# 1977–78 New York Islanders season

The 1977–78 New York Islanders season was the 6th season for the franchise in the National Hockey League.

## Offseason
### NHL Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 15 | Mike Bossy | Right Wing | Laval National (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 33 | John Tonelli | Center | Houston Aeros (WHA) |
| 3 | 50 | Hector Marini | Right Wing | Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL) |
| 3 | 51 | Bruce Andres | Right Wing | New Westminster Bruins (WCHL) |
| 4 | 69 | Steve Stoyanovich | Center | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC) |
| 5 | 87 | Markus Mattsson | Goaltender | Tampere Ilves (Finland) |
| 6 | 105 | Steve Letzgus | Defense | Michigan Tech University (WCHA) |
| 7 | 121 | Harald Luckner | Center | Karlstad (Sweden) |

## Regular season
### Season standings

Patrick Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| New York Islanders | 80 | 48 | 17 | 15 | 334 | 210 | 111 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 45 | 20 | 15 | 296 | 200 | 105 |
| Atlanta Flames | 80 | 34 | 27 | 19 | 274 | 252 | 87 |
| New York Rangers | 80 | 30 | 37 | 13 | 279 | 280 | 73 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents

Patrick Division record vs. opponents :
Vs. Campbell Conference
Vs. Wales Conference
Vs. Patrick Division
1977–78 NHL records
Team
ATL
NYI
NYR
PHI
Total
Atlanta
—1–2–36–01–4–18–6–4
N.Y. Islanders
2–1–3—4–22–1–38–4–6
N.Y. Rangers
0–62–4—0–4–22–14–2
Philadelphia
4–1–11–2–34–0–2—9–3–6
Vs. Smythe Division
1977–78 NHL records
Team
CHI
COL
MIN
STL
VAN
Total
Atlanta
1–2–22–1–24–14–0–12–1–213–5–7
N.Y. Islanders
2–1–24–0–14–14–0–15–019–2–4
N.Y. Rangers
3–1–12–2–13–0–24–0–14–116–4–5
Philadelphia
2–2–13–23–24–15–017–7–1
Vs. Adams Division
1977–78 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
CLE
TOR
Total
Atlanta
1–2–11–2–12–1–13–27–7–3
N.Y. Islanders
3–12–31–1–23–19–6–2
N.Y. Rangers
1–41–2–13–11–36–10–1
Philadelphia
2–1–10–3–14–0–11–37–7–3
Vs. Norris Division
1977–78 NHL records
Team
DET
LAK
MTL
PIT
WSH
Total
Atlanta
1–2–11–2–10–2–23–11–2–16–9–5
N.Y. Islanders
4–02–0–20–42–1–14–012–5–3
N.Y. Rangers
2–1–11–31–30–2–22–0–26–9–5
Philadelphia
2–1–13–0–10–2–23–0–14–012–3–5 :

