Top 5 all-time Islanders vs Rangers games at Nassau Coliseum

First playoff Series win at Home:  April 10, 1984

We’ve had the first win, the first playoff win, but how about the first playoff series win at home? That didn’t happen until 1984.

The Islanders had already eliminated the Rangers four times in the playoffs at this point, but they’d never done it on home ice before. In 1984 they finally did it thanks to Ken Morrow.

The current Director of Pro Scouting was a solid defense-first defenseman for the Isles back in his playing days. He didn’t score many goals, with 17over his 550 career NHL games. But in the playoffs, when the games mattered most, Kenny stepped up his goal-scoring rate.

In 127 playoffs games, Morrow scored eleven goals. Incredible. One of those eleven came on April 10 in a lose-and-go-home Game 5 at Coliseum against the Rangers.

The Isles had a 2-1 lead thanks to Tommy Jonsson at 7:56 of the third. Billy Smith was standing tall in net stopping 42 of 44 shots that night. But at 19:21 Don Maloney would level the score to force OT.

Seconds before Morrow scores the winner, Smith would be called into action again with Maloney all alone in front of the Isles goal. Smith stoned him. Easily saving the game for his team. With the puck worked up the other end of the ice cue Ken Morrow and pandemonium at the Coliseum.

The Coliseum absolutely erupts as if the Isles had just won the Stanley Cup. You’d think the Nassau faithful would have been used to winning playoff series. This was the 17th time in a row that the Isles had won a playoff round.

I could only imagine what it would have been like to have been there and I wish I could be there for tonight’s game. If you’re one of the few going have fun, be loud, and hopefully, the Isles do us all proud with a big win against the Rangers at the Coliseum for the last time ever.