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The Skinny: Los Angeles 3, Isles 1

"The Skinny"  By Eric Hornick Game 30 Los Angeles 3, Isles 1 Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala scored to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead an...

Sunday, April 19, 2020

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.

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