Easter Epic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Easter Epic is the nickname given to an National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoff game between the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals, played April 18-19, 1987 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. It is so named because the game started on Saturday evening but did not finish until the early hours of Easter Sunday.
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[edit] The Series
The 1987 Patrick Division Semifinals pitted the third place New York Islanders against the second place Washington Capitals in a best of seven series. It was the fifth consecutive season these two teams matched up with each other; the Islanders had won three of the previous four, but looked to avenge their earliest exit ever from the playoffs at the hands of the Capitals the previous spring.
The first two games were played at the Capitals' home, Capital Centre, and each team claimed a victory, sending the series to Long Island tied one game apiece.
On home ice the Islanders dropped Games 3 (2-0) and 4 (4-1), falling behind in the series three games to one. No NHL team had won a series coming back from this kind of deficit in twelve years; coincidentally, it was the Islanders who performed the feat, coming from three-nil down to rally and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1975. In similar comeback fashion, just two years earlier, the Islanders also became the first team to rally to win a best of five series after trailing two games to none; that series was against the same Washington Capitals.
Armed with that history, the Islanders staved off elimination, winning 4-2 in Game 5. Their momentum continued, and the New Yorkers took Game 6 on home ice, winning 5-4. This brought the Islanders and Capitals to a decisive Game 7, on Washington's home ice.
[edit] Game 7
The Islanders and Capitals began Game 7 in front of a national television audience watching on ESPN; this was the last game to be played in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, as each of the other seven series played that first round were already finished.
The game began shortly after 7:30 p.m. in the East. Although Game 7 is always something rare and exciting in any sport, no one in attendance nor watching at home at the start knew how special this particular one was.
The first period was dominated by the Capitals, but they were unable to break through with a goal until less than a minute remained, when sniper Mike Gartner beat Islander goaltender Kelly Hrudey to give the Capitals the lead after one period, 1-0.
Patrick Flatley tied the score at 1 midway through the second period, but Grant Martin responded for the Capitals, and after 2 periods, they led 2-1. Washington had outshot the Islanders to this point 25-10, and carried the play for most of the first forty minutes.
The game remained 2-1 through most of the third period, thanks to the strong efforts of both Hrudey and Washington netminder Bob Mason, until longtime Islander Bryan Trottier backhanded a shot between Mason's pads with just over 5 minutes remaining in regulation - thanks to a strap breaking on one of Mason's pads. A frantic final minutes produced no further scoring, and the game went into sudden death overtime. Little did anyone know that this game hadn't even reached its halfway point yet.
In the first overtime, many scoring chances were thwarted by Mason and Hrudey, and the game remained tied. Greg Smith of the Capitals had the best chance with seconds remaining, as his long range slap shot beat Hrudey, but caught the right post and bounced away.
As the game moved on into the second overtime, the players would begin to show their fatigue. Short bursts of action were replaced by longer and longer periods of slow play. Hrudey continued to shine, stopping 17 shots in the second overtime session alone; Mason contributed nine more saves and was aided by a shot that hit the post by Randy Wood.
This was now the first triple-overtime game in 16 years. Slowly, the Islanders began to finally take the play from the Capitals, and in the third overtime period, outshot the Capitals 11-10. They had the better chances as well, but Mason continued to shine as the game remained tied, now through 120 minutes of hockey.
With both teams weakened to the point of exhaustion, play was choppy through the first eight minutes of the fourth overtime, the seventh period total. The Capitals had managed only one shot to the Islanders' five. Finally, with eight minutes elapsed in the fourth overtime, Ken Leiter of the Islanders pinched in to keep the puck in the zone. He circled behind the net and fed Gord Dineen, whose shot was blocked in front of Mason. The deflection bounced to Islander star Pat LaFontaine, who had gone back to the blueline to cover for Leiter. He spun and launched a slapshot toward the net. Mason, screened on the play, never saw the puck as it clanged off the post behind him, into the net for the game winner. The then-fifth-longest game in NHL history was finally over. The Islanders, weary but jubilant, mobbed LaFontaine, and then their goalie, having completed the remarkable comeback in the longest game in either franchise's history, winning Game 7, 3-2.
[edit] Boxscore
April 18, 1987
New York Islanders Vs Washington Capitals
Patrick Division Semifinals, Game 7
Islanders 3, Capitals 2, 4OT
Islanders 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 3 Washington 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
First Period - 1,Wash. Gartner 4(Adams, Stevens) 19:12 Penalties- Konroyd, NYI 7:36. Kerr, NYI, Gould, Wash 19:51
Second Period - 2, NYI, Flatley 3(Konroyd, Trottier) 11:35 3, Wash, Martin 1(Adams, Murphy) 18:45 Penalties- Boyd, NYI, Blum, Wash 3:55. Gilbert, NYI, Kastelic, Wash., 6:04 Trottier, NYI, 14:58
Third Period- 4, NYI Trottier 5 (Kerr, Konroyd)14:37 Penalties- Martin, Wash 1:31, Diduck, NYI, Franceschetti, Wash 10:21 Sutter, NYI, Jensen, Wash 19:06
First Overtime- Scoring, None Penalties, None
Second Overtime- Scoring, None Penalties- Kerr, NYI, Stevens, Wash, 8:46 Flatley, NYI, Duchesne, Wash, 10:49. Adams, Wash, Misconduct, 16:47
Third Overtime- Scoring, None Penalties, None
Fourth Overtime- 5, NYI, LaFontaine 4 (Dineen, Leiter) 8:47 Penalties- None
Shots on Goal NYI 5-5-11-11-9-11-5--57 Wash 15-10-11-11-17-10-1--75
Goaltenders, NYI Hrudey, Wash. Mason Power Plays NYI 0-1, WAS 0-2 Attendance 18,130
[edit] Epilogue
The "Epic" concluded at 1:58 a.m. local time, 6 hours and 18 minutes after the first face-off. It was the longest game in the NHL in 45 years. Kelly Hrudey stopped an amazing 73 shots over the 7 periods, including 40 straight from the end of the second period on. Mason stopped 54 shots, including 36 from the end of regulation until LaFontaine beat him to end the marathon.
The Islanders had to regain their composure, as well as their strength, as they advanced to the Patrick Division Finals against a rested Philadelphia Flyers squad. They once again fell behind three games to one, and once again tied the series with consecutive victories. But there was no second miracle this season, as Philadelphia won Game 7 decisively, 5-1, and won the series, before eventually bowing out in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Edmonton Oilers. Back in 1975 the Flyers had also nearly surrendered a 3-1 series advantage to the Isles, but had gone on to win hockey's greatest prize.
