1975–76 New York Islanders season

1975–76 New York Islanders
Division	2nd Patrick
Conference	2nd Campbell
1975–76 record	42–21–17
Home record	24–8–8
Road record	18–13–9
Goals for	297
Goals against	190
Team information
General manager	Bill Torrey
Coach	Al Arbour
Captain	Ed Westfall
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Nassau Coliseum
Team leaders
Goals	Clark Gillies (34)
Assists	Denis Potvin (67)
Points	Denis Potvin (98)
Penalty minutes	Garry Howatt (197)
Wins	Chico Resch (23)
Goals against average	Chico Resch (2.61)
←  1974–75 1976–77  →

The 1975–76 New York Islanders season was the fourth season for the franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Regular season

Final standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Philadelphia Flyers	80	51	13	16	348	209	118
New York Islanders	80	42	21	17	297	190	101
Atlanta Flames	80	35	33	12	262	237	82
New York Rangers	80	29	42	9	262	333	67

^[1]

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Patrick Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference Vs. Wales Conference Vs. Patrick Division 1975–76 NHL records Team ATL NYI NYR PHI Total Atlanta — 1–1–4 3–2–1 1–4–1 5–7–6 N.Y. Islanders 1–1–4 — 4–2 4–2 9–5–4 N.Y. Rangers 2–3–1 2–4 — 1–5 5–12–1 Philadelphia 4–1–1 2–4 5–1 — 11–6–1 Vs. Smythe Division 1975–76 NHL records Team CHI KCS MIN STL VAN Total Atlanta 2–2–1 5–0 4–1 1–3–1 3–0–2 15–6–4 N.Y. Islanders 3–1–1 2–0–3 4–1 4–0–1 0–3–2 13–5–7 N.Y. Rangers 2–0–3 4–1 4–1 3–2 3–1–1 16–5–4 Philadelphia 2–1–2 5–0 3–0–2 3–1–1 4–0–1 17–2–6 Vs. Adams Division 1975–76 NHL records Team BOS BUF CAL TOR Total Atlanta 2–3 1–2–1 3–1 2–2 8–8–1 N.Y. Islanders 0–2–2 2–2 3–1 3–1–1 8–6–3 N.Y. Rangers 1–3 0–2–3 1–3 0–4 2–12–3 Philadelphia 1–2–1 3–0–1 4–0–1 3–0–1 11–2–4 Vs. Norris Division 1975–76 NHL records [2] Team DET LAK MTL PIT WSH Total Atlanta 1–3 1–3 0–4 1–2–1 4–0 7–12–1 N.Y. Islanders 3–1 2–1–1 1–2–1 2–1–1 4–0 12–5–3 N.Y. Rangers 3–1 0–4 0–3–1 1–3 2–2 6–13–1 Philadelphia 2–2 2–0–2 2–1–1 3–0–1 3–0–1 12–3–5

