1986–87 New York Islanders season

1986–87 New York Islanders
Division	3rd Patrick
Conference	6th Wales
1986–87 record	35–33–12
Home record	20–15–5
Road record	15–18–7
Goals for	279
Goals against	281
Team information
General manager	Bill Torrey
Coach	Terry Simpson
Captain	Denis Potvin
Alternate captains	Brent Sutter Bryan Trottier
Arena	Nassau Coliseum
Team leaders
Goals	Mike Bossy, Pat LaFontaine (38)
Assists	Bryan Trottier (64)
Points	Bryan Trottier (87)
Penalty minutes	Brian Curran (356)
Wins	Kelly Hrudey (21)
Goals against average	Kelly Hrudey (3.30)
←  1985–86 1987–88  →

The 1986–87 New York Islanders season was the 15th season for the franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Offseason

See also: 1986 NHL Entry Draft

NHL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	17	Tom Fitzgerald	United States	Austin Prep (Massachusetts)
2	38	Dennis Vaske	United States	Plymouth Armstrong H.S. (Minn.)
3	59	Bill Berg	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHL)
4	80	Shawn Byram	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
5	101	Dean Sexsmith	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
5	104	Todd McLellan	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
6	122	Tony Schmalzbauer	United States	Hill-Murray School (USHS-MN)
7	138	Will Andersen	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WHL)
7	143	Rich Pilon	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
8	164	Peter Harris	United States	Haverhill High School (MIAA)
9	185	Jeff Jablonski	United States	London Diamonds (WOJBHL)
10	206	Kerry Clark	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
11	227	Dan Beaudette	United States	Saint Thomas Academy (USHS-MN)
12	248	Paul Thompson	Canada	Northern Manitoba AAA All-Stars (MAAAMHL)
S2	20	Gary Kruzich	United States	Bowling Green State University (CCHA)

^[1]

Regular season

Season standings

Patrick Division ^[2]

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Philadelphia Flyers	80	46	26	8	310	245	100
Washington Capitals	80	38	32	10	285	278	86
New York Islanders	80	35	33	12	279	281	82
New York Rangers	80	34	38	8	307	323	76
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	30	38	12	297	290	72
New Jersey Devils	80	29	45	6	293	368	64

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. Wales Conference Vs. Patrick Division 1986–87 NHL records [3] Team NJD NYI NYR PHI PIT WSH Total New Jersey — 2–5 4–3 2–4–1 4–3 1–6 13–21–1 N.Y. Islanders 5–2 — 3–3–1 3–4 5–0–2 2–3–2 18–12–2 N.Y. Rangers 3–4 3–3–1 — 4–3 3–2–2 4–3 17–15–3 Philadelphia 4–2–1 4–3 3–4 — 4–1–2 5–1–1 20–11–4 Pittsburgh 3–4 0–5–2 2–3–2 1–4–2 — 4–3 10–19–6 Washington 6–1 3–2–2 3–4 1–5–1 3–4 — 16–16–3 Vs. Adams Division 1986–87 NHL records Team BOS BUF HFD MTL QUE Total New Jersey 1–1–1 1–2 1–1–1 1–2 0–1–2 4–7–4 N.Y. Islanders 0–2–1 1–1–1 1–2 1–1–1 2–1 5–7–3 N.Y. Rangers 2–1 2–1 0–3 0–2–1 2–1 6–8–1 Philadelphia 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–0–1 2–0–1 9–4–2 Pittsburgh 1–2 2–0–1 0–3 1–1–1 3–0 7–6–2 Washington 1–1–1 1–2 1–2 3–0 0–2–1 6–7–2 Vs. Campbell Conference Vs. Norris Division 1986–87 NHL records Team CHI DET MIN STL TOR Total New Jersey 1–2 2–1 1–2 2–1 1–2 7–8–0 N.Y. Islanders 1–2 2–1 3–0 1–1–1 2–1 9–5–1 N.Y. Rangers 1–1–1 1–2 1–1–1 1–2 1–1–1 5–7–3 Philadelphia 2–0–1 2–1 1–2 3–0 1–1–1 9–4–2 Pittsburgh 2–1 1–2 3–0 1–0–2 1–2 8–5–2 Washington 1–1–1 2–0–1 2–0–1 2–0–1 2–1 9–2–4 Vs. Smythe Division 1986–87 NHL records Team CGY EDM LAK VAN WIN Total New Jersey 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–0–1 0–3 5–9–1 N.Y. Islanders 0–2–1 0–2–1 1–2 1–2 1–1–1 3–9–2 N.Y. Rangers 1–2 0–3 2–0–1 2–1 1–2 6–8–1 Philadelphia 1–2 2–1 1–2 2–1 2–1 8–7–0 Pittsburgh 1–2 1–2 1–2 1–0–2 1–2 5–8–2 Washington 1–2 2–1 0–3 3–0 1–1–1 7–7–1

