By Chris Bradford
Beaver County Times
cbradford@timesonline.com | Posted: Sunday, April 28, 2013 11:52 pm
Certainly, the Penguins have bigger rivals than the Islanders. They’ve faced five other teams more frequently in postseason play. None, however, have dealt the Penguins more playoff anguish than New York over the years. Yes, the Islanders. Though they have faced each other only three times in the Stanley Cup playoffs -- and not once in 20 years -- the Islanders hold the distinction of handing the Penguins the three toughest playoff losses in franchise history. The years 1975, 1982 and 1993 are indelibly seared in the minds of Penguins fans for reasons they’d rather forget. Today, Times hockey writer Chris Bradford takes a look back at those past playoff meetings.
1975 Three and woe
In just their third year of existence, Al Arbour’s Islanders were a gritty, up-and-coming team featuring Denis Potvin, Clark Gillies, Bobby Nystrom and Billy Smith. The Penguins were a talented team with rookie Pierre Larouche and veterans Jean Pronovost, Vic Hadfield, Lowell MacDonald and Syl Apps. Pittsburgh jumped out to a 3-0 lead but, struck with injuries to their defense, saw that lead quickly disappear after Arbour pulled Smith from net in favor of Chico Resch. In Game 7, before a sold-out crowd of 13,404 at Civic Arena, Ed Westfall beat Garry Inness on a backhand at 14:42 of the third period for the game’s only goal. “We got overconfident, definitely,” Penguins coach Marc Boileau said. “All they did was work for seven games.” The Islanders became the first NHL team in 33 years to overcome a three-game deficit and five years later won the first of four consecutive Stanley Cups.
Aftermath: Less than two months after the loss, the IRS placed a lien on the Penguins and padlocked the team’s offices at the Civic Arena in just the first of two bankruptcies in franchise history. On the ice, the Penguins wouldn’t win another playoff series for another four years.
1982 Dynasty nearly undone
Arbour’s Islanders, now complemented with Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier, were the two-time defending champions when they met the Penguins in the first round in ‘82. True to form, New York out-scored Pittsburgh by a combined 15-3 in Games 1 and 2. Rick Kehoe, coming off a 55-goal season the year before, scored in overtime in Game 3 to extend the series for the Penguins. In the deciding fifth game at Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders scored twice in the third period, including John Tonelli’s tying goal with less than three minutes remaining off a Randy Carlyle turnover. At 6:19 of overtime, Tonelli struck again beating Michel Dion on a rebound as the Islanders prevailed. “I thought we had it in our back pockets,” Penguins coach Eddie Johnston said. “A great club capitalized on those breaks and, let’s face it, they’re a great hockey club.” New York swept Vancouver in the Cup final, outscoring the Canucks 18-10.
Aftermath: Carlyle, a Norris Trophy winner in 1981, played three more injury-plagued seasons in Pittsburgh and went minus-62 over that span. It would be another two years before the Penguins drafted Mario Lemieux to change the course of franchise history and it would be another seven years until Pittsburgh reached the postseason again.
1993 Dynasty undone
With Lemieux coming back from Hodgkin’s Disease to lead the way, the Penguins were two-time defending champions and most had penciled them in for a third. The Presidents Trophy-winning Penguins posted a 119-point regular season that included a record 17-game winning streak. Despite missing leading scorer Pierre Turgeon, who suffered a shoulder injury on a Dale Hunter cheap-shot the previous series, the Islanders were able to force Game 7 in Pittsburgh. The Penguins overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period after Rick Tocchet tied the game with one minute remaining in regulation. However, in the most infamous goal in Pittsburgh history, David Volek beat Tom Barrasso on a 2-on-1 break with Ray Ferraro at the 5:16 mark. “We worked hard for this, there’s no doubt we were the underdog from the start,” said Islanders goalie Glenn Healy. “To achieve this is a real compliment to the 20 guys who played tonight.” New York lost in five games to Montreal in the conference final.
Aftermath: Due to injury and illness, Lemieux played just 22 games the following season and took the entire 1994-95 season off while recovering. Lemieux got the Penguins back to the conference final in 1996 but it wouldn’t be until 2009 -- with Lemieux as co-owner -- that Pittsburgh won the Cup again. He retired, for the first time, after the 1997 season.
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