1981 - 82 NHL season The 1981 - 82 NHL season was the 65th season of the National Hockey League . Twenty - one teams each played 80 games . The William M . Jennings Trophy made its debut this year as the trophy for the goaltender s from the team with the fewest goals against . The New York Islanders won their third straight Stanley Cup by sweeping the Vancouver Canucks in four games . Prior to the start of the season , the conferences and divisions of the league were re - aligned to better reflect the geographical locations of the teams . The conferences were renamed Prince of Wales and Clarence Campbell . Geographically - based names would not re - appear until the season of 1993 - 94 . Regular season . The New York Islanders lead the league with 118 points , seven more than second place Edmonton Oilers . Wayne Gretzky of the Oilers had a record setting year breaking several prestigious records , including the record of 50 goals in 50 games , set by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy , by scoring 50 goals in only 39 games . He also broke Phil Esposito ' s record of 76 goals in a season with 92 , his own assists record of 109 , set the year before , with 120 , and his own point total of 164 , set the year before , with 212 . He was the first , and thus far only , player to ever score 200 points in a season , accomplishing the feat four times over a five year span . Gretzky ' s record setting year was reflected in the Oilers ' final standings as the Oilers set a record for most goals in a season with 417 . Gretzky was in on over half of the Oilers goals . Final standings . " Note : GP = Games played ; W = Wins ; L = Losses ; T = Ties ; GF = Goals for ; GA = Goals against ; Pts = Points ; PIM = Penalties in minutes " < br > " Note : Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold " Scoring leaders . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points " Stanley Cup playoffs . The 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs used a new format . Four teams from each division would qualify for the playoffs , and would play a best - of - five semifinal round followed by a best - of - seven series to determine the division playoff champions . The Adams Division and Patrick division winners would meet in the Wales Conference Final and the Norris Division and Smythe division winners would play in the Campbell Conference Final . The two Conference Champions would play for the Stanley Cup . With the exception of extending the first round to a best - of - seven in 1987 , this format remained in place through the 1993 playoffs . 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 3 . 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 the first two games of their series with Pittsburgh and needing overtime in the decisive fifth game . 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 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 64 , and Chicago 72 ) in the much weaker Campbell Conference . Finals . New York Islanders vs . Vancouver Canucks " New York wins the series 4 – 0 . " Debuts . The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1981 - 82 ( listed with their first team , asterisk ( * ) marks debut in playoffs ) : Last games . The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1981 - 82 ( listed with their last team ) :