1978–79 New York Islanders season

The 1978–79 New York Islanders season was the seventh season for the franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL). The New York Islanders finished first overall by one point over the defending Stanley Cup champions Montreal Canadiens in the regular season standings.The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.234, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009,

Offseason

NHL draft

Round Pick Player Position School/Club team115Steve TambelliniCenterLethbridge Broncos (WCHL)234Randy JohnstonDefensePeterborough Petes (OMJHL)351Dwayne LowdermilkDefenseSeattle Breakers (WCHL)584Greg HayLeft wingPortland Winterhawks (WCHL)6101Kelly DavisDefenseFlin Flon Bombers (WCHL)7118Richard PepinLeft wingLaval National (QMJHL)8135Dave CameronCenterUniversity of Prince Edward Island (CIAU)9152Paul JoswiakGoaltenderUniversity of Minnesota (WCHA)10169Scott CameronDefenseUniversity of Notre Dame (WCHA)11184Christer LowdahlCenterÖrebro (Sweden)12199Gunnar PerssonDefenseBrynäs IF Galve (Sweden)

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||T||October 12, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||0–0–1

|2||L||October 14, 1978||7–10 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||0–1–1

|3||W||October 17, 1978||3–1 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||1–1–1

|4||W||October 18, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||2–1–1

|5||W||October 21, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||3–1–1

|6||T||October 24, 1978||4–4 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||3–1–2

|7||L||October 27, 1978||5–8 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||3–2–2

|8||W||October 28, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||4–2–2

|9||W||October 31, 1978||8–5 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||5–2–2

|10||L||November 2, 1978||1–4 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||5–3–2

|11||W||November 4, 1978||4–1 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||6–3–2

|12||W||November 7, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||7–3–2

|13||W||November 11, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||8–3–2

|14||W||November 12, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||9–3–2

|15||T||November 14, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||9–3–3

|16||W||November 17, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||10–3–3

|17||W||November 18, 1978||8–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||11–3–3

|18||W||November 21, 1978||7–1 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||12–3–3

|19||W||November 22, 1978||4–1 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||13–3–3

|20||W||November 25, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||14–3–3

|21||T||November 29, 1978||5–5 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||14–3–4

|22||W||December 2, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||15–3–4

|23||T||December 5, 1978||3–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||15–3–5

|24||W||December 7, 1978||7–1 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||16–3–5

|25||W||December 9, 1978||3–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||17–3–5

|26||L||December 10, 1978||3–4 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||17–4–5

|27||T||December 12, 1978||5–5 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||17–4–6

|28||W||December 14, 1978||4–1 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||18–4–6

|29||T||December 16, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||18–4–7

|30||W||December 17, 1978||3–0 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||19–4–7

|31||W||December 21, 1978||5–1 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||20–4–7

|32||W||December 23, 1978||9–4 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||21–4–7

|33||W||December 26, 1978||5–1 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||22–4–7

|34||W||December 28, 1978||10–4 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||23–4–7

|35||W||December 30, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||24–4–7

|36||W||January 2, 1979||9–0 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||25–4–7

|37||L||January 4, 1979||2–3 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||25–5–7

|38||W||January 6, 1979||5–1 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||26–5–7

|39||W||January 9, 1979||7–1 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||27–5–7

|40||T||January 10, 1979||5–5 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||27–5–8

|41||W||January 12, 1979||4–1 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||28–5–8

|42||T||January 14, 1979||1–1 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||28–5–9

|43||W||January 16, 1979||6–2 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||29–5–9

|44||L||January 17, 1979||3–5 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||29–6–9

|45||W||January 20, 1979||4–2 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||30–6–9

|46||W||January 22, 1979||2–1 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||31–6–9

|47||W||January 25, 1979||4–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||32–6–9

|48||L||January 27, 1979||2–7 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||32–7–9

|49||L||January 30, 1979||4–5 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||32–8–9

|50||W||February 1, 1979||4–1 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||33–8–9

|51||T||February 3, 1979||4–4 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||33–8–10

|52||L||February 4, 1979||4–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||33–9–10

|53||W||February 13, 1979||6–1 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||34–9–10

|54||L||February 14, 1979||1–2 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||34–10–10

|55||W||February 17, 1979||5–3 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||35–10–10

|56||W||February 19, 1979||8–3 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||36–10–10

|57||W||February 22, 1979||6–1 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||37–10–10

|58||W||February 24, 1979||3–1 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||38–10–10

|59||L||February 25, 1979||2–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||38–11–10

