Maven's Memories: A Close Call to Start the 1980 Cup Run

There were two strikes against the Islanders as they prepared to enter the playoffs in the spring of 1980.
Each had a dateline and a tagline.
* APRIL 29, 1978: Losing the quarter-final playoff round to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Seven at the Coliseum.
* MAY 8,1979: Losing the semi-final playoff round to the New York Rangers in Game Six at Madison Square Garden.

The next pitch was on its way with general manager Bill Torrey and coach Al Arbour swinging away for a home run. Everyone in the Uniondale dressing room could feel the good vibes.
"Bill had built the team he thought could win the 1980 Stanley Cup," said gunner Mike Bossy who had finished the 1979-80 campaign with 51 goals and 92 points.
"Our failures against Toronto and the Rangers had taught us lessons we wanted to prove that we had learned. The strong finish helped us believe that this was our year."
RELATED: MAVEN'S HAVEN
There were three solid reasons for optimism that were absent for most of the 1979-80 regular season:
1. REBUILT POTVIN:A First-Team All-Star in four out of five years, Denis had missed a good chunk of the season with injuries. He entered the post-season, rested and with new energy.
2. GALVANIC GORING: After being obtained by Torrey at the Trade Deadline, Butch energized the club -- 8-4-0 down the stretch -- and now was playoff motivated.
3. MARVELOUS MORROW:Nobody could have guessed how the defensive defenseman out of Bowling Green and the 1980 Gold Medal Olympic Team would fare in the playoffs. But ever since his arrival in Uniondale on March 1, 1980, he looked as if he'd been an Islander all year.

Whatever adversity suffered by individuals during the roller coaster campaign now seemed to be thrust into a positive perspective; especially by the oft-sidelined captain.
"I was able to watch the game from a different perspective," Denis explained. "Now I understand more about what it takes to win."
No question the onus was on Torrey and Arbour to deliver as well as the players.
Bowtie Bill had imported enough new faces -- Gord Lane, Anders Kallur, Goring and Morrow -- to reinforce the softer side -- and now Arbour had lift the franchise to a new level.
"Obviously," asserted Bow Tie Bill, "the next step has to be The Cup."
More easily said than done. For starters, the Isles drew Los Angeles -- featuring the dealt ex-Isles right wing Billy Harris and defenseman Dave Lewis -- in a best-of-five preliminary round.
No slouches, the Kings were fortified with one of the league's best lines centered by Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne and flanked by Dave Taylor and Charlie Simmer.
Together, the Triple Crown Line totaled 146 goals on the season with Simmer accounting for 56 and Dionne 53. If they weren't threat enough, the Kings boasted the second most potent power play -- 83 for 311 or 26.7% -- in the league.

With veteran Bill Smith starting in goal, the Isles appeared -- at least on paper -- to have the edge in the crease. Kings coach Bob Berry countered with promising rookie Doug Keans (2.47 GAA) who had beaten New York in his NHL debut on February 16.
The series opened on April 8 at the Coliseum and the home fans got just what they wanted. Bryan Trottier and Wayne Merrick beat Keans in the first period en route to an 8-1 shellacking.
As an added fillip, when the locals went up 6-0 the crowd went nuts since the Wendy's chain provided free chili to ticket-holders any time the Isles scored six goals or more.
The eight goals set a playoff game record for Arbour's skaters as was the fact that 13 different Nassaumen were involved in the scoring.
Any similarity between Game One and Game Two in Uniondale on April 9th was purely coincidental. Mario Lessard replaced Keans in goal while Arbour rested Smitty and started Glenn (Chico) Resch.
The move backfired on New York. Chico relinquished four goals in the first period and got the hook in favor of Smith to start the second, but it was too late. The Kings romped, 6-3, sending the teams to The Forum at Inglewood, California tied 1-1 for Game Three.
Of course nobody knew it at the time but the match on April 11 would become one of the most relevant in the team's history.
Falling behind 3-1 after two periods, the Isles skated with uncertainty -- also without injured Mike Bossy -- and the prospect of a second straight loss seemed imminent until Goring set up Gillies with the club's second goal and then Butch tied the count at 6:34 of the third.
Without another goal, the third period gave way to overtime, leaving the heavily-favored visitors still in the realm of precarious though dribbles of confidence still were sprinkled around the Isles room.
"Coming back the way we did in the third period made us fresh," said Gillies. "There was an extra charge of energy in all of us."

David Bernklau, who wrote a brilliant play-by-play of the series, noted that the sudden death period was "fast and furious" with shots on goal tied at three apiece with almost seven minutes elapsed.
Then, it happened.
Wayne Merrick won a face-off in the Kings end but lost the puck to Dave Lewis whose clearing attempt was stopped by Ken Morrow well inside the blue line.
In what best can be described as a "needle-in-the-haystack" shot, the rubber found an opening outside the crowded crease, skimming over the goal line at 6:55. Coming at 2:15 a.m., Long Island time, it was Morrow's first goal of Stanley Cup play -- but not the last.
The Islanders in Game Four at Inglewood on April 12 must have felt like an LIRR Express speeding past the Woodside Local station.
After accelerating to a 2-0 lead after two periods, they sped through the third with four more goals and closed the once-close series with a 6-0 blanking.
In retrospect, the significance of the three-games-to-one series victory cannot be underestimated.
As Islanders fans watched their club down 3-1, in the third period of Game Three, there was meaningful concern that their favorites would suffer yet another playoff upset. But patience and fortitude paid off and Bossy's words could have been heard 3,000 miles away.
"Kenny's goal took a million pounds of pressure off everybody."
But, it was only the beginning. Awaiting the Islanders in Boston were the Bruins, one of the NHL's strongest and toughest -- they weren't called "The Big Bad Bruins" for nothing -- of foes.

LISTS: FIVE SURPRISES OF THE 1980 OPENING ROUND FOR THE ISLES
1. LINEUP SHAKEUP:Arbour removed Gillies from the Trottier-Bossy line and placed him with Goring and Duane Sutter. Bob Bourne moved up to the top unit.
2. GOALIE SHAKEUP: Although Smith played expertly in the 8-1 opening win, the coach inserted Resch as the Game Two starter. P.S. It didn't work.
3. BOSSY'S UNEXPECTED REPLACEMENT:With Bossy out of the lineup because of injury, Alex McKendry, a 40-goal scorer with the Isles farm club in Indianapolis, was promoted for Game Four. He scored his first goal in Stanley Cup play and set up John Tonelli's goal to put the Islanders out of reach, 4-0.
4. PATIENCE AND FORTITUDE:Despite the two-goal deficit heading into the third period of Game Three, the Isles showed the grit and determination that soon would become the hallmark of champs. They battled back, tied the count and won in overtime.
5. THE CLUTCH ROOKIE:The freshman blue-liner, Ken Morrow, was regarded as a defensive defenseman; not known for his offense. Yet his sudden-death goal in Game Three would be just the first of many classic red light's in the big guy's career.