50th Anniversary Countdown: Top 10 Islanders OT Playoff Goals (No. 6-10)

No. 9 - Mike Bossy: Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks in Game 1 of the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals

The Islanders finished the 1981-82 regular season with 118 points, 41 more points than the Vancouver Canucks, who finished with 77. The point differential between the two teams in a final round is the largest in Stanley Cup Finals history.

The upstart Canucks had the Islanders back on their skates during GM 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, leading 5-4 with time winding down in regulation, but the Islanders were the two-time defending champions and had Mike Bossy. At 15:14 of the third, Vancouver goaltender Richard Brodeur misplayed a bouncing puck, allowing John Tonelli to kick it ahead to Bossy, who found the net to tie the game 5-5 late in the third.

Game 1 appeared destined for double-overtime, but with only seconds remaining, Bossy intercepted an errant pass from defenseman Harold Snepsts near the right circle and then unleashed a wrist shot from the slot past Brodeur with just two seconds remaining in overtime for a hat trick and 1-0 series lead.

“He shot it right off the post and in,” said Brodeur, who was so upset as he left the ice that he swung his glove at a television camera. “He had the puck before I knew what was happening. I came out, but it was too late.” Bossy scored seven goals in the four-game sweep and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player.