April 18, 1987: The 1st Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs comes to a stunning end at the Capital Centre in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Landover, Maryland.
The New York Islanders had come into the NHL in 1972, and were a Playoff team by 1975. From 1980 to 1983, they won 4 straight Stanley Cups, and reached a 5th straight Finals in 1984. In 1987, they were beginning to show their age, as they finished 3rd in the Lester Patrick Division.
Finishing 2nd in that Division, making them the Isles' 1st Round opponents under the format of the time, were the Washington Capitals. An expansion franchise in 1974, they got off to a terrible start, and didn't make the Playoffs until 1983, losing their 1st-ever series to the Islanders. They beat the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1st Round in 1984, but lost the next round to the Islanders. They lost to the Islanders again in 1985. In 1986, they beat the Islanders, but lost the Patrick Division Final to the New York Rangers.
They faced each other again in the 1st Round in 1987. The Caps won Game 1, but the Isles won Game 2 to gain themselves a split at the Cap Centre. The Caps took home-ice advantage right back, winning Games 3 and 4 at the Nassau Coliseum in Hempstead, New York. (The mailing address is Uniondale, but it's in the Town of Hempstead.) The days of the Coliseum being known as "Fort Neverlose" were over. But the Isles won Game 5 in Landover and Game 6 in Hempstead.
And so, Game 7 was set for 7:30 PM on Saturday night at the Cap Centre, the night before Easter. ESPN broadcast the game in America, and CBC did so in Canada. And because of market-protection rules, the game was blacked out in both markets, the New York Tri-State Area and D.C.-Baltimore, the biggest and 5th-biggest markets in the country. So locals who wanted to watch it had to settle for listening to it on the radio. But everybody else in North America was watching, as all the other 1st Round series had already been won.
With just 1 minute left in the 1st period, Mike Gartner scored to put the Caps up 1-0. Midway through the 2nd period a goal by the Isles' Patrick Flatley was quickly followed by one by the Caps' Grant Martin. At the end of 2 periods, it was 2-1 Washington.
The rest of the way, Kelly Hrudey of the Islanders and Bob Mason of the Capitals put on a goaltending clinic. With 5 minutes left in regulation, Isles legend Bryan Trottier scored to tie the game. The game was over -- and yet, it was not over. As it turned out, it was not even half-over.
Whereas, at the time, NHL rules for the regular season stipulated a single 5-minute overtime period, and then the game would go into the books as a tie -- this was changed with the institution of the shootout for the 2005-06 season -- for the Playoffs, all overtime periods have always been the same length as a regular period, 20 minutes.
In the last seconds of the 1st overtime, Greg Smith of the Capitals hit the post with a shot. The game went to a 2nd overtime. Hrudey stopped 17 shots in this period, Mason 9, and the Caps got a reprieve when the Isles' Randy Wood hit the post.
Not since 1971 had a Stanley Cup Playoff game gone to a 3rd overtime. The players were already tired, but the Islanders managed 11 shots in the 20 minutes, the Capitals 10. None went in. The equivalent of 2 full games had now been played, with no result, and not much rest.
Not since 1951 had a Stanley Cup Playoff game gone to a 4th overtime. This one did. It was now past midnight on the East Coast, Sunday. Easter Sunday.
In the 9th minute of the 4th overtime, Ken Leiter carried the puck into the Capitals' zone, and passed it to Gord Dineen. He tried a shot, but Mason deflected it. It reached Pat LaFontaine, and he fired a shot. Mason was screened on the play, and he never saw the puck. At 8:47 of the 4th overtime -- 128:47 overall, then the 5th-longest game in NHL history, and the longest since 1943, it was Islanders 3, Capitals 2.
This remains the longest game in New York Tri-State Area hockey history. The New York Rangers lost a 1930 Playoff game to the Montreal Canadiens, and the New Jersey Devils lost a 1994 Playoff game to the Buffalo Sabres; each of these went to a 4th overtime, but it didn't last as long as this one.
The game became known as the Easter Epic, and was the last gasp of the old Islander dynasty. Butch Goring had already retired in 1985; Clark Gillies, Bobby Nystrom and John Tonelli in 1986. The Islanders gave it all they had in the Patrick Division Finals, but lost to the Philadelphia Flyers. Mike Bossy then retired, too soon, due to a bad back. Denis Potvin lasted 1 more season; Billy Smith, 1 after that; and Trottier, 1 after that.
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April 18, 1987 was a Saturday. This was the only Stanley Cup Playoff game played on this day. There were 7 regular-season NBA games played:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 122-113 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers, 112-103 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons, 124-110 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena (a.k.a. The MECCA).
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings, 125-121 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Houston Rockets, 126-117 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 121-106 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 132-127 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
There was a full slate of Major League Baseball games played that day:
* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-6 at Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers blew a 6-2 lead in the 9th inning, but won the game anyway when Mike Pagliarulo drew a walk with the bases loaded.
* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-8 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Tommy Herr hit a walkoff grand slam against Jesse Orosco in the bottom of the 10th.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 16-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-4 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-6 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Mike Schmidt of the Phillies hit the 500th home run of his career. He would finish with 548.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 8-0 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Bill Gullickson pitched a 4-hit shutout.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Texas Rangers, 4-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 5-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.
* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 1-0 at Anaheim Stadium. (It was renamed Edison Field in 1987, and Angel Stadium in 2004.)
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 2-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Will Clark won it with an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-5 at the Kingdome in Seattle. They did this in spite of Reggie Jackson going 0-for-3.
Also, Arsenal went to South London, and beat Wimbledon FC 2-1 at Plough Lane.
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