It Happened at the Coliseum … on MAY 19th

35 years ago tonight (1980) – 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 the final episode of It Happened this Sunday) 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.

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

Also on this date: (1984) Every good thing, even a Dynasty, comes to an end, and 31 years ago in Edmonton the Oilers captured the Stanley Cup with a 5-2 victory.  Wayne Gretzky scored two first period goals and Edmonton had a 4-0 lead through 40 minutes.  Rookie Pat LaFontaine scored twice in the first 35 seconds of the third period (establishing a playoff record that stands today) but that was as close as the Islanders came, as their run of four consecutive Stanley Cups and 19 consecutive playoff series came to end.  

Here are the highlights from the final game the Islanders played as Stanley Cup Champions:

All-time, the Isles played one playoff game on May 19th at the Coliseum; they compiled a 1-0 playoff record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale.