# 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 7, after the conclusion of the 1981–82 NHL season. The playoffs concluded on May 16 with the champion New York Islanders defeating the Vancouver Canucks 3–1 to win the final series four games to none and win the Stanley Cup. A new divisional-based playoff structure was adopted, replacing the previous format that seeded teams regardless of division or conference.
The first round of the 1982 playoffs saw three first-place teams (Edmonton, Minnesota, and Montreal) upset by fourth-place teams, a round which featured what is still the greatest comeback in NHL history: The Kings' 6–5 win over Edmonton in game three. After trailing 5–0 after two periods, the Kings scored five third period goals—three in the last 5:22, the final goal coming with only five seconds left in regulation. Los Angeles then scored on a face-off early in overtime, thus completing the "Miracle on Manchester".
The eventual champion New York Islanders nearly capitulated in the first round as well, losing games three and four of their first-round playoff series with Pittsburgh after crushing the Penguins in the first two games. In game five, the Islanders scored twice in the last five minutes to force overtime and then won the series on John Tonelli's goal 6:19 into the extra session. This served as a wake-up call for New York, who lost only two more games the rest of the way on their march to a third straight Stanley Cup. Their Finals opponents, the Vancouver Canucks, finished the regular season with only 77 points, defeating three teams beneath them in the standings (Calgary 75, Los Angeles 63, and Chicago 72) in the much weaker Campbell Conference. This remains the most recent time that the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs missed the playoffs in the same season.

## Playoff seeds

The NHL adopted a new playoff format in which the four teams with the best regular-season records from each of the four divisions secured playoff berths.
The following teams qualified for the playoffs:

### Prince of Wales Conference
#### Adams Division

* Montreal Canadiens, Adams Division champions – 109 points
* Boston Bruins – 96 points
* Buffalo Sabres – 93 points
* Quebec Nordiques – 82 points

#### Patrick Division

* New York Islanders, Patrick Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 118 points
* New York Rangers – 92 points
* Philadelphia Flyers – 87 points
* Pittsburgh Penguins – 75 points

### Clarence Campbell Conference
#### Norris Division

* Minnesota North Stars, Norris Division champions – 94 points
* Winnipeg Jets – 80 points
* St. Louis Blues – 72 points (32 wins)
* Chicago Black Hawks – 72 points (30 wins)

#### Smythe Division

* Edmonton Oilers, Smythe Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 111 points
* Vancouver Canucks – 77 points
* Calgary Flames – 75 points
* Los Angeles Kings – 63 points

## Playoff bracket

Under the new playoff format, the division semifinals saw the first-place club against the fourth-place team, while the other two teams played each other. The two winning teams from each division's semifinals then met in the division finals. The two division winners of each conference then played in the conference finals. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Home-ice advantage during the first two rounds was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record. For the conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals, it was decided that home-ice advantage would rotate between the divisions and conferences, respectively. Coin flips were conducted prior to the start of the regular season, awarding home-ice advantage in the conference finals to champions of the Patrick and Norris divisions, with the Adams and Smythe division champions receiving that advantage for the following season. Similarly, a puck flip determined that home-ice advantage for the Stanley Cup Finals were granted to the Wales Conference champion this year, with the Campbell Conference champion receiving the advantage next season.
Each division semifinals series was competed in a best-of-five playoff following a 2–2–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series), with the team with home ice advantage playing at home for games one and two (and game five, if necessary), and the other team playing at home for game three (and game four, if necessary). In the other three rounds, each series was competed in a best-of-seven playoff following a 2–2–1–1–1 format, with the team with home ice advantage playing at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team playing at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary).
| Division semifinals | Division semifinals | Division semifinals | | | Division finals | Division finals | Division finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals |
| A1 | Montreal | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Quebec | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Quebec | 3 | | | A4 | Quebec | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | A2 | Boston | 3 | | | | | | | |
| A2 | Boston | 3 | | | A2 | Boston | 3 | | | | | | | |
| A3 | Buffalo | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A3 | Buffalo | 1 | | | | | | A4 | Quebec | 0 | | | | |
| Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | A4 | Quebec | 0 | | | | |
| Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | Prince of Wales Conference | P1 | NY Islanders | 4 | | | | |
| P1 | NY Islanders | 3 | | | | | | | | | P1 | NY Islanders | 4 | | | | |
| P4 | Pittsburgh | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| P4 | Pittsburgh | 2 | | | P1 | NY Islanders | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | P2 | NY Rangers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| P2 | NY Rangers | 3 | | | P2 | NY Rangers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| P3 | Philadelphia | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| P3 | Philadelphia | 1 | | | | | | | | | | P1 | NY Islanders | 4 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | S2 | Vancouver | 0 |
| N1 | Minnesota | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | S2 | Vancouver | 0 |
| N4 | Chicago | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N4 | Chicago | 3 | | | N4 | Chicago | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | N3 | St. Louis | 2 | | | | | | | |
| N2 | Winnipeg | 1 | | | N3 | St. Louis | 2 | | | | | | | |
| N3 | St. Louis | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N3 | St. Louis | 3 | | | | | | N4 | Chicago | 1 | | | | |
| Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | N4 | Chicago | 1 | | | | |
| Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | Clarence Campbell Conference | S2 | Vancouver | 4 | | | | |
| S1 | Edmonton | 2 | | | | | | | | | S2 | Vancouver | 4 | | | | |
| S4 | Los Angeles | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| S4 | Los Angeles | 3 | | | S4 | Los Angeles | 1 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | S2 | Vancouver | 4 | | | | | | | |
| S2 | Vancouver | 3 | | | S2 | Vancouver | 4 | | | | | | | |
| S3 | Calgary | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Division semifinals
### Prince of Wales Conference
#### (A1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (A4) Quebec Nordiques

