     11-7-10=28

Florida  9-14-5=28

Shots by Game

• Game 1: Isles 28, Florida 28

• Series: Isles 28, Florida 28

The Isles are 0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0 when the shots are even and 0-0 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves to improve to 1-0 this season and 14-13 all-time in the playoffs.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves but falls to 0-1 this season and 11-19 all-time in the playoffs. 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-3 on the power play in 4:55 of PP time; Florida was 0-1 on the power play in 2:00 of PP time.

Power Plays by Game

• Game 1: Isles 1-3 (4:55; 3 shots), Florida 0-1 (2:00, 3 shots)

• Series: Isles 1-3 (4:55; 3 shots), Florida 0-1 (2:00, 3 shots)

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 0-0 in the playoffs when they score at least three goals and 1-0 when they do not.  Last season the Isles scored at least three goals in each of their four wins and two or fewer in each of their four losses.

One Goal Games

The Isles are 1-0 in the playoffs in one-goal games (1-0 in regulation and 0-0 in overtime). The Isles are 0-0  in playoff games where an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Scott Mayfield (24:31);  Florida: Aaron Ekblad (25:34)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 16:54 of ice-time 

Isles record by ice-time leader: Scott Mayfield (1-0)

Face-offs

Isles 28, Florida 24 (54%).

Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 8 of 10 for the Isles; Noel Acciari won 8 of 12 for Florida.

Face-offs by Game

• Game 1: Isles 28, Florida 24 (54%).  

• Series: Isles 28, Florida 24 (54%)

Hit Count

Isles 30 (Adam Pelech -5)

Florida 32 (Aleksander Barkov -4)

Hits Game by Game:

• Game 1: Isles 30, Florida 32

• Series: Isles 30, Florida 32 

Fights

There were no fights. Playoff total -0.   

Blocked Shots

Isles 12 (Cal Clutterbuck and Devon Toews -3)

Florida 15 (Noel Acciari -4)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 58, Florida 51

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 48, Florida 48

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Josh Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier +7

Florida: Brett Connolly and Evgeni Dadanov +6

Corsi Game by Game:

• Game 1 (All) Isles 58, Florida 51;  (5-on-5) Isles 48, Florida 48

• Series (All) Isles 58, Florida 51;  (5-on-5) Isles 48, Florida 48

Scratches

Andy Greene, Noah Dobson, Andrew Ladd, Otto Koivula, Michael Dal Colle, Ross Johnston, Thomas Hickey, Sebastian Aho, Leo Komarov, Christopher Gibson

Playoff games lost: 0. 

Post-Season Late Heroes (Final Two Minutes of Regulation, or Overtime)

None

Post-Season Late Goals Allowed

None

Playoff Challenges

None

Active Islander Playoff Leaders: (As NYI)

Games:

Casey Cizikas 33

Matt Martin 33

Josh Bailey 31

Goals:

Josh Bailey 8 

Brock Nelson 7 

Jordan Eberle 4 

Cal Clutterbuck 4

Assists:

Josh Bailey 10

Nick Leddy 8 

Mathew Barzal 5

Casey Cizikas 5

Jordan Eberle 5

Thomas Hickey 5

Points:

Josh Bailey 18

Brock Nelson 11 

Nick Leddy 10

Penalty Minutes:

Cal Clutterbuck 42

Matt Martin 38 

Casey Cizikas 34

PP Goals

Mathew Barzal 2

Josh Bailey 2 

Brock Nelson 1 

Ryan Pulock 1

Devon Toews 1

Anthony Beauvillier 1

SH Goals

No current Islander has a playoff SH goal with Isles. (Last to do so was Kyle Okposo on May 5, 2013 vs. Pittsburgh)

GW Goals

Brock Nelson 2

Josh Bailey 1 

Thomas Hickey 1

Jordan Eberle 1

Anthony Beauvillier 1

Goaltending

Thomas Greiss      5-6 2.49 GAA, .920 save percentage

Semyon Varlamov 1-0 1.00 GAA, .964 save percentage

Up Next

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4th  -  ISLANDERS VS FLORIDA (AT TORONTO) –12:00 PM 

[MSG+ (pre-game at 11:30AM), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN-1050]

The Isles look to take a 2-0 lead as they face Florida.  It will be the first mid-week afternoon game in Islander playoff history.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny on the Isles' Regular Season...and a Look Ahead to the Playoffs

"The Skinny" on the 2019-20 Regular Season…and a look ahead to the playoffs!        

By Eric Hornick

The Tradition Continues

In the final regular season edition of The Skinny, I always take a look back at the numbers from that year. The Isles skated off the ice at Rogers Arena in Vancouver at 12:48 AM Eastern Time on the morning of March 11th.  They have not played since.  

That streak will come to an end at 8:00PM on Wednesday as the Isles meet the Rangers in an exhibition game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.  The Isles will then begin their best-of-5 playoff series at 4:00PM on Saturday, August 1st as they face the Florida Panthers.

In the final game the Isles played before the NHL's Pause, JT Miller's shootout goal (the only one scored in the shootout) gave the Vancouver Canucks a 5-4 win over the Islanders, extending the Isles' winless streak to seven games (0-3-4).  It is the first time since February/March 2018 (8 games) that the Isles have gone at least five games without a win. When the season did not restart, it also became the longest winless streak to end a regular season in club history.

The Isles finished the abbreviated campaign 35-23-10. Their 80 points in 68 games is the 4th-highest through 68 games in the Post-Cup era (90 points in 2014-15, 85 points last season and 85 points in 2015-16).

