Golden Knights Tie NY Islanders Stanley Cup Goals Record

It was an utterly dominant performance by the Vegas Golden Knights Monday night, as they head to Southern Florida with a stranglehold on the series, leading 2-0.

With victories over the Florida Panthers by scores of 5-2 and 7-2, aside from setting a record of nine different goal scorers through the series' first two games, the Knights have tied a record held by six other teams, including the 1981 and 1982 NY Islanders, for most goals scored (12) in the first two games of a Stanley Cup Finals.

The Knights dominated the series' first two games, led by Jonathan Marchessault’s three goals. Adin Hill has continued to amaze, as he’s been a brick wall in goal, coming seemingly out of nowhere as the team’s fourth-string goaltender.

In game one of the '81 Finals against the Minnesota North Stars, the Isles controlled the game, led by two short-handed goals on the same powerplay. Following a five-minute major midway through the first period for spearing by Bob Bourne, Anders Kallur and Bryan Trottier tallied goals while down a man. Wayne Merrick added two goals on the Isles' way to a 6-3 victory.

After squandering a three-goal lead 30 seconds into the third period, the Isles rattled off three goals in 8:22 on the road to another 6-3 victory. Denis Potvin and Mike Bossy both tallied two goals to give the Isles a two-game commanding lead. After going up 3-0 in the series, the Islanders closed out the Finals in five games for their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

In ‘82, the Isles got off to a 2-0 series lead over the Vancouver Canucks, but did so in a much more stressful fashion.

Playing games one and two at Nassau Coliseum in '82, it took a dramatic ending for the Isles to close out game one. In a back-and-forth game, with the Canucks taking the lead just 1:29 into the game and the Isles leading 4-2 in the second period, the game headed to overtime nodded up at four. Jumping a pass made from behind the goal line, Bossy stole the puck and snapped a short-side shot past the goaltender with just two seconds remaining in OT to complete his hat-trick in a 6-5 victory giving the Isles a series lead. 

Game two was claimed by the Islanders in a bit less dramatic fashion but was done so in a ten-goal battle. Tied at four just before the midway mark of the third period, Trottier gave the Isles a 5-4 advantage before Boby Nystrom sealed the game seven minutes later. Potvin added three assists, building on his three-point total from game one as the Isles headed to Vancouver for games three and four.

With defense at the forefront in Vancouver, the Isles swept the Canucks, winning game three by a score of 3-0, finishing the series in game four for the organization's third Stanley Cup title in a row.