|60||W||February 27, 1979||7–3 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||39–11–10

|61||L||March 2, 1979||2–3 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||39–12–10

|62||W||March 3, 1979||4–2 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||40–12–10

|63||L||March 6, 1979||2–3 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||40–13–10

|64||T||March 7, 1979||5–5 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||40–13–11

|65||W||March 10, 1979||7–1 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||41–13–11

|66||T||March 11, 1979||4–4 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||41–13–12

|67||W||March 13, 1979||7–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||42–13–12

|68||W||March 15, 1979||6–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||43–13–12

|69||W||March 17, 1979||5–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||44–13–12

|70||W||March 18, 1979||5–3 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||45–13–12

|71||W||March 22, 1979||5–3 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||46–13–12

|72||T||March 24, 1979||3–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||46–13–13

|73||T||March 25, 1979||2–2 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||46–13–14

|74||L||March 29, 1979||1–6 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||46–14–14

|75||W||March 31, 1979||2–0 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||47–14–14

|76||L||April 1, 1979||4–6 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||47–15–14

|77||W||April 3, 1979||3–2 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||48–15–14

|78||W||April 5, 1979||3–1 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||49–15–14

|79||W||April 7, 1979||9–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||50–15–14

|80||W||April 8, 1979||5–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||51–15–14

Legend:

Playoffs

| 1 || April 16 || Chicago || 2 – 6 || NY Islanders || || 1 – 0

| 2 || April 18 || Chicago || 0 – 1 || NY Islanders || OT || 2 – 0

| 3 || April 20 || NY Islanders || 4 – 0 || Chicago || || 3 – 0

| 4 || April 22 || NY Islanders || 3 – 1 || Chicago || || 4 – 0

| 1 || April 26 || NY Rangers || 4 – 1 || NY Islanders || || 0 – 1

| 2 || April 28 || NY Rangers || 3 – 4 || NY Islanders || OT || 1 – 1

| 3 || May 1 || NY Islanders || 1 – 3 || NY Rangers|| || 1 – 2

| 4 || May 3 || NY Islanders || 3 – 2 || NY Rangers || OT || 2 – 2

| 5 || May 5 || NY Rangers || 4 – 3 || NY Islanders || || 2 – 3

| 6 || May 8 || NY Islanders || 1 – 2 || NY Rangers|| || 2 – 4

Legend:

Player statistics Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG C 76 47 87 134 50761508 RW 80 69 57 126 25632709 D 73 31 70 101 58711232 LW 75 35 56 91 68571105 D 78 10 56 66 5738601 C 80 30 31 61 4834412 LW 73 17 39 56 4429104 RW 80 15 39 54 1826005 C 75 20 21 41 2413200 RW 78 19 20 39 11319105 C 71 16 18 34 377204 C 73 13 20 33 1417022 LW 75 16 12 28 2056002 D 79 5 18 23 4343000 D 67 3 18 21 4227000 D/RW 55 5 11 16 40011 D 50 2 14 16 7830001 D 55 3 11 14 5018000 D 45 1 8 9 299000 C 12 1 6 7 49000 G 43 0 2 2 60000 G 40 0 2 2 540000 D 2 0 0 0 00000 RW 1 0 0 0 2-2000 W 4 0 0 0 0-1000 C 1 0 0 0 0-1000Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 2539 43 26 7 10 106 2.50 2 2261 40 25 8 4 108 2.87 1 Team: 4800 80 51 15 14 214 2.67 3 Playoffs Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG D 10 4 7 11 8001 RW 10 6 2 8 2201 LW 10 1 6 7 0000 C 10 2 4 6 13001 RW 10 3 2 5 4001 C 10 2 3 5 2000 C 10 1 3 4 6000 C 10 1 3 4 4000 D 10 1 3 4 15000 D 10 0 4 4 8000 RW 10 2 1 3 10101 LW 10 1 2 3 11000 D/RW 6 1 2 3 0000 C 10 2 0 2 0010 D 9 0 2 2 10000 LW 9 0 1 1 18000 D 7 0 1 1 25000 D 10 0 0 0 4000 RW 1 0 0 0 0000 G 5 0 0 0 0000 G 5 0 0 0 4000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LGAGAA SO 315 5 4 1 10 1.90 1 300 5 2 3 11 2.20 1 Team: 615 10 6 4 21 2.05 2

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals       MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Awards and records December 23/78: Bryan Trottier, Most Points, One Period, 6National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.181, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario,

References Islanders on Hockey Database