The Skinny        

The Isles went 6-8-5 since the All-Star Break (and only 1-6-2 on the road); they scored 41 goals in the eleven games that they earned points but only eight goals in their eight regulation losses… Mathew Barzal's assist in Vancouver was his 60th point; he is the 2nd-youngest Islander to have three seasons with 60+ points, joining Bryan Trottier…Brock Nelson finished the abbreviated campaign with 26-28-54 totals; it ties his career high in goals and sets a new career high in points. He recorded his 150th career goal in the finale;  he is only the 17th Isle to record 150 goals… The Isles allowed 27 goals in the last seven games and did not have a .900 save percentage in any of them; the team save percentage in that span is .870…

The Shootout

The Isles went 3-3 in the shootout this season; Semyon Varlamov was 2-2 while Thomas Greiss was 1-1. The Isles are 82-67 all-time in shootouts; the 82 wins are an NHL record (Pittsburgh has won 80).

The Injuries

The 4 ½ month gap between regular season and playoffs allowed all of the injured Islanders to return to the ice for Training Camp II.  This included Adam Pelech, who was thought to be lost for the season. 

It's Good to be Home(s)

The Isles played 24 of their 35 home games this season at the Coliseum.  The Isles were 13-8-3 on Coliseum ice where they have sold out seven of the last eight games (and ten games this season).  The Isles went 7-1-3 at Barclays Center this season, losing only their finale in Brooklyn on March 3rd. 

On the Road

The Isles were 15-14-4 on the road this season but were only 3-8-3 in the last 14 games.

Career Years (excluding rookies, and others with limited prior NHL experience)

Despite the shortened season, several Isles had career years in 2019-20:

• Mathew Barzal was a career-best +5

• Anthony Beauvillier established career highs in assists (21) and points (39), while scoring the first two overtime goals of his career

• Casey Cizikas established career highs in shorthanded goals (3) and  shorthanded points (5)

• Scott Mayfield established career highs in goals (5) and scored his first career game-winning goal 

• Brock Nelson established career highs in points (54), game-winning goals (5) and overtime goals (3)

• Devon Toews established career highs in goals (6), assists (22) and points (28)

Leaders:

• Games: 7 with 68 

• Goals: Brock Nelson -26  (JG Pageau also scored 26)

• Assists: Mathew Barzal - 41

• Points: Mathew Barzal- 60 

• Plus/Minus: Casey Cizikas +12

• Pen Mins: Ross Johnston -78

• PP Goals: Three with four  (JG Pageau scored 5)

• PP Points: Mathew Barzal- 12

• SH Goals: Casey Cizikas – 3

• SH Points: Casey Cizikas - 5

• GW Goals: Anders Lee - 6

• OT Goals: Brock Nelson -3

• Shots: Anders Lee - 195

• Shooting Percentage: Casey Cizikas, Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey – 14.9% (JG Pageau: 17.2%)

• Average ice-time: Ryan Pulock - 22:24

• Face-off Percentages (minimum 300): Derick Brassard – 55.2%

The Finales

The shootout loss in Vancouver technically snaps a six-game win streak in road finales; they are now 25-16-6 all-time in road finales.  The Isles are 4-1-3 in their last eight season finales and are 25-14-8 all-time in their final game of the year. 

Coach Trotz

Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 845-618-60-151 in 1,674 games and will begin next season just five wins shy of supplanting Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  925

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    845

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,705

3. Barry Trotz        1,674

4. Al Arbour 1,607 

The upcoming matchup between the Isles and Panthers will be led by two coaches who have combined for 1,770 wins and 3,379 games.  No other match-up in NHL history has featured two coaches with as much experience.

The previous mark was in the 1993 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals when Al Arbour bested Scotty Bowman's Penguins.  At the time, Arbour had coached 1,522 regular season games, winning 745, while Bowman had won 834 of his 1,440 games coached.  Trotz and Quenneville combine for 191 more wins and 417 more games.

First Things First

The Isles were  23-8-5 when scoring first and were 12-15-5 when allowing the opening goal. The Isles were 6-1-2 in the last nine games they scored first but were 1-9-4 in the last 14 games that they allowed the opening goal.

The Goals (Season)

Isles            57-60-64-8=189 (2.8/game)

Opponents  60-59-64-7=190 (2.8/game)

The Shots (season)

Isles          677-684-620-35=2016 (29.6/game)

Opponents 668-739-686-30=2123 (31.2/game)

The Isles were 13-8-6 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-1-0 when the shots are even and 22-14-4 when they were outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 53-25-9 when outshot; the 53 wins are the most in the NHL.

By Division & Conference

The Isles were 11-7-4 in Division games and 24-16-6 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles were 25-13-5 against the East and 10-10-5 against the West.  

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov was 19-14-6 on the season with a 2.62 GAA and a 91.4 save percentage.

Thomas Greiss was 16-9-4 on the season with a 2.74 GAA and a 91.3 save percentage.

.   

Power Plays

The Isles were 29-168 on the power play (17.3% - tied/24th) and 34-176 (80.7% -15th) on the PK.  The Isles scored 6 shorthanded goals and allowed five shorties.

The Isles had the fewest power plays in the NHL (16 fewer than Anaheim) but were shorthanded the 3rd fewest times. Only the Ducks scored fewer PP goals but only three other teams allowed fewer.

