1981 – 82 Quebec Nordiques season Quebec Nordiques seasons The 1981 – 82 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques ' third season in the National Hockey League . The Nordiques would have a successful regular season , qualifying for the playoffs , but had a better playoff , making it to the Wales Final before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders . Off - season . During the off - season , the four divisions of the NHL were re - aligned to better reflect the geographical locations of the teams . Quebec remained in the Adams Division with the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres , while the Minnesota North Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs were replaced with the Hartford Whalers and the Nordiques provincial rival , the Montreal Canadiens . The Nordiques signed Marian Stastny out of Czechoslovakia , the brother of Peter Stastny and Anton Stastny . Quebec replaced team captain Marc Tardif with Robbie Ftorek prior to the season . Ftorek would not remain the Nordiques captain for long , as he was traded to the New York Rangers in December , and was replaced with Andre Dupont . Regular season . The Nordiques would find themselves under . 500 only once throughout the season , and that was five games in when they had a record of 2 - 3 - 0 . Quebec would get hot , and eventually reached a season - high nine games over . 500 in the middle of January , however , a late season slump had the Nords finish the year only two games above . 500 , with a 33 - 31 - 16 record , earning 82 points , which was good enough to finish fourth in the Adams Division , and the Nordiques second post - season appearance in a row . Offensively , the Nordiques were led by Peter Stastny , who set a team record with 139 points , as he scored 46 goals and earned 93 assists . Stastny finished behind only Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers and Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders in the NHL scoring race . Real Cloutier rebounded from an injury plagued 1980 – 81 season by scoring 37 goals and 97 points , while rookie Marian Stastny scored 35 goals and 89 points . Michel Goulet notched 42 goals and 84 points , while Dale Hunter had a breakout season , scoring 22 goals and 72 points , as well as a team record 272 penalty minutes . On defense , Mario Marois led the way , scoring 11 goals and 43 points . In goal , Dan Bouchard held on to the number one job , winning a team record 27 games , while posting a team best 3 . 86 GAA , as well as earning a shutout in 60 games . Playoffs . The Nordiques opened the 1982 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a best of five Adams Division quarter - final series with their Battle of Quebec rivals , the Montreal Canadiens . Montreal finished the season on top of the Adams Division with a 46 - 17 - 17 record , earning 109 points , which was 27 more than the Nordiques . The series opened with two games at the Montreal Forum , and the Canadiens handled the Nordiques easily in the first game , cruising to a 5 - 1 victory , however , Quebec fought back in the second game , winning a close 3 - 2 game to even the series up . The series shifted to Le Colisee for the next two games , and the Nordiques took a 2 - 1 series lead in the third game , as they held off the Canadiens for a 2 - 1 victory . Montreal fought back in the fourth game , which featured had a brawl in which every player from both teams was involved . The brawl lasted for twenty minutes . There were 149 penalty minutes , and two game misconducts . The Canadiens easily defeated the underdog Nordiques 6 - 2 to even the series up at two games each , with the fifth and deciding game back at the Montreal Forum . In the fifth game , the teams were tied at two goals each after regulation time , and in overtime , Dale Hunter emerged as the hero , as he scored against Montreal goalie Rick Wamsley to clinch the series . Quebec completed the upset over the heavily favoured Canadiens , and the Nordiques moved on to the Adams Division finals . Quebec would face the Boston Bruins in the best of seven Adams Division finals . Boston had a 43 - 27 - 10 record , earning 96 points , and a second place finish in the division . The Bruins defeated the Buffalo Sabres in four games in their first playoff round . The series opened with two games at the Boston Garden , and the Bruins took an early 2 - 0 series lead , defeating Quebec 4 - 3 and 8 - 4 in the first two games . The series moved to Quebec City for the next two games , and the Nordiques responded on their home ice , winning the third game in overtime by a 3 - 2 score , followed by a 7 - 2 thrashing in the fourth game to even the series up . The fifth game was back in Boston , however , the Nordiques surprised the Bruins , defeating them 4 - 3 to push Boston on the brink of elimination . The series moved back to Quebec for the sixth game , however , the Bruins stayed alive with a 6 - 5 overtime win , setting up a seventh and deciding game at the Boston Garden . The Nordiques once again came out with an upset victory , as Quebec squeaked out a 2 - 1 victory to win the series in seven games , and advance to the Wales Conference finals . The Nordiques opponent in the Wales Conference finals was the two time defending Stanley Cup champions , the New York Islanders . The best of seven series opened with two games at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island , New York . The powerful Islanders took control of the series early , defeating Quebec 4 - 1 and 5 - 2 in the first two games . New York stayed hot as the series moved back to Le Colisee for the next two games , as they won the third game in overtime by a 5 - 4 score , before defeating the Nordiques 4 - 2 in the fourth game to sweep Quebec out of the playoffs . Draft picks . Quebec ' s draft picks from the 1981 NHL Entry Draft which was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal , Quebec .