15 straight wins
By zach weinstock
"They think they're unbeatable," snorted Philadelphia coach Pat Quinn on the eve of his Flyers' February 18, 1982 clash with the streaking Islanders.
"I say they may have been a bit lucky."
"Lucky?" Let's inspect.
The two-time defending champions had won 13 games in a row, one shy of the record held by the 1929-30 Boston Bruins.
The Isles trailed in only two of the 13 games for a grand total of 14:19 on the clock, while holding the lead for 608:15 out of 780 minutes of hockey. They'd scored 87 goals and allowed 29. They averaged two special teams goals per game; 21 on the power play and five shorthanded.
Oh, and their third period goal differential was 32-4.
Add it all up and a few adjectives may come to mind, but "lucky" doesn't exactly top the list. Even habitually cautious coach Al Arbour called it "the most consistent play I've seen in a long time."
Still, the whiff of "sour grapes" from Quinn and the Flyers' dressing room came as little surprise. Only two years prior it was they who were the "streak-masters" and envy of the league, cruising past the 1977-78 Canadiens' mark of 28-straight games without a loss before landing on 35 wins or ties in a row, a record which stands to this day.
Quinn's Broad Street Bullies sailed to the Finals that spring, only to have their preordained Cup stolen by Arbour's Army in shocking fashion. The Islanders hadn't looked back.
It was in that context that the Isles rolled into Philly with a chance to match a 52-year-old record; one which the Flyers - and their ruthless sellout crowd - would have rather died than seen clinched on Spectrum ice.
The Islanders maintained a casual approach. "We're aware of the streak," Bob Nystrom had said a few days prior. "But we'd rather not talk about it." Adding to the air of nonchalance was Arbour's choice in net, rookie Roland Melanson over the legendary Billy Smith. The duo had been alternating for months, and it was Rollie the Goalie's turn. So Arbour tapped him for one of the biggest regular season games in franchise history.
The New Yorkers outshot their churlish hosts 13-4 in the opening period and scored the only goal, but the Bullies exploded for four goals early in the second, and soon the Isles trailed by two, which in win-streak terms is really like trailing by three.
The minutes ticked away. Rollie was peppered with shots and the Spectrum crowd doubled the pressure. No doubt, it appeared the 1930 B's would keep their record. But in the final three minutes of the second, the champs pulled themselves up by their skate-straps.
Mike Bossy scored his 44th goal of the season at 17:09. Just over a minute later, rookie Brent Sutter cashed in a slick "give-and-go" with his older brother Duane, racing down right wing and pumping a slapper through goalie Rick St. Croix's legs. Suddenly it was 4-4, and the visitors had life.
But they were still chasing that crucial go-ahead goal, as the game drifted toward the middle stages of the third, still tied.
Finally, at the seven-minute mark, Bossy intercepted a poor clearing attempt by Flyers sniper Daryl Sittler and zinged a no-look pass onto John Tonelli's backhand along the right wing goal line, well behind the Philly defense. With one deft forehand fake Tonelli stretched St. Croix apart like Gumby before sliding the puck through his five-hole at 7:08.
The emotion in JT's overhead fist-pump made it clear – the Isles wanted the streak to continue. Late empty-netters by Nystrom and Tonelli sealed record-tying win-14. One more and it was all theirs.
General Manager Bill Torrey rushed to the visiting locker room to greet his ecstatic team. "You gotta be really proud of them," he said. "We were down, and we battled back. That makes it even better."
A Saturday night in Uniondale is a stellar atmosphere for any ol' regular hockey game. Multiply that by the opportunity facing the Islanders on the wintry evening of February 20, 1982, and needless to say, the excitement was uncontainable.
"Fort Neverlose" was in mint condition. A sellout crew of 15,271 zealots blitzed the gates looking for history, and all that stood in their way were the NHL's last place Colorado Rockies. The Isles' 14-straight wins in the prior four weeks equaled one more than the Denverites had amassed all season!
But the spoilers did have one thing going for them -- former Islander goaltending hero Glenn "Chico" Resch, who had already given his former mates heartburn in their previous meeting, a 31-save effort back in October.
"It will be a carnival atmosphere," Chico correctly predicted. "Everybody's going to be pumped way up."
Resch presented a real threat. He knew the Coliseum and he knew the Islanders' tricks. After all, he was one of the men who had built the standard of excellence staring back at him from across the rink. He'd be anything but intimidated.