The Isles were 13-7-3 when they scored at least one power play goal and 22-16-7 when they did not.  The Isles were 14-9-4 when they allowed at least one power play goal and 21-14-6 when they did not.

The Isles were 7-9-6 when they had more power plays than the opposition, 4-6-0 when the power plays were even, and 24-9-3 when the opposition had more power plays.

First 2 / Last 2   

The Isles scored 16 goals and allowed 15 goals in the first two minutes of regulation periods.

The Isles scored 15 goals and allowed 20 goals (excluding ENGs) in the last two minutes of regulation periods. 

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles were 31-3-5 when they scored at least three goals (including shootout winners) and were 4-20-5 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 67-5-7 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles were 16-7-10 in games decided by a single goal including 5-7 in regulation. They were 8-7 in games decided in overtime and are 3-3 in shootouts.  The Isles were 5-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles were 3-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles were 7-1-0 when they were rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles were 3-1-1 when their opponents were rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles were 22-21-9 when both teams were rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Ryan Pulock (22:24), Adam Pelech (21:07), Nick Leddy (21:06)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:02 of average ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leader: Ryan Pulock (13-8-5), Devon Toews (3-6-2), Nick Leddy (5-3-3), Adam Pelech (9-2-0), Mathew Barzal (2-3-0), Scott Mayfield (2-1-0), Brock Nelson (1-0-0).

Highest Ice-Time by Isles Forwards Under Trotz

• 24:59 -  Mathew Barzal – 2/19/20 vs. COL(Career High)

• 24:35 -  Mathew Barzal – 2/17/20 vs. ARI

• 24:35 - Brock Nelson – 11/9/19 vs. FLA (Career High)

• 24:02 – Mathew Barzal – 2/25/20 vs. NYR 

• 24:01 - Jordan Eberle – 2/17/20 vs. ARI (Most with Isles)

Face-off Percentage Leaders

• Derick Brassard 55.2%

• JG Pageau 53.5% (includes Ottawa)

• Casey Cizikas 53.5%

• Brock Nelson 51.8%

The Isles were 18th in the NHL at 49.9%.

Hit Count

• Matt Martin – 242

• Johnny Boychuk -135

• Casey Cizikas -133

The Isles were 2nd in the NHL with 1,915 hits.

 

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:17 – Johnston-6 (vs. FLA, vs PHL, vs TB, vs NYR, vs WAS, vs VGK), Cizikas-3 (vs. OTT, vs SJ, vs. LA), Lee-3 (vs FLA, vs VGK, vs MON), Martin-2 (vs NYR, vs NAS), Mayfield (vs ANA), Pageau (vs NYR), Dzingel (vs. CAR).

 

Blocked Shots

• Andy Greene -155 (includes New Jersey)

• Ryan Pulock -139

• Johnny Boychuk -128

The Isles led the NHL with 1,153 blocked shots.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles were 5-3-0 in the front-half and 6-1-1 in the back-half. The Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Night and Day

The Isles are 31-20-7 in night games and 4-3-3 in matinees. 

200 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games, and they are three of just 25 players in the NHL who have played every game since the start of the 2017-18 season.  It is the first time since November 25, 1978 that the Isles have had three players with streaks of at least 200 games.

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 268, Brock Nelson 245, Mathew Barzal 232, Ryan Pulock 195, Josh Bailey 153, Anthony Beauvillier 143, and Devon Toews 116.  No other Islander played every game this season.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have also moved into the top 10:

1. Billy Harris 10/7/1972 -11/30/1979 576 (*)

2. Bobby Nystrom 1/7/1975 - 11/25/1978 301

3. Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284

4. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 268

5. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262

6. John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246

7. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 245

8. J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 – 1/7/1978 240 (**)

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 232

10. Richard Park 10/5/2006 - 2/18/2009 221

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak of any defenseman in Islander history: 

1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262

2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)

3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198

4. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 195

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Scratches

Total games lost: 164.

Late Heroes 

The Isles scored five times in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead:

10/14 vs. STL – Mathew Barzal scored at 19:33 and the Isles won in OT.

11/19 @ PIT – Ryan Pulock scored at 18:38 and the Isles won in OT.

2/1 vs VAN – Brock Nelson scored at 19:34, but the Isles lost in OT.

2/11 vs PHI – Ryan Pulock scored the winning goal at 19:19.

2/26 vs NYR – Brock Nelson scored at 19:42, but the Isles lost in OT

Late Goals Allowed

The Isles allowed five goals in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or win a game:

11/21 vs. PIT – Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:30, but the Isles won in OT.

12/14 vs. BUF -Jack Eichel scored at 18:14, but the Isles won in OT. 

1/16 vs. NYR- Chris Kreider scored the winning goal at 19:35.

2/11 vs. PHI – Sean Couturier scored at 18:28, but the Isles won in regulation.

2/27 vs. STL – Vince Dunn scored at 18:16, and the Blues won in OT.

Challenges

Isles: 4 successful, 2 failures (offside-11/19 vs. PIT), (offside-12/9 vs. TBL), (no goalie Interference 12/21 vs, ANA), (offside-1/6 vs. COL), (offside 1/21 vs NYR), (no goalie interference 2/25 vs NYR)

The Isles went 4-0-0 in games that they were successful and 0-0-2 in games that they were unsuccessful.

