A look back at the Islanders-Capitals Playoff History

The Islanders will face the Capitals again in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It will be the eighth time in the Islanders’ 26 playoff appearances that they will face Washington, who bans the Rangers against an opponent for the most time.

The Islanders are 5-2 all-time vs. the Capitals. Here is a breakdown of each series.

1983 Patrick Division Semi-Finals – Islanders win series, 3-1

The capitals took home-ice advantage after splitting the first two games at the Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders responded by taking Games Three and Four into the Capital Center by a combined score of 12-5. Mike Bossy’s Game Four trick helped send the Caps home. Bryan Trottier added four goals in the series.

For the Caps, Bobby Gould led the team with five goals. Gould, a fourth-time 20-goal scorer, was also a solid defensive player in his 11-year NHL career. His play is not what he remembers best for. Four years later, Gould would fight Pittsburgh Penguins center Mario Lemieux, sending the future Hall of Famer to an overnight hospital stay.

1984 Patrick Division Finals – Islanders win series, 4-1

The “Drive for Five” was almost in jeopardy as the Rangers took the four-time defending cup champions to overtime in a decisive Game Five. Defender Ken Morrow’s goal helped the Isles advance to capture the Capitals for the second straight season.

The Al Arbor team could only score 18 shots in a 3-2 Game One loss. The Islands responded, as they always did during that time, rolling out four straight wins to win their 18th straight playoff series. Anders Kallur’s OT game winner in Game Two marked the series. The Islands scored five goals in each of Games Three and Four.

1985 Patrick Division Semi-Finals – Islanders win series, 3-2

The wear and tear of competing in the Stanley Cup with five rights certainly showed in the 1984-85 season. The Islands finished with their lowest point total (86) since their second season of existence (56 points in 1973-74). They finished 15 points behind the Capitals in the regular season and were clearly the underdogs when the series began. The capitals kept serving with two victory wins in the Capital Center. Game Two stood out when Kelly Hrudey, the heir apparent of Billy Smith, began his first-career playoff game, saving 39 in the double-OT loss. The chances are very good that Hrudey will get his revenge on the Caps.

New York would take the next two at the Coliseum, including a two-goal comeback down in the third period in Game Four to force the all-or-nothing Game Five. The chances were against the Islands to compete for the comeback, as teams that would go 0-2 down were 0-27. They kept a narrow lead with one goal in the third period. Smith and the defense, led by old horses Denis Potvin and Ken Morrow kept the Caps scoreless to complete after comeback, and became the first in NHL history to come back from a 0-2 deficit in a best-of-game five-series.

1986 Patrick Division Semi-Finals – Capitals win series, 3-0

Unlike last season, New York could not overcome a 0-2 deficit. The Islanders never led in the series and were celebrated for the first time in their playoff history. If you had to rank the worst losses of the playoff series in franchise history, this is probably right behind the sweep of four games by the Rangers in 1994. If you can make a bright stop for the Isles find in the series, it was Mike Bossy who scored his 83rd scoring playoff goal, passing Maurice Richard for most all-time.

1987 Patrick Division Semi-Finals – Islanders win series, 4-3

The NHL extended the division semifinals to a best-of-seven series. The Islands still found a way to go two games down. New York is fighting back to win Games Five and Six to force a Game Seven. It was the only one in the first round of that year. Bryan Trottier tied the game at two with just under five minutes left in regulation. Kelly Hrudey, who replaced Billy Smith as the starting goalie, started all games that were series. Hrudey came big in Game Seven, stopping 73 from 75 shots. The Islands never led into that game as the series continued until Pat LaFontaine, who needed edoxygen between the third and fourth overtime, scored at 8:47 of the fourth overtime or after 2AM ET on Easter Sunday to win the series known as “Easter Epic.”

Some crazy stats on the “Easter Epic”

• It is the longest Game 7 in Stanley Cup Playoff history.
• There was no longer a decisive playoff game until 2008 – by 16 seconds – but that was “only” a game 6. Brendan Morrow scored the goal of series for the Dallas Stars, sending the San Jose Sharks home
• It was the first time in Stanley Cup Playoff history that the road team won Game 7 that required more than one overtime period
• It was the first Game 7 since 1968 that required more than one overtime period
• Both teams had 42 seconds of power play in the last 89 minutes
• Bobby Gould had 12 shots and did not score

1993 Patrick Division Semi-Finals – Islanders win series, 4-2

After facing each other in five straight playoffs, the team waited six years for their next playoff matchup. The Islanders have missed the playoffs three of the last four seasons and claimed their matchup with the Capitals on the final day of the regular season. After losing Game One, the Islanders won the next three games, all in OT to take a 3-1 series. Ray Ferraro would score the winners in Games Three and Four. Game Five would go in Caps’ favor and would have two hat-tricks, one by Caps defender Al Iafrate, who scored 25 in the regular season, and Ferraro would continue his hot streak, scoring all four goals of Isles in a 6-4 loss.