Schedule and results

1986–87 regular season [4]
October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 1 L October 9, 1986 2–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87) 0–1–0 2 L October 11, 1986 4–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1986–87) 0–2–0 3 W October 16, 1986 7–4 Washington Capitals (1986–87) 1–2–0 4 L October 18, 1986 2–3 New York Rangers (1986–87) 1–3–0 5 T October 19, 1986 2–2 OT @ New York Rangers (1986–87) 1–3–1 6 W October 21, 1986 6–3 New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 2–3–1 7 W October 25, 1986 4–3 Los Angeles Kings (1986–87) 3–3–1 8 W October 28, 1986 2–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 4–3–1 9 L October 30, 1986 6–7 OT @ New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 4–4–1
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 10 W November 1, 1986 7–4 Winnipeg Jets (1986–87) 5–4–1 11 W November 4, 1986 7–1 Washington Capitals (1986–87) 6–4–1 12 L November 5, 1986 2–3 @ Hartford Whalers (1986–87) 6–5–1 13 W November 8, 1986 2–1 OT Detroit Red Wings (1986–87) 7–5–1 14 W November 9, 1986 4–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1986–87) 8–5–1 15 L November 11, 1986 2–3 OT Edmonton Oilers (1986–87) 8–6–1 16 W November 15, 1986 7–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1986–87) 9–6–1 17 L November 16, 1986 1–3 @ Winnipeg Jets (1986–87) 9–7–1 18 W November 18, 1986 4–3 OT @ Quebec Nordiques (1986–87) 10–7–1 19 W November 20, 1986 6–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87) 11–7–1 20 L November 22, 1986 3–6 Hartford Whalers (1986–87) 11–8–1 21 W November 25, 1986 5–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 12–8–1 22 W November 26, 1986 3–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 13–8–1 23 L November 29, 1986 5–6 Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 13–9–1
December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 24 T December 2, 1986 3–3 OT @ Calgary Flames (1986–87) 13–9–2 25 L December 3, 1986 1–7 @ Edmonton Oilers (1986–87) 13–10–2 26 W December 5, 1986 4–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1986–87) 14–10–2 27 L December 7, 1986 1–3 @ Boston Bruins (1986–87) 14–11–2 28 L December 9, 1986 2–7 Los Angeles Kings (1986–87) 14–12–2 29 W December 11, 1986 8–4 @ New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 15–12–2 30 W December 13, 1986 4–2 New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 16–12–2 31 W December 16, 1986 4–2 Minnesota North Stars (1986–87) 17–12–2 32 L December 18, 1986 4–9 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 17–13–2 33 W December 20, 1986 5–2 New York Rangers (1986–87) 18–13–2 34 W December 23, 1986 4–3 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 19–13–2 35 L December 26, 1986 1–2 @ Washington Capitals (1986–87) 19–14–2 36 T December 27, 1986 3–3 OT @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 19–14–3 37 L December 30, 1986 3–5 Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87) 19–15–3 38 L December 31, 1986 3–4 OT @ New York Rangers (1986–87) 19–16–3
