1977–78 New York Islanders season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1977–78
Year:	1977
Team:	New York Islanders
Conference:	Campbell
Conferencerank:	1st
Division:	Patrick
Divisionrank:	1st
Record:	48–17–15
Goalsfor:	334
Goalsagainst:	210
Generalmanager:	Bill Torrey
Coach:	Al Arbour
Captain:	Clark Gillies
Altcaptain:	None
Arena:	Nassau Coliseum
Goalsleader:	Mike Bossy (53)
Assistsleader:	Bryan Trottier (77)
Pointsleader:	Bryan Trottier (123)
Pimleader:	Garry Howatt (146)
Winsleader:	Chico Resch (28)
Gaaleader:	Chico Resch (2.55)
Divisionwin:	Yes
Conferencewin:	Yes

The 1977–1978 New York Islanders season was the 6th season for the franchise in the National Hockey League.

Offseason

NHL Draft

See main article: 1977 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

Record vs. opponents

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

Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
C	77	46	77	123	46	52	13	2	6
D	80	30	64	94	81	57	9	0	6
RW	73	53	38	91	6	31	25	0	5
LW	80	35	50	85	76	49	9	0	2
C	80	30	33	63	31	15	2	0	8
RW	80	22	38	60	40	27	1	1	1
RW	80	30	29	59	94	19	3	0	6
D	66	6	50	56	54	19	3	0	0
C	58	13	29	42	24	15	3	0	2
LW	39	12	16	28	12	19	1	0	0
C	79	12	15	27	6	10	0	2	4
D	78	2	23	25	94	44	0	0	1
C	37	10	14	24	8	2	2	0	2
D/RW	71	5	19	24	14	7	0	1	1
C	56	5	17	22	12	14	0	0	0
LW	61	7	12	19	146	7	0	0	0
RW	25	9	6	15	2	16	0	0	2
D	77	3	11	14	58	32	0	1	1
D	52	2	10	12	27	25	0	0	1
D	34	1	10	11	8	11	0	0	0
D	58	0	7	7	44	10	0	0	0
D	5	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
G	45	0	1	1	12	0	0	0	0
C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
W	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
D	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
G	38	0	0	0	35	0	0	0	0
C	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	2637	45	28	9	7	112	2.55	3
	2154	38	20	8	8	95	2.65	2
	9	1	0	0	0	0	0.00	0
Team:	4800	80	48	17	15	207	2.59	5

Playoffs

Scoring

Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	GWG
C	7	2	3	5	2	1	0
RW	7	3	1	4	14	1	2
RW	7	2	2	4	2	0	1
D	7	2	2	4	6	0	0
C	7	1	3	4	4	0	0
C	7	0	3	3	4	0	0
LW	7	2	0	2	15	1	0
D	7	0	2	2	9	0	0
D	7	0	2	2	6	0	0
C	7	1	0	1	0	0	0
LW	7	0	1	1	62	0	0
D	7	0	1	1	11	0	0
D	5	0	1	1	2	0	0
C	5	0	0	0	5	0	0
RW	7	0	0	0	4	0	0
D	7	0	0	0	16	0	0
C	7	0	0	0	4	0	0
G	7	0	0	0	0	0	0
G	1	0	0	0	9	0	0
D/RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA
	388	7	3	4	15	2.32
	47	1	0	0	1	1.28
Team:	435	7	3	4	16	2.21

^[1]

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;

References

Islanders on Hockey Database

Notes and References

Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-07-27 . 1977-78 New York Islanders Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.