## Schedule and results

| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | October 13, 1977 | 2–3 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | W | October 15, 1977 | 3–1 | Boston Bruins (1977–78) | 1–1–0 |
| 3 | L | October 16, 1977 | 2–4 | @ New York Rangers (1977–78) | 1–2–0 |
| 4 | T | October 18, 1977 | 0–0 | Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) | 1–2–1 |
| 5 | T | October 21, 1977 | 3–3 | @ Atlanta Flames (1977–78) | 1–2–2 |
| 6 | W | October 22, 1977 | 7–2 | New York Rangers (1977–78) | 2–2–2 |
| 7 | T | October 26, 1977 | 2–2 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) | 2–2–3 |
| 8 | W | October 27, 1977 | 3–2 | @ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) | 3–2–3 |
| 9 | W | October 29, 1977 | 4–2 | Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) | 4–2–3 |
| 10 | W | November 1, 1977 | 9–0 | Atlanta Flames (1977–78) | 5–2–3 |
| 11 | L | November 2, 1977 | 2–3 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) | 5–3–3 |
| 12 | W | November 5, 1977 | 4–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) | 6–3–3 |
| 13 | L | November 6, 1977 | 3–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1977–78) | 6–4–3 |
| 14 | L | November 10, 1977 | 1–5 | Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) | 6–5–3 |
| 15 | T | November 12, 1977 | 2–2 | Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) | 6–5–4 |
| 16 | W | November 13, 1977 | 6–0 | @ Washington Capitals (1977–78) | 7–5–4 |
| 17 | T | November 15, 1977 | 1–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) | 7–5–5 |
| 18 | T | November 17, 1977 | 4–4 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) | 7–5–6 |
| 19 | W | November 19, 1977 | 9–2 | Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) | 8–5–6 |
| 20 | W | November 22, 1977 | 4–2 | Colorado Rockies (1977–78) | 9–5–6 |
| 21 | W | November 23, 1977 | 9–2 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) | 10–5–6 |
| 22 | L | November 26, 1977 | 2–5 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) | 10–6–6 |
| 23 | W | November 27, 1977 | 4–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) | 11–6–6 |
| 24 | T | November 30, 1977 | 3–3 | @ Colorado Rockies (1977–78) | 11–6–7 |
| 25 | W | December 3, 1977 | 7–2 | @ St. Louis Blues (1977–78) | 12–6–7 |
| 26 | W | December 6, 1977 | 4–2 | Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) | 13–6–7 |
| 27 | W | December 7, 1977 | 4–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) | 14–6–7 |
| 28 | W | December 10, 1977 | 7–4 | Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) | 15–6–7 |
| 29 | T | December 13, 1977 | 2–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) | 15–6–8 |
| 30 | L | December 14, 1977 | 2–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) | 15–7–8 |
| 31 | W | December 17, 1977 | 4–1 | Boston Bruins (1977–78) | 16–7–8 |
| 32 | W | December 20, 1977 | 9–1 | Colorado Rockies (1977–78) | 17–7–8 |
| 33 | W | December 22, 1977 | 6–3 | St. Louis Blues (1977–78) | 18–7–8 |
| 34 | L | December 23, 1977 | 5–7 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) | 18–8–8 |
| 35 | W | December 27, 1977 | 4–2 | @ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) | 19–8–8 |
| 36 | W | December 28, 1977 | 4–3 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) | 20–8–8 |
| 37 | L | December 31, 1977 | 2–4 | Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) | 20–9–8 |
| 38 | W | January 3, 1978 | 4–1 | Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) | 21–9–8 |
| 39 | W | January 7, 1978 | 5–3 | Cleveland Barons (1977–78) | 22–9–8 |
| 40 | W | January 10, 1978 | 7–4 | Colorado Rockies (1977–78) | 23–9–8 |
| 41 | L | January 11, 1978 | 3–5 | @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) | 23–10–8 |
| 42 | W | January 14, 1978 | 4–0 | @ Washington Capitals (1977–78) | 24–10–8 |
| 43 | W | January 18, 1978 | 5–2 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) | 25–10–8 |
| 44 | W | January 19, 1978 | 3–0 | @ St. Louis Blues (1977–78) | 26–10–8 |
| 45 | W | January 21, 1978 | 6–1 | Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) | 27–10–8 |
| 46 | W | January 26, 1978 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) | 28–10–8 |
| 47 | W | January 28, 1978 | 6–2 | New York Rangers (1977–78) | 29–10–8 |
| 48 | L | January 30, 1978 | 2–3 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) | 29–11–8 |
| 49 | W | February 1, 1978 | 7–6 | @ New York Rangers (1977–78) | 30–11–8 |
| 50 | W | February 2, 1978 | 5–2 | @ Atlanta Flames (1977–78) | 31–11–8 |
| 51 | W | February 4, 1978 | 6–1 | Washington Capitals (1977–78) | 32–11–8 |
| 52 | L | February 8, 1978 | 4–5 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) | 32–12–8 |
| 53 | W | February 11, 1978 | 8–5 | Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) | 33–12–8 |
| 54 | T | February 12, 1978 | 2–2 | @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) | 33–12–9 |
| 55 | W | February 14, 1978 | 3–2 | Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) | 34–12–9 |
| 56 | W | February 16, 1978 | 5–4 | @ Colorado Rockies (1977–78) | 35–12–9 |
| 57 | T | February 18, 1978 | 3–3 | Atlanta Flames (1977–78) | 35–12–10 |
| 58 | W | February 19, 1978 | 4–1 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) | 36–12–10 |
| 59 | T | February 22, 1978 | 3–3 | @ Atlanta Flames (1977–78) | 36–12–11 |
| 60 | W | February 25, 1978 | 7–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) | 37–12–11 |
| 61 | L | February 26, 1978 | 1–2 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) | 37–13–11 |
| 62 | W | February 28, 1978 | 4–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) | 38–13–11 |
| 63 | L | March 2, 1978 | 3–6 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) | 38–14–11 |
| 64 | W | March 4, 1978 | 6–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) | 39–14–11 |
| 65 | T | March 5, 1978 | 3–3 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) | 39–14–12 |
| 66 | W | March 7, 1978 | 5–2 | Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) | 40–14–12 |
| 67 | W | March 9, 1978 | 6–3 | @ St. Louis Blues (1977–78) | 41–14–12 |
| 68 | W | March 11, 1978 | 4–2 | Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) | 42–14–12 |
| 69 | T | March 14, 1978 | 3–3 | St. Louis Blues (1977–78) | 42–14–13 |
| 70 | L | March 18, 1978 | 2–5 | Atlanta Flames (1977–78) | 42–15–13 |
| 71 | L | March 20, 1978 | 2–4 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) | 42–16–13 |
| 72 | W | March 22, 1978 | 6–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) | 43–16–13 |
| 73 | T | March 25, 1978 | 4–4 | Cleveland Barons (1977–78) | 43–16–14 |
| 74 | W | March 26, 1978 | 6–3 | Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) | 44–16–14 |
| 75 | L | March 29, 1978 | 1–5 | @ New York Rangers (1977–78) | 44–17–14 |
| 76 | W | April 1, 1978 | 3–2 | Washington Capitals (1977–78) | 45–17–14 |
| 77 | W | April 2, 1978 | 5–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) | 46–17–14 |
| 78 | T | April 4, 1978 | 3–3 | Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) | 46–17–15 |
| 79 | W | April 8, 1978 | 7–2 | New York Rangers (1977–78) | 47–17–15 |
| 80 | W | April 9, 1978 | 5–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1977–78) | 48–17–15 |