Opponents: 4 successful, 3 failures (Nelson-kick 10/8 vs. EDM), (Lee- no high stick 11/1 vs. TB), (Cizikas- no goalie interference 11/23 vs. SJ), (Komarov-goalie interference 1/2 vs. NJ),(no offside 1/18 vs WSH), (Lee-goalie interference 2/4 vs. DAL), (offside- 2/9 vs TBL)

The Isles were 1-1-1 in games where opponents' challenges went their way and 1-3-0 in games that went the opponent's way.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5.  Josh Bailey 865…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 560 *** 19. Ken Morrow 550 *** 20. Brock Nelson 548 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Lorne Henning 543 ***  23. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 24. Casey Cizikas 534

Goals

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 172 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 154 *** 17. Brock Nelson 150

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…

6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Pat Flatley 328 *** 8. Brent Sutter 323 *** 9. Josh Bailey 322 …

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Duane Sutter and Alexei Yashin 171*** 24. Nick Leddy 169

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 476…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 301  ***22. Mariusz Czerkawski and Brock Nelson 295

Games Played (Goalies)

1. Billy Smith 674 *** 2. Rick DiPietro 318 *** 3. Glenn Resch 282 *** 4. Kelly Hrudey 241 ***

5.   Thomas Greiss 193

Wins (Goalie)

1. Billy Smith 304 *** 2. Glenn Resch 157 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 130*** 4. Kelly Hrudey 108***

5.   Thomas Greiss 101

Shutouts (Goalie)

1. Glenn Resch 25 *** 2. Billy Smith 22 *** 3. Rick DiPietro 16 *** 4. Tommy Salo 14***

5. Jaroslav Halak 12 *** 6.  Thomas Greiss 10

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Butch Goring 154 *** 9. Barry Trotz 150

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 82

Up Next

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29th  -  ISLANDERS AT RANGERS (AT TORONTO) –8:00 PM (Exhibition)

[MSG+ (pre-game at 7:30PM), 88.7 WRHU-FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN-1050]

NHL QUALIFYING ROUND

Game 1: Saturday, August 1st – FLORIDA AT ISLES (AT TORONTO) 4:00 PM

Game 2: Tuesday, August 4th – FLORIDA AT ISLES (AT TORONTO) 12:00 PM

Game 3: Wednesday, August 5th – ISLES AT FLORIDA (AT TORONTO) 12:00 PM

Game 4: Friday, August 7th – IF NECESSARY

Game 5: Sunday, August 9th- IF NECESSARY

The Isles head to Toronto to face the Rangers in an exhibition game on Wednesday. It will be the first meeting of the rivals since February 25th, when the Rangers overcame a Brock Nelson goal at 19:42 to win in overtime.  It will be the first time in club history that the Isles have played a game of any type in June, July, or August.

One hundred forty-four days after the Isles played their last regular season game, the playoffs will begin on Saturday when the Isles meet the Florida Panthers.  It will be the second playoff meeting between the teams; the Isles defeated the Panthers in six games in first round in 2016.  There were three overtime goals in the series, and the Isles won all three – including the series winner in double overtime of game six by John Tavares.  The Isles are the only team in the last 29 years (1991 Edmonton Oilers) to win consecutive games in multiple overtimes.

The Isles swept the 2019-2020 regular season from Florida:

• October 12, 2019  (at Coliseum) 3-2 in a shootout

• November 9, 2019 (at Brooklyn) 2-1

• December 12, 2019 (at Florida) 3-1

The first game was the first game of the Isles' 10-game winning streak and 17-game point streak while the second game was the 12th game of the point streak.  The 3-1 win in Sunrise raised the Isles' record to 21-7-2.

This will be the second straight playoff year that the Isles will begin the playoffs by facing an opposing coach with multiple Stanley Cups: Mike Sullivan has won twice for the Penguins, while Joel Quenneville, the current Florida coach, won three times for Chicago.  Only seven coaches, including Al Arbour, have won at least four Stanley Cups.

Brendan Burke and Butch Goring will have the call of the exhibition game and the Florida series on MSG+; the games will be available on NBCSN (or other NBC outlets) for fans outside the New York metropolitan area.

ISLES PLAYOFF HISTORY:

The Isles were the first team to win 15 games to win the Stanley Cup (1980); the Isles went 6-1 in the best-of-5 first rounds between 1980 and 1986 (winning the first six).  Their .857 winning percentage in best-of-5 series is the best in NHL history.

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles are 148-124 in 272 all-time playoff games.  They are 84-46 at home (82-41 at the Coliseum and 2-5 at Barclays) and 64-78 on the road.  

  

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles are 34-17 (.667) all-time in overtime, including 18-10 (.643) at home. Both percentages are the best in NHL history. The Isles were 1-1 in overtime in 2019; nine of the 25 playoff games the Isles have played since 2015 have gone to overtime with the Isles holding a 5-4 record.  

The Isles are 3-3 in overtime during best-of-5 series:

1980: Beat Los Angeles (Ken Morrow -Game 3)

1982: Lost to Pittsburgh (Rick Kehoe – Game 4)

1982: Beat Pittsburgh (John Tonelli – Game 5)

1984: Beat Rangers (Ken Morrow- Game 5)

1985: Lost to Washington (Alan Haworth – Game 1)

1985: Lost to Washington (Mike Gartner – Game 2)

The three Islander wins are arguably three of the most important or dramatic in franchise history.  They would win both series that they allowed the overtime goals, including in 1985 when they became the first team in league history to win a best-of-5 series after dropping the first two games.

