Classic Game: April 11, 1975
By zach weinstock
You always remember your first.
Over the years, the New York Islanders have enjoyed more than their share of legendary moments. But before Tonelli-to-Nystrom or Ferraro-to-Volek, the Drive for Five or the Easter Epic, there was an infant franchise on its maiden voyage through the NHL postseason and a 3-0 lead down the drain.
Indeed, "Islander Magic" was birthed on April 11, 1975, in 11 very special seconds in Madison Square Garden.
When those 11 seconds reached their shocking crescendo, J.P. Parise had set a record for the fastest overtime goal in National Hockey League history.
More importantly, Parise's expert finish of Jude Drouin's centering feed crowned the Islanders as victors in their first-ever playoff series and ignited one of the best rivalries in all of sports.
And to think the evening had come so close to going down as an epic collapse rather than an hour of glory.
That's because Al Arbour's Isles went ahead 3-0 midway through the second period, chasing Rangers starter Gilles Villemure from the goal crease.
Blueshirts boss Emile Francis inserted veteran Garden favorite Eddie Giacomin, who knew he needed to "stir up" his team.
How did he do it?
He began wailing on Islander winger Garry Howatt for no other discernable reason. The home crowd erupted.
"To tell the truth, Howatt didn't do anything to me," Giacomin later admitted. "I started it. I was cold and needed something to get me in the game."
The bizarre scene ignited the Rangers, and the Islanders played the third period on their heels. By the time the clock struck six minutes to play, the match was tied.
That's when Bill Smith authored his first of what would become a stocked collection of epic playoff performances.
Time and again the Rangers knocked on Battlin' Billy's door, but he wouldn't let him in. When regulation ended, he hung his head on the top of the goal and draped his weary body over the net, exhausted from the constant Blueshirts attack.
Without Smith's heroics there would have been no overtime, and no sweetest sound in hockey – the hush of a vanquished enemy crowd after a classic game-winning goal.
"You could hear a pin drop in the Garden," Arbour said. "Everything was suspended for a period of time. It was just like being in church, it was so quiet."
"If you could've written a script for the game," added Isles Captain Eddie Westfall, "it couldn't have been any better."
In the years since J.P.'s goal the Islanders have gone to overtime in five additional postseason winner-take-all games. They scored in four, making their all-time record 5-1 in hockey's ultimate "nail-biting" scenario.
On May 18, 1986, Montreal's Brian Skrudland broke Parise's record by scoring nine seconds into overtime of Game Two of the Stanley Cup Finals. However, eleven seconds remains the record for fastest overtime goal in a winner-take-all playoff game.
Needless to say, if there was just one word to describe the MSG fans when J.P. smacked home Drouin's pass, that word could only be "stunned."
And that's just how we like them.