Schedule and results

1975–76 regular season [3]
October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 1 T October 8, 1975 1–1 @ Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) 0–0–1 2 W October 11, 1975 7–0 Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) 1–0–1 3 T October 12, 1975 3–3 @ Boston Bruins (1975–76) 1–0–2 4 W October 14, 1975 5–3 Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) 2–0–2 5 W October 17, 1975 2–0 @ Atlanta Flames (1975–76) 3–0–2 6 L October 18, 1975 2–5 Boston Bruins (1975–76) 3–1–2 7 T October 21, 1975 5–5 Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) 3–1–3 8 W October 23, 1975 3–0 Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) 4–1–3 9 W October 25, 1975 7–1 New York Rangers (1975–76) 5–1–3 10 T October 27, 1975 4–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) 5–1–4
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 11 W November 1, 1975 7–3 Washington Capitals (1975–76) 6–1–4 12 W November 4, 1975 5–3 California Golden Seals (1975–76) 7–1–4 13 L November 5, 1975 6–7 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) 7–2–4 14 W November 8, 1975 4–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) 8–2–4 15 L November 12, 1975 1–5 @ California Golden Seals (1975–76) 8–3–4 16 L November 13, 1975 3–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) 8–4–4 17 L November 15, 1975 3–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) 8–5–4 18 L November 18, 1975 1–3 Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) 8–6–4 19 T November 20, 1975 2–2 @ Boston Bruins (1975–76) 8–6–5 20 W November 22, 1975 5–2 Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) 9–6–5 21 W November 26, 1975 9–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) 10–6–5 22 L November 27, 1975 1–2 Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) 10–7–5 23 W November 29, 1975 8–2 St. Louis Blues (1975–76) 11–7–5 24 L November 30, 1975 2–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) 11–8–5
December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 25 W December 2, 1975 4–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1975–76) 12–8–5 26 W December 4, 1975 6–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) 13–8–5 27 L December 6, 1975 2–4 Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) 13–9–5 28 W December 7, 1975 3–0 @ Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) 14–9–5 29 W December 9, 1975 6–0 Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) 15–9–5 30 T December 12, 1975 3–3 @ Atlanta Flames (1975–76) 15–9–6 31 W December 13, 1975 5–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) 16–9–6 32 W December 17, 1975 3–0 @ New York Rangers (1975–76) 17–9–6 33 W December 18, 1975 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) 18–9–6 34 W December 20, 1975 7–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1975–76) 19–9–6 35 L December 21, 1975 2–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) 19–10–6 36 W December 30, 1975 6–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) 20–10–6
January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 37 T January 3, 1976 1–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) 20–10–7 38 L January 4, 1976 3–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) 20–11–7 39 W January 6, 1976 8–1 Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) 21–11–7 40 L January 8, 1976 3–5 Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) 21–12–7 41 W January 13, 1976 1–0 Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) 22–12–7 42 T January 17, 1976 2–2 Atlanta Flames (1975–76) 22–12–8 43 W January 21, 1976 5–2 @ Washington Capitals (1975–76) 23–12–8 44 W January 22, 1976 8–1 Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) 24–12–8 45 W January 24, 1976 5–0 Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) 25–12–8 46 W January 27, 1976 4–3 Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) 26–12–8 47 W January 28, 1976 3–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) 27–12–8 48 T January 31, 1976 2–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1975–76) 27–12–9
February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 49 T February 3, 1976 2–2 Atlanta Flames (1975–76) 27–12–10 50 W February 4, 1976 6–5 @ New York Rangers (1975–76) 28–12–10 51 L February 6, 1976 3–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) 28–13–10 52 L February 8, 1976 2–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) 28–14–10 53 L February 10, 1976 2–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) 28–15–10 54 T February 12, 1976 2–2 @ Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) 28–15–11 55 T February 14, 1976 4–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) 28–15–12 56 W February 15, 1976 3–1 @ Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) 29–15–12 57 L February 17, 1976 1–3 New York Rangers (1975–76) 29–16–12 58 W February 18, 1976 5–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) 30–16–12 59 L February 21, 1976 1–2 Boston Bruins (1975–76) 30–17–12 60 W February 22, 1976 4–0 @ Washington Capitals (1975–76) 31–17–12 61 W February 24, 1976 7–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) 32–17–12 62 T February 26, 1976 2–2 Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) 32–17–13 63 W February 28, 1976 4–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) 33–17–13
March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 64 W March 2, 1976 2–1 California Golden Seals (1975–76) 34–17–13 65 T March 4, 1976 3–3 Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) 34–17–14 66 W March 6, 1976 6–3 Washington Capitals (1975–76) 35–17–14 67 W March 7, 1976 5–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) 36–17–14 68 W March 9, 1976 4–0 St. Louis Blues (1975–76) 37–17–14 69 T March 13, 1976 2–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) 37–17–15 70 W March 14, 1976 5–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) 38–17–15 71 L March 16, 1976 1–3 Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) 38–18–15 72 W March 20, 1976 4–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) 39–18–15 73 L March 23, 1976 2–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) 39–19–15 74 T March 24, 1976 1–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) 39–19–16 75 W March 26, 1976 3–2 @ California Golden Seals (1975–76) 40–19–16 76 W March 29, 1976 5–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) 41–19–16 77 L March 31, 1976 1–3 @ New York Rangers (1975–76) 41–20–16
April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 78 T April 1, 1976 1–1 Atlanta Flames (1975–76) 41–20–17 79 W April 3, 1976 10–2 New York Rangers (1975–76) 42–20–17 80 L April 4, 1976 2–5 @ Atlanta Flames (1975–76) 42–21–17
Legend:   Win (2 points)  Loss (0 points)  Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

The Islanders continued to show growth in the playoffs defeating the Vancouver Canucks in the preliminary round and the favored Buffalo Sabres in 6 games in the second round. The Islanders fell to the vastly superior Montreal Canadiens team that won 58 games that year and only lost one time in the entire playoffs. That one time was in Game 4 of the semi-finals, when they fell to the Islanders 5–2. The playoff run was generally viewed as a success since the Islanders had won 2 playoff series, and lost to the eventual champions. Additionally, the Isles still possessed a young core with players whom were still improving.