Coach Trotz (Playoffs)

Barry Trotz has coached 121 playoff games (59-62), good for 14th all-time in games coached.  His 59 wins are 19th all time, two behind Jacques Lemaire and four behind Fred Shero and Claude Julien.  Trotz won the Stanley Cup in 2018 for Washington; Joel Quenneville (3) and Mike Sullivan (2) are the only active coaches with multiple Stanley Cups.

Most playoff wins by Islander coaches:

• Al Arbour 123

• Jack Capuano 10

• Terry Simpson 9

• Barry Trotz 4

• Peter Laviolette 4

• Ted Nolan 1

• Steve Stirling 1

Most playoff games coached (Islanders):

• Al Arbour 209

• Jack Capuano 24

• Terry Simpson 20

• Peter Laviolette 12

• Barry Trotz 8

• Steve Stirling 5

• Ted Nolan 5

Most overtime wins/overtime record:

• Al Arbour 26 (26-9)

• Jack Capuano 4 (4-5)

• Terry Simpson 3 (3-0)

• Barry Trotz 1 (1-1)

• Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

• Steve Stirling 0 (0-1)

Most playoff series wins:

• Al Arbour 29

• Barry Trotz 1

• Jack Capuano 1

• Terry Simpson 1

Active Islander Playoff Leaders: (As NYI)

Games:

Casey Cizikas 32

Matt Martin 32 

Josh Bailey 30

Goals:

Josh Bailey 8 

Brock Nelson 7 

Jordan Eberle 4 

Cal Clutterbuck 4

Assists:

Josh Bailey 9

Nick Leddy 8 

Mathew Barzal 5

Casey Cizikas 5

Jordan Eberle 5

Thomas Hickey 5

Points:

Josh Bailey 17

Brock Nelson 11 

Nick Leddy 10

Penalty Minutes:

Cal Clutterbuck 42

Matt Martin 38 

Casey Cizikas 34

PP Goals

Mathew Barzal 2

Josh Bailey 2 

Brock Nelson 1 

Ryan Pulock 1

Devon Toews 1

SH Goals

No current Islander has a playoff SH goal with Isles. (Last to do so was Kyle Okposo on May 5, 2013 vs. Pittsburgh)

GW Goals

Brock Nelson 2

Josh Bailey 1 

Thomas Hickey 1

Jordan Eberle 1

Goaltending

Thomas Greiss  5-6  2.49 GAA, .920 save percentage

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Road to the Cup - May 24, 1980 -- Isles 5, Philadelphia 4 (OT) (Isles win best-of-7 series AND STANLEY CUP 4-2)

40 Years Ago Today

By Eric Hornick

Game 6
Isles 5, Philadelphia 4

The Stanley Cup is ours!  

Bob Nystrom converted a pass from John Tonelli at the magical 7:11 mark of overtime as the Islanders defeated the Philadelphia  5-4  to win the Stanley Cup in 6 games.

 Reggie Leach had given the Flyers a 1-0 first period lead with a power play goal but Denis Potvin knotted the game with a power play tally of his own.

That set the stage for the most disputed part of the game – a goal by Duane Sutter after a missed off-side call by Leon Stickle. “I guess I blew it”, Stickle told a pool reporter.  Flyer fans will tell you that call cost them the Stanley Cup –they’ll usually conveniently forget that Brian Propp tied the game before the first period was over.

Mike Bossy broke the 2-2 tie with the Islanders’ second power play goal of the game at 7:46 of the middle session, and when Bob Nystrom beat Peter Peeters with just 14 seconds to play in the session, it seemed like the Islanders had the game in hand. 

Jim Robson was calling the game for Hockey Night in Canada and ironically noted, “Bob Nystrom will never score a bigger goal in his life.”  He was right – for about 90 minutes.

Give the Flyers credit though.  Philadelphia had finished first overall, in large part due to a 35-game unbeaten streak, and with their season on the line they managed to tie the game.  Bob Dailey scored just 1:47 into the third period and John Paddock scored 4:15 later to get the Broad Street Bullies, who were looking for their 3^rd championship in 7 years, even.  Neither team could score in the rest of regulation and (after CBS showed 15 minutes of golf), we went to overtime.

40 years later, the Flyers are still waiting. 

Taken at the Coliseum during the 2014-15 season

It was 5:40pm on that 24th day of May, 1980.  At 7:11 of overtime, Tonelli’s pass to Nystrom made history as Bob Nystrom scored “The Goal” ….and the Islanders won the Stanley Cup.

This scene was recreated in the same corner i.n 2015, when John Tavares scored to beat Washington in overtime in game 3.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world.”, Nystrom told Newsday’s Pat Calabria. “It’s everything it is supposed to be.  It’s everything you dream about.  It is.”

Others felt tears, of happiness.  “All I want to do is cry.  Cry, cry, cry, that’s all”, said Bob Bourne.

The first sentence on page 3 of Newsday ends this way: “We Are Long Island and Proud. Thank You.” 

Here's the most complete version of the CBC broadcast I can find:

This was the only game that aired on network television in the US in a span of nearly two decades -- Dan Kelly, Tim Ryan and Lou Nanne were at the microphone for CBS:

If you just want to see the winner, with Dan and Lou, it's right here:

Kelly also had the honors as the voice behind the 1980 Stanley Cup Film:




The Isles' win even merited a mention on Saturday Night Live (wonder whatever happened to that anchor?)




Nystrom's goal was a work of art.  Literally.



