# 1983–84 New York Islanders season

The 1983–84 New York Islanders season was the 12th season for the franchise in the National Hockey League. The Islanders entered to the season as the four-time defending Stanley Cup champions, and subsequently went the Stanley Cup Finals for the fifth time in a row, but lost four games to one in a rematch against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Islanders nevertheless set a new North American major professional sports record by winning nineteen consecutive playoff series (two more than the seventeen series won by the Boston Celtics in their eight-year NBA championship dynasty) and unmatched in any major sport since.

## Offseason
### NHL Draft

| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team |
| 1 | 3 | Pat LaFontaine | United States | Verdun Juniors (QMJHL) |
| 1 | 16 | Gerald Diduck | Canada | Lethbridge Broncos (WHL) |
| 2 | 37 | Garnet McKechney | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHL) |
| 3 | 57 | Mike Neill | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) |
| 4 | 65 | Mikko Makela | Finland | Ilves Tampere (Finland) |
| 5 | 84 | Bob Caulfield | United States | Detroit Lakes High School (USHS-MN) |
| 5 | 97 | Ron Viglasi | Canada | Victoria Cougars (WHL) |
| 6 | 117 | Darin Illikainen | United States | Hermantown High School (USHS-MN) |
| 7 | 137 | Jim Sprenger | United States | Cloquet High School (USHS-MN) |
| 8 | 157 | Dale Henry | Canada | Saskatoon Blades (WHL) |
| 9 | 177 | Kevin Vescio | Canada | North Bay Centennials (OHL) |
| 10 | 197 | Dave Shellington | Canada | Cornwall Royals (OHL) |
| 11 | 217 | John Bjorkman | United States | Warroad High School (USHS-MN) |
| 12 | 237 | Peter McGeough | United States | Bishop Hendricken High School (USHS-RI) |

## Regular season
### All Star Game

The 35th National Hockey League All-Star Game was held at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Campbell Conference defeated the Wales Conference 9–3. Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, and head coach Al Arbour participated in the All-Star Game as representatives of the Wales Conference.

### Season standings

Patrick Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| New York Islanders | 80 | 50 | 26 | 4 | 357 | 269 | 104 |
| Washington Capitals | 80 | 48 | 27 | 5 | 308 | 226 | 101 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 44 | 26 | 10 | 350 | 290 | 98 |
| New York Rangers | 80 | 42 | 29 | 9 | 314 | 304 | 93 |
| New Jersey Devils | 80 | 17 | 56 | 7 | 231 | 350 | 41 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 16 | 58 | 6 | 254 | 390 | 38 |
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. Wales Conference
Vs. Patrick Division
1983–84 NHL records
Team
NJD
NYI
NYR
PHI
PIT
WSH
Total
New Jersey
—0−71−5−10−73−40−5−24−28−3
N.Y. Islanders
7−0—3−44−36−14−324−11−0
N.Y. Rangers
5−1−14−3—4−35−23−3−121−12−2
Philadelphia
7−03−43−4—7−03−423−12−0
Pittsburgh
4−31−62−50–7—1−68−27−0
Washington
5−0−23−43−3−14–36–1—21−11−3
Vs. Adams Division
1983–84 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
HFD
MTL
QUE
Total
New Jersey
1−20−2−11−1−11−21−24−9−2
N.Y. Islanders
0−2−13−01−23−01−28−6−1
N.Y. Rangers
0−2−11−1−11−21−22−0−15−7−3
Philadelphia
1−1−10−31−22−0−12−0−16−6−3
Pittsburgh
0−30−32−10−2−10−32−12−1
Washington
1−20−2−12−13−01−27−7−1
Vs. Campbell Conference
Vs. Norris Division
1983–84 NHL records
Team
CHI
DET
MIN
STL
TOR
Total
New Jersey
2−12−11−20−30−35−10−0
N.Y. Islanders
3−01−22−0−11−1−12−19−4−2
N.Y. Rangers
2−13−01−1−12−11−29−5−1
Philadelphia
1−0−21−0−20−1−21−23−06−3−6
Pittsburgh
1−1−10−31−20−2−11−1−13−9−3
Washington
1−1−11−23−02−13−010−4−1
Vs. Smythe Division
1983–84 NHL records
Team
CGY
EDM
LAK
VAN
WIN
Total
New Jersey
0−2−10−2−12−11−21−24−9−2
N.Y. Islanders
0−33−02−0−13−01−29−5−1
N.Y. Rangers
2−11−21−0−21−1−12−17−5−3
Philadelphia
2−12−0−12−11−22−19−5−1
Pittsburgh
0−1−20−31−21−21−23−10−2
Washington
2−11−23−02−12−110−5−0 :

