April 10, 1984: Game 5 of the NHL
Patrick Division Semifinals is held at the Nassau Coliseum. The New York Islanders
have won 5 straight Stanley Cups, and are now in the 1st round of
their "Drive for Five." But they have to play a series-decider against their
arch-rivals, the New York Rangers.
The 1st 2 games had been played on Long Island. The Isles won Game 1, 4-1. But the Rangers won Game 2, 3-0. The next 2 were held at Madison Square Garden, and the Rangers won Game 3, 7-2. After 2 periods in Game 4, the Rangers led, 1-0. But the dynasty wouldn't give up: The Islanders scored 4 goals in the 3rd period, and won, 4-1.
Ron Greschner had scored the winning goal for the Rangers in the 1979 Playoff decider between the teams, and he opened the scoring this time, too, at 12:06 of the 1st period. With 11 seconds to go, Mike Bossy tied the game. The 2nd period was scoreless. At 7:56 of the 3rd, Tomas Jonsson scored, and it looked like the Isles were moving on. But Don Maloney scored with 39 seconds left in regulation, and it went to overtime.
Ken Morrow had been part of the U.S. team that won the Gold Medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics, 305 miles away in Lake Placid, New York. He was drafted by the Islanders, and had been a key figure on all 4 Cup wins. At 8:56 of overtime in this game, he put a shot past Glen Hanlon, and the Islanders had won, 3-2. For at least one more round, the dynasty would live.
The Islanders went on to beat the Washington Capitals, 4 games to 1, to win the Patrick Division; and the Montreal Canadiens, 4 games to 2, to win the Prince of Wales Conference and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. But, after sweeping the rising Edmonton Oilers in the Finals the year before, the Drive for Five stalled: This time, Wayne Gretzky and company were just too much, and the Oilers won, 4 games to 1.
The Rangers finally broke their Stanley Cup drought in 1994, although they have only been to 1 Finals since then, and lost it. The Islanders should be so lucky: Since 1984, they have been to the Conference Finals 3 times, and lost all 3. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Devils have been to 5 Finals, winning 3 Cups.
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April 10, 1984 was a Tuesday. Singer and actress Mandy Moore was born on this day.
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, only 1 other Divisional Final series had yet to be decided when the night began. The Minnesota North Stars beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. They advanced to the Norris Division Finals, where they beat the St. Louis Blues, before falling to the Oilers in the Clarence Campbell Conference Finals.
The NBA was still in its regular season, and 9 games were played:
* The New Jersey Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 106-102 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands. Despite the Sixers being defending NBA Champions, and Moses Malone scoring 38 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in this game, this was a foreshadowing of the Playoffs. The Nets won, the only Playoff series they would win between 1976 and 2002.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Indiana Pacers, 100-98 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 96-95 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.
* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Kansas City Kings, 125-113 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City. Gus Williams scored 37 points.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat their arch-rivals, the Houston Rockets, 121-111 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. George Gervin scored 39 points.
* The Utah Jazz beat their arch-rivals, the Denver Nuggets, 135-120 at the Thomas & Mack Center in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. Rickey Green of the Jazz led all scorers on the day with 45 points. Adrian Dantley added 33. Kiki Vandeweghe led the Nuggets with 35.
This was 1 of 11 "home games" the Jazz would play at Thomas & Mack in the 1983-84 season. They played another 2 there near the start of the 1984 season. Only twice were there enough tickets sold to make opening the upper bowl necessary.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 100-88 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the San Diego Clippers, 116-114 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). Mark Aguirre scored 34 points for the Mavs. Terry Cummings scored 16 for the Clips. Two years earlier, they were teammates at DePaul University in Chicago.
The Clippers played just 1 more game in San Diego, 4 days later, a 146-128 win over the Jazz. The next season, they moved up the freeway to Los Angeles. This was the 2nd time San Diego had lost an NBA team. The league has never returned there.
* And the Golden State Warriors beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, 117-115 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Purvis Short scored 43 points.
Football was out of season. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. Phil Niekro, who had just turned 45, outpitched Frank Viola, who was about to turn 24. Willie Randolph hit a home run. Dave Winfield went 1-for-4. And Don Mattingly went 0-for-4.
* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Craig Swan was the winning pitcher. Darryl Strawberry and Hubie Brooks hit home runs.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. John Denny outpitches Nolan Ryan. Mike Schmidt hit a home run.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. George Brett did not play. Cal Ripken Jr. hit 2 home runs, and Eddie Murray went 2-for-3 with a walk.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 8-6 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs for the Expos, against his once-and-future team.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 5-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
* The San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-4.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the California Angels, 10-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Robin Yount hit a home run. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4, and Rod Carew went 0-for-4.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Luis Leal goes 6 2/3rds innings, allowing 3 hits. Roy Lee Jackson finishes the shutout, allowing no other hits. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and a stolen base.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
* The Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
* And the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers were not scheduled.
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