1977–78 New York Islanders season

1977–78 New York Islanders
1977–78 New York Islanders
Campbell Conference champions
Patrick Division champions
Division	1st Patrick
Conference	1st Campbell
1977–78 record	48–17–15
Goals for	334
Goals against	210
Team information
General manager	Bill Torrey
Coach	Al Arbour
Captain	Clark Gillies
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Nassau Coliseum
Team leaders
Goals	Mike Bossy (53)
Assists	Bryan Trottier (77)
Points	Bryan Trottier (123)
Penalty minutes	Garry Howatt (146)
Wins	Chico Resch (28)
Goals against average	Chico Resch (2.55)
	← 1976–77 1978–79 →

The 1977–78 New York Islanders season was the 6th season for the franchise in the National Hockey League.

Offseason

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

Season standings

Patrick Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
New York Islanders	80	48	17	15	334	210	111
Philadelphia Flyers	80	45	20	15	296	200	105
Atlanta Flames	80	34	27	19	274	252	87
New York Rangers	80	30	37	13	279	280	73

^[1]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. Campbell Conference

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Patrick Division

1977–78 NHL records
Team	ATL	NYI	NYR	PHI	Total
Atlanta	—	1–2–3	6–0	1–4–1	8–6–4
N.Y. Islanders	2–1–3	—	4–2	2–1–3	8–4–6
N.Y. Rangers	0–6	2–4	—	0–4–2	2–14–2
Philadelphia	4–1–1	1–2–3	4–0–2	—	9–3–6

Vs. Smythe Division

1977–78 NHL records
Team	CHI	COL	MIN	STL	VAN	Total
Atlanta	1–2–2	2–1–2	4–1	4–0–1	2–1–2	13–5–7
N.Y. Islanders	2–1–2	4–0–1	4–1	4–0–1	5–0	19–2–4
N.Y. Rangers	3–1–1	2–2–1	3–0–2	4–0–1	4–1	16–4–5
Philadelphia	2–2–1	3–2	3–2	4–1	5–0	17–7–1

Vs. Adams Division

1977–78 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	CLE	TOR	Total
Atlanta	1–2–1	1–2–1	2–1–1	3–2	7–7–3
N.Y. Islanders	3–1	2–3	1–1–2	3–1	9–6–2
N.Y. Rangers	1–4	1–2–1	3–1	1–3	6–10–1
Philadelphia	2–1–1	0–3–1	4–0–1	1–3	7–7–3

Vs. Norris Division

1977–78 NHL records^[2]
Team	DET	LAK	MTL	PIT	WSH	Total
Atlanta	1–2–1	1–2–1	0–2–2	3–1	1–2–1	6–9–5
N.Y. Islanders	4–0	2–0–2	0–4	2–1–1	4–0	12–5–3
N.Y. Rangers	2–1–1	1–3	1–3	0–2–2	2–0–2	6–9–5
Philadelphia	2–1–1	3–0–1	0–2–2	3–0–1	4–0	12–3–5

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

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Bryan Trottier	C	77	46	77	123	46	52	13	2	6
Denis Potvin	D	80	30	64	94	81	57	9	0	6
Mike Bossy	RW	73	53	38	91	6	31	25	0	5
Clark Gillies	LW	80	35	50	85	76	49	9	0	2
Bob Bourne	C	80	30	33	63	31	15	2	0	8
Billy Harris	RW	80	22	38	60	40	27	1	1	1
Bob Nystrom	RW	80	30	29	59	94	19	3	0	6
Stefan Persson	D	66	6	50	56	54	19	3	0	0
Mike Kaszycki	C	58	13	29	42	24	15	3	0	2
J.P. Parise	LW	39	12	16	28	12	19	1	0	0
Lorne Henning	C	79	12	15	27	6	10	0	2	4
Gerry Hart	D	78	2	23	25	94	44	0	0	1
Wayne Merrick	C	37	10	14	24	8	2	2	0	2
Ed Westfall	D/RW	71	5	19	24	14	7	0	1	1
Jude Drouin	C	56	5	17	22	12	14	0	0	0
Garry Howatt	LW	61	7	12	19	146	7	0	0	0
Michel Bergeron	RW	25	9	6	15	2	16	0	0	2
Dave Lewis	D	77	3	11	14	58	32	0	1	1
Pat Price	D	52	2	10	12	27	25	0	0	1
Jean Potvin	D	34	1	10	11	8	11	0	0	0
Bert Marshall	D	58	0	7	7	44	10	0	0	0
Bob Lorimer	D	5	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Chico Resch	G	45	0	1	1	12	0	0	0	0
Richie Hansen	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Goran Hogosta	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alex McKendry	W	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Neil Nicholson	D	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Billy Smith	G	38	0	0	0	35	0	0	0	0
Andre St. Laurent	C	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

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

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	GWG
Bob Bourne	C	7	2	3	5	2	1	0
Bob Nystrom	RW	7	3	1	4	14	1	2
Mike Bossy	RW	7	2	2	4	2	0	1
Denis Potvin	D	7	2	2	4	6	0	0
Mike Kaszycki	C	7	1	3	4	4	0	0
Bryan Trottier	C	7	0	3	3	4	0	0
Clark Gillies	LW	7	2	0	2	15	1	0
Bert Marshall	D	7	0	2	2	9	0	0
Stefan Persson	D	7	0	2	2	6	0	0
Wayne Merrick	C	7	1	0	1	0	0	0
Garry Howatt	LW	7	0	1	1	62	0	0
Dave Lewis	D	7	0	1	1	11	0	0
Pat Price	D	5	0	1	1	2	0	0
Jude Drouin	C	5	0	0	0	5	0	0
Billy Harris	RW	7	0	0	0	4	0	0
Gerry Hart	D	7	0	0	0	16	0	0
Lorne Henning	C	7	0	0	0	4	0	0
Chico Resch	G	7	0	0	0	0	0	0
Billy Smith	G	1	0	0	0	9	0	0
Ed Westfall	D/RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

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

^[3]

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

^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ "1977-78 New York Islanders Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved July 27, 2009.

Islanders on Hockey Database

[nhl-gd-standings-1] Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.

[2] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[3] "1977-78 New York Islanders Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved July 27, 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e New York Islanders seasons
1970s	1970–71 . 1971–72 . 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e New York Islanders
Founded in 1972 Based in Elmont, New York
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Expansion draft Seasons Current season
History	Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) New York Islanders Hockey Club, L.P. (Jon Ledecky, governor) General manager Lou Lamoriello Head coach Patrick Roy Team captain Anders Lee Current roster
Arenas	Nassau Coliseum Barclays Center UBS Arena
Rivalries	New York Rangers Philadelphia Flyers Washington Capitals
Affiliates	AHL Bridgeport Islanders ECHL Worcester Railers
Media	TV MSG Network MSG Sportsnet Radio WEPN-FM WRHU 88.7 FM
Culture and lore	The Trio Grande Easter Epic Sparky the Dragon Penguins–Islanders brawl The Lighthouse Project Hockey Night Live! John Spano 2014 NHL Stadium Series 2024 NHL Stadium Series
Category Commons

v t e 1977–78 NHL season
Patrick	Atlanta NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia
Adams	Boston Buffalo Cleveland Toronto
Norris	Detroit Los Angeles Montreal Pittsburgh Washington
Smythe	Chicago Colorado Minnesota St. Louis Vancouver
See also	Draft Waiver draft All-Star Game 1978 Stanley Cup Finals Transactions