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

1983–84 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

### Playoffs

1984 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics

Regular season :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Mike Bossy | RW | 67 | 51 | 67 | 118 | 8 | 66 | 6 | 0 | 11 |
| Bryan Trottier | C | 68 | 40 | 71 | 111 | 59 | 70 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Denis Potvin | D | 78 | 22 | 63 | 85 | 87 | 55 | 11 | 1 | 3 |
| John Tonelli | LW | 73 | 27 | 40 | 67 | 66 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| Greg Gilbert | LW | 79 | 31 | 35 | 66 | 59 | 51 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Bob Bourne | C | 78 | 22 | 34 | 56 | 75 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Brent Sutter | C | 69 | 34 | 15 | 49 | 69 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 6 |
| Tomas Jonsson | D | 72 | 11 | 36 | 47 | 54 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Butch Goring | C | 71 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Bob Nystrom | RW | 74 | 15 | 29 | 44 | 80 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Duane Sutter | RW | 78 | 17 | 23 | 40 | 94 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Stefan Persson | D | 75 | 9 | 24 | 33 | 65 | 30 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Clark Gillies | LW | 76 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 65 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Anders Kallur | RW | 65 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Pat LaFontaine | C | 15 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Langevin | D | 69 | 3 | 16 | 19 | 53 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ken Morrow | D | 63 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 45 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gord Dineen | D | 43 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 32 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wayne Merrick | C | 31 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Boutilier | D | 28 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 36 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pat Flatley | RW | 16 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Carroll | C | 39 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 12 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mats Hallin | LW | 40 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 27 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gord Lane | D | 37 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 70 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike McEwen | D | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Roland Melanson | G | 37 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Smith | G | 42 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garth MacGuigan | C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darcy Regier | D | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bruce Affleck | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kelly Hrudey | G | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Billy Smith | 2279 | 42 | 23 | 13 | 2 | 130 | 3.42 | 2 |
| Roland Melanson | 2019 | 37 | 20 | 11 | 2 | 110 | 3.27 | 0 |
| Kelly Hrudey | 535 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 3.14 | 0 |
| Team: | 4833 | 80 | 50 | 26 | 4 | 268 | 3.33 | 2 |
Playoffs :
Scoring :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Clark Gillies | LW | 21 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Bossy | RW | 21 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Pat Flatley | RW | 21 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Bryan Trottier | C | 21 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 49 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Brent Sutter | C | 20 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Greg Gilbert | LW | 21 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 39 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Pat LaFontaine | C | 16 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tomas Jonsson | D | 21 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Boutilier | D | 21 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Butch Goring | C | 21 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Denis Potvin | D | 20 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Stefan Persson | D | 16 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anders Kallur | RW | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Duane Sutter | RW | 21 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Tonelli | LW | 17 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Langevin | D | 12 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Morrow | D | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Bourne | C | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gord Dineen | D | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Nystrom | RW | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Carroll | C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mats Hallin | LW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gord Lane | D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Roland Melanson | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wayne Merrick | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Smith | G | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending :
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Billy Smith | 1190 | 21 | 12 | 8 | 54 | 2.72 | 0 |
| Roland Melanson | 87 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3.45 | 0 |
| Team: | 1277 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 59 | 2.77 | 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;

## Playoffs
### Stanley Cup Finals

New York Islanders vs. Edmonton Oilers
| Date | Visitors | Score | Home | Score |
| May 10 | Edmonton | 1 | New York | 0 |
| May 12 | Edmonton | 1 | New York | 6 |
| May 15 | New York | 2 | Edmonton | 7 |
| May 17 | New York | 2 | Edmonton | 7 |
| May 19 | New York | 2 | Edmonton | 5 |
Edmonton wins the series 4–1.

## Awards and records

* Prince of Wales Trophy
* Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Mike Bossy
* Mike Bossy, Right Wing, NHL First All-Star Team
* Denis Potvin, Defence, NHL Second All-Star Team
* Bryan Trottier, Center, NHL Second All-Star Team