The historic boxscore:

First Period
1 - PHI : Reggie Leach 9 (Rick MacLeish, Bill Barber) (PP) 7:21 
2 - NYI : Potvin 6 (Bossy, Trottier) (PP) 11:56 
3 - NYI : Sutter (Gillies, Goring) (EV) 14:08 
4 - PHI : Brian Propp 5 (Paul Holmgren, Ken Linseman) (EV) 18:38 

Second Period
5 - NYI : Bossy 10 (Bourne, Trottier) (PP) 7:34 
6 - NYI : Nystrom 8 (Tonelli) (EV) 19:46 

Third Period
7 - PHI : Bob Dailey 4 (Ken Linseman, Paul Holmgren) (EV) 1:47 
8 - PHI : John Paddock 2 (Andre Dupont, Rick MacLeish) (EV) 6:02 

Overtime
9 - NYI : Nystrom 9 (Henning, Tonelli) (EV) 7:11 

The Mini-Skinny:

Six year ago today, I wrote a Skinny post on that day -- it included a picture of the scoresheet that a 16-year old future statistician had typed up about the game:

My complete post on that day is here:
The Skinny on May 24, 1980

Truth be told -- it was writing that post that gave birth to the It Happened at the Coliseum series, which inspired The Road to the Cup.

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 4, Philadelphia 3 (OT)
Game 2: Philadelphia 8, Isles 3
Game 3: Isles 6, Philadelphia 2
Game 4: Isles 5, Philadelphia 2
Game 5: Philadelphia 6, Isles 3

Game 6: Isles 5, Philadelphia 4 (OT)
(Isles win series, 4-2)

Overtime is Our Time!
1st round vs Los Angeles: Game 3 (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13)
Semi-Finals vs Buffalo: Game 2 (W 2-1 Nystrom 21:20)
Final vs Philadelphia: Game 1 (W 4-3 Potvin 4:07)

Final vs Philadelphia: Game 6 (W 5-4 Nystrom 7:11)

Series Leaders
Mike Bossy 4-7-11

Bryan Trottier 5-4-9

Denis Potvin 4-4-8

Clark Gillies 2-6-8

Isles Scoring Leaders
Bryan Trottier 12-17-29
Mike Bossy 10-13-23

Bob Bourne 10-10-20

Butch Goring 7-12-19

Denis Potvin 6-13-19
Bob Nystrom 9-9-18

Isles +/- Leaders 

Bob Lorimer +12
Denis Potvin +10
Garry Howatt +8
Butch Goring +8

Bryan Trottier +8

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders 

Gord Lane 83
Garry Howatt  84

Duane Sutter 74
Clark Gillies 63

Goalie Records

Billy Smith 15-4 2.70 GAA .903 Save Percentage

Chico Resch 0-2 5.61 GAA .804 Save Percentage

(A funny note about the engraving; each player's name is shown as "First Initial, Last Name"... except for Butch's, which is "First Initial, Nickname, Last Name"

In honor of the 30th anniversary (back in 2010), I shared a draft of the script that Jiggs McDonald used in 2006 to introduce the Stanley Cup champions.

Draft of Jiggs' script

So the Road to the Cup is complete. Long Island, NY had the Stanley Cup!  

And Finally....

The final words in this series belong not to me, nor to Tim Ryan or Steve Albert, who called most of the games that season (Jiggs would arrive the following fall): 

They belong to a radio broadcaster (who died in 2009) named Bob Lawrence,

who called the play-by-play for only a handful of Islanders games -- he was John Sterling's sidekick when Sterling did the play-by-play for three seasons and then mainly served as the host of radio broadcasts that were simulcasts of the TV broadcast.  With CBS televising Game 6, the Isles produced their own radio broadcast and it was Lawrence (along with Jean Potvin) who had the call.

Here's what he said:

  

Road to the Cup - May 22, 1980 -- Philadelphia 6, Isles 3 (Isles lead best-of-7 series 3-2)

40 Years Ago Tonight

By Eric Hornick

Game 5
Philadelphia 6, Isles 3

Rick MacLeish scored twice as the Flyers earned a 6-3 win in Philadelphia in game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.  Stefan Persson had two goals for the Islanders, both on the power play.  

The Flyers' win cut the Islanders' lead in the series to 3-games-to-2.

Persson's first goal had given the Isles the lead after 20 minutes but the Flyers took the lead in the middle period, despite a Bryan Trottier tally. Mike Busniuk scored 48 seconds after Trottier to give the Flyers the advantage. 

"It was a funny play," said Busniuk. "There were three of us going and I was lucky to pick up the pass after it went off Paul Holmgren's skate." At any rate, Busniuk was behind the goal and working his way to the front at the post to Smith's right. "Holmgren hollered and the defenseman (Gord Lane) went to him. There was no one to pass to, so I just took a shot. I don't know how or where it went in."

When MacLeish and Brian Propp scored 2:50 apart in the third period, the Flyers were basically assured a trip back to Long Island.

Steve Jacobson's Newsday story had an interesting title: "Flyers Bring Up the Old Choke Tag", referring to the Isles' problems the previous spring, which were mentioned by Flyer coach Pat Quinn. "Who was it that choked (when the Flyers were beaten in 5 by the Rangers in 79)", asked Garry Howatt.  "I will be happy to shake hands with Mr. Quinn on Saturday."