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
Dale Hunter scored the game-winning overtime goal in the decisive Game 5 twenty-two seconds into the first OT to help the Nordiques eliminate the Canadiens.
* Quebec won series 3–2

#### (A2) Boston Bruins vs. (A3) Buffalo Sabres

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
* Boston won series 3–1

#### (P1) New York Islanders vs. (P4) Pittsburgh Penguins

This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. New York won the only previous meeting in seven games in the 1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals after falling behind 3–0 in the series.
John Tonelli scored the game-tying goal late in the third period and game-winning overtime goal in the decisive Game 5 to lift the Islanders over the Penguins.
* New York won series 3–2

#### (P2) New York Rangers vs. (P3) Philadelphia Flyers

This was the fourth playoff series meeting between the two teams. Philadelphia won two of the previous three meetings, including their most recent meeting in the 1980 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals in five games.
Game two saw New York's Mikko Leinonen set an NHL playoff record with six assists, a feat only matched by Wayne Gretzky.
* New York won series 3–1

### Clarence Campbell Conference
#### (N1) Minnesota North Stars vs. (N4) Chicago Black Hawks

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
* Chicago won series 3–1

#### (N2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (N3) St. Louis Blues

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
* St. Louis won series 3–1

#### (S1) Edmonton Oilers vs. (S4) Los Angeles Kings

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams. Game Three is known as "The Miracle on Manchester" as the Kings scored five goals to force overtime and ultimately winning the game in OT.
* Los Angeles won series 3–2

#### (S2) Vancouver Canucks vs. (S3) Calgary Flames

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
* Vancouver won series 3–0

## Division finals
### Prince of Wales Conference
#### (A2) Boston Bruins vs. (A4) Quebec Nordiques

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
* Quebec won series 4–3

#### (P1) New York Islanders vs. (P2) New York Rangers

This was fourth playoff series meeting between these two teams. The Islanders won two of the previous three meetings. This was a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Semifinals, in which the Islanders won in a four-game sweep.
* New York Islanders won series 4–2

### Clarence Campbell Conference
#### (N3) St. Louis Blues vs. (N4) Chicago Black Hawks

This was the third playoff series meeting between these two teams. Chicago won both previous meetings, including their most recent meeting in a three-game sweep in the 1980 Preliminary Round.
* Chicago won series 4–2

#### (S2) Vancouver Canucks vs. (S4) Los Angeles Kings

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
* Vancouver won series 4–1

## Conference finals
### Prince of Wales Conference final
#### (P1) New York Islanders vs. (A4) Quebec Nordiques

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
* New York won series 4–0

### Clarence Campbell Conference final
#### (N4) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (S2) Vancouver Canucks

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
Canucks Coach Roger Neilson was tossed out of game 2 for holding up a white towel on a hockey stick as a form of protest. He was ejected from the game along with two players but the protest began the Canucks Towel Power tradition that still exists to this day and has since been copied by other teams.
* Vancouver won series 4–1

## Stanley Cup Finals

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. New York won the only previous meeting in a two-game sweep in the 1976 Preliminary Round.
In the Stanley Cup Finals, the Cinderella run of the Vancouver Canucks came to an end with a four-game sweep by the Islanders, winning their third consecutive Stanley Cup.
* New York won series 4–0

## Player statistics
### Skaters

These are the top ten skaters based on points.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Bryan Trottier | New York Islanders | 19 | 6 | 23 | 29 | +9 | 40 |
| Mike Bossy | New York Islanders | 19 | 17 | 10 | 27 | +7 | 0 |
| Denis Potvin | New York Islanders | 19 | 5 | 16 | 21 | +9 | 30 |
| Thomas Gradin | Vancouver Canucks | 17 | 9 | 10 | 19 | +8 | 10 |
| Denis Savard | Chicago Black Hawks | 15 | 11 | 7 | 18 | -2 | 52 |
| Stan Smyl | Vancouver Canucks | 17 | 9 | 9 | 18 | +4 | 25 |
| Peter Stastny | Quebec Nordiques | 12 | 7 | 11 | 18 | +1 | 10 |
| Barry Pederson | Boston Bruins | 11 | 7 | 11 | 18 | +5 | 22 |
| Joe Mullen | St. Louis Blues | 10 | 7 | 11 | 18 | +7 | 4 |
| Bernie Federko | St. Louis Blues | 10 | 3 | 15 | 18 | +8 | 10 |

### Goaltenders

This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage, with at least 420 minutes played. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.
| Player | Team | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| Billy Smith | New York Islanders | 18 | 15 | 3 | 498 | 47 | 2.51 | .906 | 1 | 1125:15 |
| Richard Brodeur | Vancouver Canucks | 17 | 11 | 6 | 594 | 49 | 2.71 | .917 | 0 | 1086:28 |
| Mike Liut | St. Louis Blues | 10 | 5 | 3 | 251 | 27 | 3.29 | .892 | 0 | 492:58 |
| Dan Bouchard | Quebec Nordiques | 11 | 4 | 7 | 359 | 38 | 3.37 | .894 | 0 | 676:16 |
| Mike Moffat | Boston Bruins | 11 | 6 | 5 | 290 | 38 | 3.45 | .869 | 0 | 661:46 |