Islanders V Penguins NHL Playoff History

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the National Hockey League as an expansion franchise in 1967-68. The New York Islanders were an expansion franchise, starting play in 1972-73. The two teams met for just the fourth time in a post season series in the opening round of the 2012-13 Stanley Cup playoffs. The first time they met was in 1974-75, New York’s third year in the NHL. The last time was in 1992-93 when the Islanders spoiled Pittsburgh’s 3-peat attempt. It’s hard to believe but the Penguins had never won a series against the Islanders until 2012-13.

1974-75

The two evenly matched teams met in the Quarter-Finals with the Islanders taking the series in seven games. The final game of the series was a 1-0 shutout by New York. New York beat the cross-town New York Rangers and the Penguins beat the St. Louis Blues to set up the showdown. During the regular season, the Islanders placed third in the Patrick Division with 88 points while the Penguins finished third in the Norris with 89 points.

The Islanders were coached by Al Arbour and led offensively by Hall of Fame defenseman Denis Potvin. During the regular season, Billy Smith played the bulk of the games between the pipes with Glenn Resch as the backup. In the playoffs, the roles reversed with Resch taking on most of the goaltending load.

Pittsburgh was coached by Marc Boileau and was led by a pack of equally qualified stars in Ron Schock, Syl Apps, Jean Pronovost, VicHadfield and Pierre Larouche. Gary Inness saw the bulk of the team’s action in goal.

1981-82

Despite the matchup being a total mismatch, the Penguins held their own in the Patrick Division Semi-Final series with the Islanders. Pittsburgh fell three games to two. During the regular season, the Islanders finished first in the Patrick and first overall in the NHL with 118 points. Pittsburgh placed fourth in the Patrick with 75 points.

Once again, New York was coached by Al Arbour and led by Mike Bossy and Brian Trottier. Billy Smith was still the man in net for New York. The Islanders were at their greatest and advanced to win their third of four straight Stanley Cup championships with a sweep of the Vancouver Canucks in the finals.

Pittsburgh was coached by long-time NHL goaltender, Ed Johnston. Leading the way offensively were Rick Kehoe and defenseman Randy Carlyle. Playing most of Pittsburgh’s games in net was Michel Dion.

1992-93

This was the last time the Islanders won a playoff series. New York beat the Penguins four games to three in the Patrick Division finals. New York wrecked what should have the Penguins third consecutive Stanley Cup championship. Pittsburgh finished first overall in the NHL with 119 points. The Islanders placed fourth in the Patrick with 87 points.

In the opening round, Pittsburgh beat the New Jersey Devils and the Islanders took out the Washington Capitals to set up the series. New York met the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference finals and lost. The Habs went on to win the Stanley Cup with a win over the Los Angeles Kings.

In his second last year as head coach in the NHL, Al Arbour was again behind the bench of the Islanders. The team was led by Pierre Turgeon and Steve Thomas with Glenn Healy seeing the majority of action in net. The Penguins were coached by the great Scotty Bowman. Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens, Rick Tocchet and Ron Francis all had 100 points or more during the regular season.

2012-13

For the Islanders, it was their first visit to the Stanley Cup playoffs since losing to the Buffalo Sabres in the 2006-07 opening round. 2012-13 did not bring around their first series win since beating the Penguins back in 1992-93.

After game four, the series was tied at two games each. However, it could have been a 3-1 Islanders lead if the Pens had not snuck out a game three victory in overtime. Pittsburgh then won the final two games to take the series in six. However, the Islanders fought until the end with game six also going into extra time.

In that final game, the Penguins never led. Evgeny Malkin tied the score at three fairly late in the third to force overtime. It was Malkin and Tyler Kennedy setting up Brooks Orpik in the first overtime period for the win.

Pittsburgh then beat the Ottawa Senators in five in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. It was the Boston Bruins that ended the team's run, sweeping the Penguins in the Conference finals. Over their 15 playoff games, the team was led offensively by Malkin, Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby.

3 WHL Players With 500 Or More PIM In A Season

The Western Hockey League (originally the WCHL) was formed in 1966-67 and is one of three major junior hockey leagues in Canada. Currently, there are 22 teams in the WHL, 17 in Canada and 5 in the United States. The trademark of the league is big players, toughness and defensive play. In the league’s history, three players have topped the 500 penalty minutes mark in a single season.

Brent Gogol – Billings Bighorns, Victoria Cougars

Gogol holds the WHL record for most PIM in a single season with 511 in 1977-78. It was Brent’s only full season in the WHL and he split it between the Billings Bighorns and Victoria Cougars. In the playoffs that year, Gogol played 20 games and added 95 more PIM as the Bighorns reached the finals before being swept by the New Westminster Bruins. The Bighorns are the current Tri-City Americans and the Cougars are now the Prince George Cougars. Gogol played 36 games in the league in 1976-77 with the Calgary Centennials and Victoria.

Although he was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in the ninth round of the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft, Brent never reached the big league. In 1978-79, he played just two games with Billings before going pro in the IHL with the Flint Generals and Milwaukee Admirals. Gogol finished second in the IHL with 441 penalty minutes, behind Mark Toffolo who sat 557 in 78 games with the Saginaw Gears.

Mel Hewitt – Saskatoon Blades, Calgary Wranglers

That same year, 1977-78, Mel Hewitt sat 508 minutes in the sin bin while splitting his season between the Saskatoon Blades and Calgary Wranglers. The Blades are hosting the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup and the Wranglers are the present day Lethbridge Hurricanes. It was Hewitt’s fourth of four years in the WHL.