## Playoffs

Round 1 (3) New York Islanders vs (6) Toronto Maple Leafs
| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | OT | Series |
| 1 | April 17 | Toronto | 1–4 | NY Islanders | | 1–0 |
| 2 | April 19 | Toronto | 2–3 | NY Islanders | OT | 2–0 |
| 3 | April 21 | NY Islanders | 0–2 | Toronto | | 2–1 |
| 4 | April 23 | NY Islanders | 1–3 | Toronto | | 2–2 |
| 5 | April 25 | Toronto | 1–2 | NY Islanders | OT | 3–2 |
| 6 | April 27 | NY Islanders | 2–5 | Toronto | | 3–3 |
| 7 | April 27 | Toronto | 2–1 | NY Islanders | OT | 3–4 |
Toronto Wins Series 4–3

## Player statistics

Regular season :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Bryan Trottier | C | 77 | 46 | 77 | 123 | 46 | 52 | 13 | 2 | 6 |
| Denis Potvin | D | 80 | 30 | 64 | 94 | 81 | 57 | 9 | 0 | 6 |
| Mike Bossy | RW | 73 | 53 | 38 | 91 | 6 | 31 | 25 | 0 | 5 |
| Clark Gillies | LW | 80 | 35 | 50 | 85 | 76 | 49 | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| Bob Bourne | C | 80 | 30 | 33 | 63 | 31 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Billy Harris | RW | 80 | 22 | 38 | 60 | 40 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Bob Nystrom | RW | 80 | 30 | 29 | 59 | 94 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Stefan Persson | D | 66 | 6 | 50 | 56 | 54 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Kaszycki | C | 58 | 13 | 29 | 42 | 24 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| J.P. Parise | LW | 39 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 12 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Lorne Henning | C | 79 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Gerry Hart | D | 78 | 2 | 23 | 25 | 94 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Wayne Merrick | C | 37 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Ed Westfall | D/RW | 71 | 5 | 19 | 24 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jude Drouin | C | 56 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garry Howatt | LW | 61 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 146 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michel Bergeron | RW | 25 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Dave Lewis | D | 77 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 58 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Pat Price | D | 52 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 27 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jean Potvin | D | 34 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bert Marshall | D | 58 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 44 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Lorimer | D | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chico Resch | G | 45 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Richie Hansen | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Goran Hogosta | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex McKendry | W | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Neil Nicholson | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Smith | G | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andre St. Laurent | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Chico Resch | 2637 | 45 | 28 | 9 | 7 | 112 | 2.55 | 3 |
| Billy Smith | 2154 | 38 | 20 | 8 | 8 | 95 | 2.65 | 2 |
| Goran Hogosta | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 4800 | 80 | 48 | 17 | 15 | 207 | 2.59 | 5 |
Playoffs :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Bob Bourne | C | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Nystrom | RW | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Mike Bossy | RW | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Denis Potvin | D | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Kaszycki | C | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bryan Trottier | C | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clark Gillies | LW | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bert Marshall | D | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stefan Persson | D | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wayne Merrick | C | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garry Howatt | LW | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 62 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Lewis | D | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pat Price | D | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jude Drouin | C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Harris | RW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry Hart | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lorne Henning | C | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chico Resch | G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Smith | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Westfall | D/RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Glenn Resch | 388 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 2.32 | 0 |
| Billy Smith | 47 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.28 | 0 |
| Team: | 435 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 2.21 | 0 |
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;