The 1981–82 New York Islanders were the best regular season team in hockey — 54 wins, 118 points, a dominant Patrick Division title. They were favored in every series they entered. And yet, in the first round of the 1982 playoffs, they nearly became one of the most stunning upsets in NHL history.
The Pittsburgh Penguins had finished the regular season as a middling playoff team, far below the Islanders in the standings. But hockey doesn't care about regular season records once April arrives. Pittsburgh won Games 1, 2, and 4 of the best-of-five first-round series. The Islanders won Game 3. Going into Game 5 in Pittsburgh, New York needed a win just to survive — one loss and the dynasty was over before it had a chance to become one.
For most of that fifth game, it looked like the end. The Islanders trailed late in the third period with their season — and their championship legacy — hanging in the balance. Then, in what became one of the most celebrated moments of the dynasty era, John Tonelli scored to tie the game. The building went quiet. The Islanders had new life.
Tonelli scored again in overtime. The series was over. The dynasty was saved.
"Tonelli to Nystrom" is the phrase Islanders fans associate with 1980. But "Tonelli's overtime winner" belongs equally in the conversation when discussing the moments that made the dynasty possible. Without that comeback against Pittsburgh, there is no third Cup, no fourth Cup, no 19 consecutive series wins. The 1982 Islanders had come to the very edge of elimination and stepped back from it.
They went on to sweep the Quebec Nordiques and the Vancouver Canucks, claiming their third consecutive championship without losing another game. Mike Bossy won the Conn Smythe. But the players in that dressing room knew: the real moment of the 1982 playoffs had happened in Pittsburgh, when a dynasty refused to die.