When he led the Rockies onto the ice the fans gave him his deserved ovation. One banner hanging in the stands had a red heart between "L.I." and "CHICO." Another read "IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU CHICO. NOW DON'T GO BEING A PARTY POOPER."
But for most of the night he was precisely that.
Resch stood up to the Islanders like no other opposing goaltender during the streak. In the first period he blunted eight bullets out of 10. In the second he was a perfect - and acrobatic – 12 for 12! The Nassaumen attacked and attacked, but could not break the 2-2 tie.
The theretofore ritual of Islander third period dominance was squelched by Resch's efforts, his team's cautious "dump-and-don't-chase" game-plan, and the fact that referee Bob Myers seemed to have lost his whistle in the locker room.
"Nothing short of attempted murder is going to draw a penalty at this point in this hockey game," observed SportsChannel's Ed Westfall.
For their part, the fans "Oooooh-ed" and "Ohhhhh-ed" at every Isles near miss, moaned and groaned at every Myers non-call, and of course tried to lift their heroes with vociferous chants of "Let's Go Islanders."
But the home side was shooting nothing but blanks, and as the game reached its final stanza, there was no choice but to wonder whether Arbour would pull Billy Smith for an extra attacker in a tie game.
Like all good coaches, Radar professed an allergy to the seduction of scoresheets, leader-boards and record books. But his actions did not always match his "no distractions" rhetoric. For example, one year prior he double and triple-shifted Mike Bossy to aide Boss's pursuit of a personal goal scoring record.
This time Al played it straight. Smith stayed put. The clock drained under a minute. If the Isles were going to uncover the history-making goal, they would come by it honestly, 5-on-5.
"Last minute of play in the game," warned public address announcer Jim Patterson, drawing a nervous sigh from the crowd as former Rockies defenseman, Mike McEwen, collected the puck behind Smith's cage and handed off to Bryan Trottier - always a good idea.
For what seemed like the first time all night, two Rockies were trapped behind the play. Trots carried the puck out and through the neutral zone unimpeded until he reached the offensive blue line, where three Coloradans awaited. The Hall of Famer-to-be shoveled a short lateral to Tonelli, who immediately wound and fired from left wing. Defenseman Bob Lorimer - acquired with Chico in the deal that brought McEwen – attempted to block the slapper, and in the process screened his own goalie. The rubber whizzed through Resch's legs – swoosh! - at 19:13, setting off one of the most deafening moments ever in the notoriously thunderous Nassau Coliseum, as Tonelli raised his arms in euphoria and jumping-jack-ed his way into the corner.
The Maestro from Milton, Ontario soared through the air, twisting and spinning like a figure skater before his teammates leapt into his lap.
Three clears later the new record was official – 15 straight! The party lasted long into the night.
"You'd have to go to Hollywood to find a team that plays like ours," boasted Nystrom. "We save our best heroics for the last act."
Indeed, late game success had become the Nassau way. Tonelli's goal moved the Isles' third period balance sheet to an astonishing 36-4 during the streak.
Ironically, they lost the third period 2-0 the following night, and the record was capped at 15 by way of a 4-3 defeat in Pittsburgh. "It's a disappointment, but I'm very proud of the club," said Arbour. "It should stand for a long time to come."
The Isles' streak has since been equaled or surpassed three times, but in materially different conditions from the magical winter of 1982. That's because overtime was first introduced to the NHL regular season rulebook in the 1983-84 season.
The Mario Lemieux led Penguins recorded 17 two-pointers in a row late in 1992-93, but two of those victories required extra time. In 2012-13 the Sidney Crosby-led Penguins won 15 games in a row, two of which came in 4-on-4 overtime and one of which went to a shootout. Then the 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets captured 16 victories in a row, with one coming in 3-on-3 overtime and two coming via the shootout. During those three streaks the most consecutive wins in regulation were, respectively, 12, seven and six.
The 1982 Islanders, on the other hand, had no more than 60 minutes per night to take care of business. To this day their record of 15 consecutive wins sans overtime has been surpassed by no one.
What's more, their average winning streak margin of victory was a whopping 4.16 goals, as compared to 2.84 for the '93 Pens, 1.73 for the '13 Pens and 2.19 for the '17 Jackets.
In other words, no team has ever been hotter.