 The scoring:

1st Period

10:58 NYI PP Stefan Persson (4) Mike Bossy

2nd Period

01:45 PHI Bobby Clarke (8) Behn Wilson, Reggie Leach

05:55 PHI Rick MacLeish (8)

16:16 NYI Bryan Trottier (12) Mike Bossy, Stefan Persson

17:04 PHI Mike Busniuk (2) Brian Propp, Ken Linseman

3rd Period

09:43 PHI Rick MacLeish (9) Mel Bridgman

12:33 PHI PP Brian Propp (4) Ken Linseman, Paul Holmgren

14:57 NYI PP Stefan Persson (5) Butch Goring, Denis Potvin

17:26 PHI Paul Holmgren (10) Ken Linseman

 

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 4, Philadelphia 3 (OT)
Game 2: Philadelphia 8, Isles 3
Game 3: Isles 6, Philadelphia 2
Game 4: Isles 5, Philadelphia 2
Game 5: Philadelphia 6, Isles 3

Game 6: May 24 at Isles (if necessary)
Game 7: May 27 at Philadelphia (if necessary)
(Isles lead series, 3-2)

Mini-Skinny:
The Isles outshot Philadelphia 38-31... Billy Smith fell to 14-4 in the playoffs while Pete Peeters earned the win ....Bryan Trottier's goal was his 27th point of the playoffs, tying the then-record... Stefan Persson's second power play goal didn't have much to do with the outcome, but it was the record-setting 13th scored by the Isles in the series...After going 2-0 in Los Angeles, 3-0 in Boston and 2-1 in Buffalo, the Isles fell to 1-2 in Philadelphia (still with the potential for a Game 7 in Philly (spoiler alert - it was not needed)).

Overtime is Our Time!
1st round vs Los Angeles: Game 3 (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13)
Semi-Finals vs Buffalo: Game 2 (W 2-1 Nystrom 21:20)
Final vs Philadelphia: Game 1 (W 4-3 Potvin 4:07)

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 20 Games
Bryan Trottier 12-15-27
Mike Bossy 9-12-21

Bob Bourne 10-9-19

Butch Goring 7-11-18

Denis Potvin 5-13-18
Bob Nystrom 7-9-16

Isles +/- Leaders thru 20 Games
Bob Lorimer +11
Denis Potvin +9
Garry Howatt +9
Butch Goring +8

Bryan Trottier +8

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 20 Games
Gord Lane 83
Garry Howatt  82

Duane Sutter 74
Clark Gillies 56

So the Flyers were back in the series; five years earlier the Isles had come back from (3-0 and) 3-1 deficits to force a Game 7. The Isles were determined to make sure that didn't happen again. The end of the Road to the Cup was less than 48 hours away.

We'll finish the story on Sunday, the 40th anniversary of game 6.  

Road to the Cup - May 19, 1980 -- Isles 5, Philadelphia 2 (Isles lead best-of-7 series 3-1)

40 Years Ago Tonight
By Eric Hornick

Game 4
Isles 5, Philadelphia 2
The Islanders moved within one game of the Stanley Cup, with a 5-2 win over the Flyers in game 4 of the 1980 Final.

Unlike game 3, the Isles would score only once on the power play – Mike Bossy gave the Isles a 1-0 lead with a power play marker; Butch Goring also scored in the opening session to give the Isles a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes.

John Paddock (who will play an important role in Game 6) scored early in the second period to cut the Islanders’ advantage in half entering the third period.

Bryan Trottier restored the two-goal advantage at 6:06 of the third period with his 11^th goal of the postseason, but Ken Linseman temporarily brought Philly within one at 11:53.  It took just 42 seconds for Bob Nystrom to restore the Isles two-goal advantage, and 1:33 after that Clark Gillies gave the Isles the final margin of victory.

Here's video of the game, from Hockey Night in Canada:

It was very warm on Long Island and it affected the ice.  "It was so humid out there; it was like skating in hard snow", Coach Arbour told Parton Keese of the NY Times.

Three days later, the Islanders would head into Philadelphia for their first opportunity to win the Stanley Cup.

The scoring:

First Period

1 - NYI : Bossy 9 (Gillies, Trottier) (PP) 7:23

2 - NYI : Goring 7 (Gillies, Sutter) (EV) 13:06

Second Period

3 - PHI : Paddock 1 (MacLeish, Wilson) (EV) 1:35

Third Period

4 - NYI : Trottier 11 (Howatt) (EV) 6:06

5 - PHI : Linseman 4 (Propp, Gorence) (EV) 11:53

6 - NYI : Nystrom 7 (Bourne) (EV) 12:35

7 - NYI : Gillies 6 (Sutter) (EV) 14:08

The Series:
Game 1: Isles 4, Philadelphia 3 (OT)
Game 2: Philadelphia 8, Isles 3
Game 3: Isles 6, Philadelphia 2
Game 4: Isles 5, Philadelphia 2
Game 5: May 22 at Philadelphia 

Game 6: May 24 at Isles (if necessary)
Game 7: May 27 at Philadelphia (if necessary)
(Isles lead series, 2-1)

Mini-Skinny:
The Isles were outshot by Philadelphia 36-27... Billy Smith improved to 14-3 in the playoffs (extending his own NHL record) while Pete Peeters took the loss ....The Isles had tallied 11 power play goals in the first four games (the record at the time was 12)...It was the Isles' 3rd straight win at home, after going only 3-3 in their first six playoff games.