Round 1 vs. Vancouver

April 6

Vancouver Canucks

3–5

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

April 8

New York Islanders

3–1

Vancouver Canucks

Pacific Coliseum

New York won series 2–0

Round 2 vs. Buffalo

April 11

New York Islanders

3–5

Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Memorial Auditorium

April 13

New York Islanders

2–3

OT

Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Memorial Auditorium

April 15

Buffalo Sabres

3–5

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

April 17

Buffalo Sabres

2–4

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

April 20

New York Islanders

4–3

Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Memorial Auditorium

April 22

Buffalo Sabres

2–3

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

New York won series 4–2

Round 3 vs. Montreal

April 27

New York Islanders

2–3

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Forum

April 29

New York Islanders

3–4

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Forum

May 1

Montreal Canadiens

3–2

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

May 4

Montreal Canadiens

2–5

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

May 6

New York Islanders

2–5

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Forum

Montreal won series 4–1

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Denis Potvin D 78 31 67 98 100 12 18 0 4 Bryan Trottier C 80 32 63 95 21 28 11 1 5 Jean Potvin D 78 17 55 72 74 16 9 1 2 Billy Harris RW 80 32 38 70 54 22 16 0 4 Jude Drouin C 76 21 41 62 58 18 10 0 2 Clark Gillies LW 80 34 27 61 96 20 15 0 6 J.P. Parise LW 80 22 35 57 80 12 5 2 4 Ed Westfall D/RW 80 25 31 56 27 17 6 2 3 Bob Nystrom RW 80 23 25 48 106 24 2 0 4 Garry Howatt LW 80 21 13 34 197 26 0 0 2 Andre St. Laurent C 67 9 17 26 56 14 0 0 2 Gerry Hart D 80 6 18 24 151 35 0 0 0 Dave Lewis D 73 0 19 19 54 29 0 0 0 Lorne Henning C 80 7 10 17 16 6 0 4 0 Billy MacMillan RW 64 9 7 16 10 5 0 0 2 Bert Marshall D 71 0 16 16 72 37 0 0 0 Ralph Stewart C 31 6 7 13 2 3 0 1 1 Bob Bourne C 14 2 3 5 13 −2 0 0 1 Dave Fortier D 59 0 2 2 68 9 0 0 0 Pat Price D 4 0 2 2 2 4 0 0 0 Chico Resch G 44 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Billy Smith G 39 0 1 1 10 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Chico Resch 2546 44 23 11 8 88 2.07 7 Billy Smith 2254 39 19 10 9 98 2.61 3 Team: 4800 80 42 21 17 186 2.33 10

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Denis Potvin D 13 5 14 19 32 2 0 1 Jude Drouin C 13 6 9 15 0 1 0 1 Garry Howatt LW 13 5 5 10 23 0 0 1 J.P. Parise LW 13 4 6 10 10 1 0 0 Bob Nystrom RW 13 3 6 9 30 1 0 0 Bryan Trottier C 13 1 7 8 8 0 0 0 Billy Harris RW 13 5 2 7 10 1 0 0 Billy MacMillan RW 13 4 2 6 8 0 0 2 Clark Gillies LW 13 2 4 6 16 0 0 1 Andre St. Laurent C 13 1 5 6 15 0 0 0 Ed Westfall D/RW 8 2 3 5 0 1 0 0 Gerry Hart D 13 1 3 4 24 0 0 0 Bert Marshall D 13 1 3 4 12 0 0 1 Lorne Henning C 13 2 0 2 2 1 1 0 Ralph Stewart C 6 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 Dave Lewis D 13 0 1 1 44 0 0 0 Jean Potvin D 13 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 Dave Fortier D 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Glenn Resch G 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Billy Smith G 8 0 0 0 11 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Billy Smith 437 8 4 3 21 2.88 0 Chico Resch 357 7 3 3 18 3.03 0 Team: 794 13 7 6 39 2.95 0

^[4]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Draft picks

Below are the selections of the 1975 NHL amateur draft:

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
11	Pat Price	Defence	Canada	New York Islanders	Vancouver Blazers (WHA)
29	Dave Salvian	Left wing	Canada	New York Islanders	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OMJHL)
47	Joe Fortunato	Left wing	Canada	New York Islanders	Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
65	Andre Lepage	Goaltender	Canada	New York Islanders	Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL)
83	Denny McLean	Left wing	Canada	New York Islanders	Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
101	Mike Sleep	Right wing	Canada	New York Islanders	New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
119	Richie Hansen	Centre	United States	New York Islanders	Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
137	Bob Sunderland	Defence	United States	New York Islanders	Boston University (ECAC)
153	Dan Blair	Right wing	Canada	New York Islanders	Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
168	Joey Girardin	Defence	Canada	New York Islanders	Winnipeg Clubs (WCHL)
183	Geoff Green	Right wing	Canada	New York Islanders	Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
194	Kari Makkonen	Right wing	Finland	New York Islanders	Pori (Finland)
Reference: "1975 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com" . Retrieved September 12, 2013.

See also

• 1975–76 NHL season

References

1. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN   9781894801225.
2. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
3. "1975-76 New York Islanders Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
4. "1975-76 New York Islanders Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved July 27, 2009.