Mel was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft, 92^nd overall. Hewitt never saw action in the NHL but was leader of the bad boys in the minors for a few years out of junior. In 1979-80, he led the IHL with 504 PIM in 68 games with the Saginaw Gears.

The following season, he moved to the AHL and led that league with 304 penalty minutes over 68 games with the New Brunswick Hawks. 1981-82 would mark the last year the Hawks played in the AHL before moving to St. Catherines to become the Saints. Hewitt played the full season with the club but his time spent in the box was drastically reduced to 119 minutes. The Orval Tessier coached Hawks won the Calder Cup championship with a four games to one victory over the Binghamton Whalers in the final series.

Kerry Toporowski – Spokane Chiefs

The last WHL player to top 500 penalty minutes, Toporowski sat 505 in 1990-91 with the Spokane Chiefs. It was his second of two years with the Chiefs and he led the WHL both seasons.

Kerry was a fourth round pick of the San Jose Sharks at the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, 67^th overall. He never played in the NHL but was a part of deal that sent Doug Wilson to San Jose from the Chicago Blackhawks in 1991. Toporowski played minor pro from 1991-92 to 2003-04 in the IHL, AHL, ECHL, UHL and Russia’s Super League. In 2000-01, he led the UHL in penalty minutes with 413 as a member of the Quad City Mallards.

7 NHL Stars Who Played For The California Golden Seals

The Califonia Golden Seals existed in the National Hockey League for just a short nine year span from 1967-68 to 1975-76. Originally dubbed the Oakland Seals, the team was one of six expansion teams to enter the NHL for the 1967-68 season. Despite the fact that their nine years were nothing more than dismal, several decent players passed through the organization.

Harry Howell

Harry Howell is the only player in the Hockey Hall of Fame that ever dressed for the Golden Seals. Howell played just the 1969-70 season and part of the 1970-71 season with the club after 17 years with the New York Rangers. After 28 games in 1970-71, he was traded down the California coast to the Los Angeles Kings. The 1966-67 Norris Trophy winner was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979.

Bryan Watson

Bryan ‘Bugsy’ Watson was best known for the time he spent in the penalty box but he was also a decent defenseman. Now 41st on the NHL’s all-time list of penalty minute leaders, he was once number one. Watson finished his NHL career with 2212 PIM in 878 games. Watson played one season with the Oakland Seals, 1968-69. His NHL career spanned from 1963-64 to 1978-79, also playing for the Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals.

Bobby Baun

In the final season of the ‘Original Six’era, 1966-67, Bob Baun was the hero of the Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup victory. The following season, he was on the blue line for the Oakland Seals, a team that won just 15 games. 1967-68 was the only season Baun spent in California during a career that started in 1956-57 and ended after the 1972-73 season. Baun also played three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.

Carol Vadnais

Carol Vadnais played sparingly for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1966-67 and 1967-68 seasons. He became a regular in the NHL with the Seals in 1968-69. Vadnais spent two years with California before moving on to bigger and better things with the Boston Bruins. Carol played a total of 1087 regular season NHL games between 1966-67 and 1982-83 with the Canadiens, Golden Seals, Bruins, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.

Reg Leach

Drafted third overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft, Reggie Leach never really caught on with the Big Bad Bruins, playing just two partial seasons with the club in 1970-71 and part of 1971-72 and scoring just a total of nine goals. Playing with the California Golden Seals until the end of the 1973-74 season, Leach’s goal scoring ability began to blossom. It was with the Philadelphia Flyers that Leach exploded. He scored 61 in 1975-76 and 50 in 1979-80. He scored 19 in 16 playoff games in 1975-76 earning him the Conn Smythe Trophy in a losing effort. He won two Stanley Cups with Philadelphia, included a victory over the Bruins in 1974.

Charlie Simmer

Charlie Simmer was a third round pick of the Seals in the 1974 NHL Draft. He was a seldom used forward by California and even by the Cleveland Barons when the team was relocated there for the 1976-77 season. However, after being traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1978-79 and being stuck on a line with Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor, Charlie showed the hockey world what he could do. Simmer scored 56 goals in each the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons as a member of the Triple Crown Line. Those goal totals were accomplished in just 64 and 65 games. Simmer played 712 NHL games with the Seals, Barons, Kings, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Dennis Maruk

In the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft, the last for the Golden Seals, they finally got it right. In the second round, they drafted Dennis Maruk. Maruk scored 30 goals in his rookie season and 36 with the Barons two years later. He topped out with 60 goals and 136 points in a Washington Capitals uniform in 1981-82. Dennis played 888 regular season NHL games with the Seals/Barons/North Stars and Capitals and scored 356 goals over that time.

A Bit More About The Team

The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) that existed from 1967 to 1976. Originally known as the California Seals, the team underwent a name change in 1970 to become the California Golden Seals. Based in Oakland, California, the Seals faced financial and on-ice challenges throughout their brief history. 

The team struggled to achieve success in terms of playoff appearances and faced difficulties in building a dedicated fan base. Despite their challenges, the California Golden Seals are remembered for their distinctive green and gold jerseys and remain a unique part of NHL history. 

The franchise ultimately relocated to Cleveland in 1976 and later merged with the Minnesota North Stars, ceasing to exist as an independent team.