The series would return to the Colosseum for Game Six. Ironically, Dale Hunter would open the scoring with his seventh goal of the series. The Islands would respond by scoring the next four goals, including one each by “Kid Line” members Brad Dalgarno and Travis Green. The capitals would get one back, leading to the islands leading to two. What would happen next would be the dark day of Capitals Islanders rivalry. Pierre Turgeon, who would have one of the greatest seasons in Isles history, would benefit from a Hunter turnover and put one past Don Beaupre to seal the win for series for the Islanders. As he celebrated the goal, Hunter bravely beat that year-old Lady Byng winner in the boards. Turgeon would miss the next six games with a separate shoulder. Hunter would be suspended for the first 21 games of the 1993-94 season by newly-appointed NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. The suspension at that time was the longest in league history for an on-ice break.

2015 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Capitals win series, 4-3

The Islanders and Capitals finished the regular season tied with 101 points, which was the most New York since the 1983-84 season. The Islanders had a chance for home ice advantage for the first time since 1988, but ruined a late lead to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first last regular season game at the Coliseum. The Islands would lose in a shootout. The Caps won the second tiebreaker that was head-to-head points (6 to 5).

The Islands quickly took ice back from the Caps, thanks to Brock Nelson’s two goals in a 4-1 Game One win. Luck appeared to be in the corner of the Islanders, as Braden Holtby, who played in 73 regular-season games, did not start Game Two due to an illness. Then Caps head coach Barry Trotz said Holtby had been under the weather since Game One.

Philipp Grubauer, who has already played one game for the Caps in the regular season, got the start. The Islanders could not take advantage and blew a third period lead, losing Game Two, 4-3. Future islander Jason Chimera would score the goal net.

The series would move to the rugged Colosseum. Before Game Three, Alex Ovechkin was asked about what he expected from the Coliseum audience.

Holtby came back and made 40 saves. The game went overtime in one go. It did not take long for the Islanders to take a 2-1 series lead as John Tavares scored the game-winner just 15 seconds into OT. The second-fastest ever Islanders playoff OT goal (JP Paris in 1975). It was the Isles’ first Ooff win in 22 years (the David Volek game) and their first 2-1 postseason series in 22 years.

Game Four would have another 2-1 overtime win. This one would go in the advantage of the visiting team, as Nicklas Backstrom’s goal would even make the series two. The game would be overshadowed by Tom Wilson’s cruel hit on Lubomir Visnovsky. Wilson used his five-inch height advantage in leveling Visnovsky, who would miss the rest of the series.

Trotz, who apparently protected his player, felt that the hit was clean.

Wilson received a minor two minutes and no other discipline for the hit. The islands of hatred for Wilson were born.

The pivotal Game Five went back to the Verizon Center. Josh Bailey got the Islanders early in the first period with his second of the series. Unfortunately for New York, that is all the score they would get. The Caps scored the next five goals and chased Jaroslav Halak in the third period. The game included Griffin Reinhart’s only playoff game with the team. He was a minus two.

The Islanders returned to the Colosseum in a win-as-go-home scenario. Nikolay Kulemin go-ahead goal midway through the third, followed by Cal Clutterbuck’s low net that put the series at three. The game turned out to be the last game at the Colosseum for a few seasons.

The Islanders came out extremely flat in Game Seven, recording only 11 shots. Even with the imperfections, New York only trailed 1-0 in the third period. Frans Nielsen tied the game early in the third. Unfortunately, that was all the islands would get. Rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov netted the goal with seven and a half minutes left in regulation. It was fitting that New York, which went scoreless on 13 power-play chances in the game, had one last power-play chance with three minutes left in the third. Islanders head coach Jack Capuano failed to pull Halak to give his team a 6-on-4 advantage. 0-13 became 0-14. Capuano wrote inexplicably ahead of Anders Lee, who finished second on the team with 25 goals for games 6 and 7 in favor of Colin McDonald.

This matchup, starting on Wednesday, will be the most unique of them all. If the Caps want to win the Stanley Cup, they have to go through the f # $ @ # $ @ # Iceland, I mean the bubble that is Toronto.