Series Leaders:
Denis Potvin 4-3-7
Mike Bossy 3-4-7
Clark Gillies 2-5-7
Bobby Clarke 3-3-6

Overtime is Our Time!
1st round vs Los Angeles: Game 3 (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13)
Semi-Finals vs Buffalo: Game 2 (W 2-1 Nystrom 21:20)
Final vs Philadelphia: Game 1 (W 4-3 Potvin 4:07)

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 19 Games
Bryan Trottier 11-15-26
Bob Bourne 10-9-19
Mike Bossy 9-10-19

Denis Potvin 5-12-17
Butch Goring 7-10-17
Bob Nystrom 7-9-16

Isles +/- Leaders thru 19 Games
Bob Lorimer +12
Denis Potvin +10
Garry Howatt +9
Butch Goring +9

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 19 Games
Gord Lane 81
Duane Sutter 77
Garry Howatt 74
Clark Gillies 54

The Isles had themselves a 3-1 series lead and the Stanley Cup would meet the Islanders at the Spectrum.  The end of the Road to the Cup was so close you could almost sip champagne.  Fourteen wins down; only one to get.

We'll pick up the story on Friday, the 40th anniversary of game 5.

Road to the Cup - May 17, 1980 -- Isles 6, Philadelphia 2 (Isles lead best-of-7 series 2-1)

40 Years Ago Tonight
By Eric Hornick

Game 3
Isles 6, Philadelphia 2
For the first time in team history, the Islanders hosted a Stanley Cup Final game, and the fans were treated to a "power"-ful display by the home team. The Isles scored 5 power play goals (3 in the first period) and cruised to a 6-2 win over the Flyers and a 2-1 lead in the first Stanley Cup Final game ever played on Long Island.  Denis Potvin scored twice and added two assists – all on the power play as the Isles converted on their first five power plays; at the time of their fifth goal they were 10-18 on the power play.

Here's the entire game (from TV-29 in Philadelphia) with the legendary voice of the Flyers, Gene Hart and his partner Bobby Taylor. You'll hear Gene's amazement with the success of the Islander power play.

The Scoring:

1st Period
02:38 NYI SH Lorne Henning (3) Bob Bourne
07:43 NYI PP Denis Potvin (4)
13:04 NYI PP Bryan Trottier (10) Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin
14:29 NYI PP Mike Bossy (8) Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin

2nd Period
15:41 NYI PP Clark Gillies (5) Stefan Persson
17:25 NYI PP Denis Potvin (5) Stefan Persson, Mike Bossy

3rd Period
09:48 PHI Bobby Clarke (7) Reggie Leach, Mike Busniuk
11:32 PHI Mike Busniuk (1) Mel Bridgman

The Series:
Game 1: Isles 4, Philadelphia 3 (OT)
Game 2: Philadelphia 8, Isles 3
Game 3: Isles 6, Philadelphia 2
Game 4: May 19 at Isles
Game 5: May 22 at Philadelphia (if necessary)
Game 6: May 24 at Isles (if necessary)
Game 7: May 27 at Philadelphia (if necessary)
(Isles lead series, 2-1)

Mini-Skinny:
The Isles outshot Philadelphia 40-32... Billy Smith improved to 13-3 in the playoffs while Phil Myre took the loss in relief....The five power play goals set the club record (matched in the Bossy 50-in-50 regular season game the following year); it was only the second time in NHL playoff history that a team scored five power play goals... The three power play goals in the first period also set a club playoff record (tied the following year)...Denis Potvin's two goals was his second multi-goal game of the playoffs (tying the then-NHL record); he is the only NHL defenseman with three multi-goal games in a single playoff (done the following year).  Denis would finish with 11 multi-goal games in the playoffs (still the NHL record)....It was also the second of four playoff games with at least four points for Potvin, who was the first player in NHL history to record four such games (since broken by Paul Coffey)...Lorne Henning opened the scoring with his third goal of the playoffs, all shorthanded.  It was the final playoff goal of his career...but there would be one more assist.  It was the 7th shorthanded goal scored by the Isles in the playoffs, establishing a new NHL record...With the Isles in command the Flyers tried to rough things up in the second period as Mke Busniuk fought Bob Nystrom and Jack McIlhargey fought Gord Lane.  In all, there were 102 penalty minutes (52 to the Isles)...The Isles had tallied 10 power play goals in the first three games (the record at the time was 12); in their history they have never scored 10 power play goals in three consecutive regular season games.

The Legend of Fort Never Lose
Coming into this game, the Isles were a rather pedestrian 4-3 at the Coliseum, having done most of their damage on the road (setting a then-record with 8 wins).  John Tonelli was quoted this way, when asked abut the Flyers' regular season struggles at the Coliseum: "It makes no difference at all; there is no home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup playoffs."  That was about to change, as this was the second game of a 31-4 stretch in playoff games on Coliseum ice.

Overtime is Our Time!
1st round vs Los Angeles: Game 3 (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24)
Quarter-Finals vs Boston: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13)
Semi-Finals vs Buffalo: Game 2 (W 2-1 Nystrom 21:20)
Final vs Philadelphia: Game 1 (W 4-3 Potvin 4:07)

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 18 Games
Bryan Trottier 10-14-24
Bob Bourne 10-8-18
Mike Bossy 8-10-18
Denis Potvin 5-12-17
Butch Goring 6-10-16
Bob Nystrom 6-9-15

Isles +/- Leaders thru 18 Games
Bob Lorimer +12
Denis Potvin +10
Garry Howatt +8
Butch Goring +7

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 18 Games
Gord Lane 81
Duane Sutter 77
Garry Howatt 74
Clark Gillies 54

The Isles had themselves a 2-1 series lead; the end of the Road to the Cup was in sight.  Thirteen wins down; only two to get.

We'll pick up the story on Tuesday, the 40th anniversary of game 4.