January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 39 L January 3, 1987 4–5 Boston Bruins (1986–87) 19–17–3 40 W January 6, 1987 5–3 Minnesota North Stars (1986–87) 20–17–3 41 W January 9, 1987 2–1 @ New York Rangers (1986–87) 21–17–3 42 W January 10, 1987 3–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87) 22–17–3 43 T January 13, 1987 3–3 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 22–17–4 44 L January 15, 1987 2–3 Washington Capitals (1986–87) 22–18–4 45 L January 17, 1987 2–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 22–19–4 46 W January 18, 1987 3–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 23–19–4 47 L January 20, 1987 1–3 Calgary Flames (1986–87) 23–20–4 48 L January 21, 1987 5–8 @ Detroit Red Wings (1986–87) 23–21–4 49 W January 24, 1987 2–1 OT @ Quebec Nordiques (1986–87) 24–21–4 50 T January 27, 1987 2–2 OT Winnipeg Jets (1986–87) 24–21–5 51 T January 30, 1987 3–3 OT @ Washington Capitals (1986–87) 24–21–6 52 W January 31, 1987 4–2 Hartford Whalers (1986–87) 25–21–6
February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 53 L February 4, 1987 1–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1986–87) 25–22–6 54 T February 6, 1987 3–3 OT @ Edmonton Oilers (1986–87) 25–22–7 55 L February 7, 1987 1–4 @ Calgary Flames (1986–87) 25–23–7 56 L February 14, 1987 1–5 Buffalo Sabres (1986–87) 25–24–7 57 L February 17, 1987 2–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 25–25–7 58 T February 18, 1987 1–1 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1986–87) 25–25–8 59 W February 21, 1987 6–5 Montreal Canadiens (1986–87) 26–25–8 60 W February 22, 1987 7–0 @ New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 27–25–8 61 L February 24, 1987 2–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1986–87) 27–26–8 62 W February 26, 1987 5–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 28–26–8 63 T February 28, 1987 3–3 OT St. Louis Blues (1986–87) 28–26–9
March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 64 T March 3, 1987 4–4 OT Boston Bruins (1986–87) 28–26–10 65 L March 4, 1987 5–7 @ New York Rangers (1986–87) 28–27–10 66 L March 7, 1987 2–7 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87) 28–28–10 67 W March 8, 1987 6–5 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87) 29–28–10 68 W March 10, 1987 6–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 30–28–10 69 L March 13, 1987 1–4 @ New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 30–29–10 70 W March 14, 1987 7–6 OT New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 31–29–10 71 L March 16, 1987 0–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1986–87) 31–30–10 72 W March 19, 1987 3–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1986–87) 32–30–10 73 W March 21, 1987 4–3 New York Rangers (1986–87) 33–30–10 74 L March 24, 1987 1–3 Washington Capitals (1986–87) 33–31–10 75 L March 26, 1987 2–5 Vancouver Canucks (1986–87) 33–32–10 76 T March 27, 1987 2–2 OT @ Washington Capitals (1986–87) 33–32–11 77 W March 31, 1987 4–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1986–87) 34–32–11
April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 78 L April 2, 1987 1–4 Quebec Nordiques (1986–87) 34–33–11 79 T April 4, 1987 6–6 OT Buffalo Sabres (1986–87) 34–33–12 80 W April 5, 1987 9–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 35–33–12
Legend:   Win (2 points)  Loss (0 points)  Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

Round 1: New York Islanders (3) vs. Washington Capitals (2)

See also: Easter Epic

The Easter Epic ^[5] is the nickname given to a 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 where Pat Lafontaine scored the overtime series winning goal.

April 8

New York Islanders

3–4

Washington Capitals

Capital Centre

April 9

New York Islanders

3–1

Washington Capitals

Capital Centre

April 11

Washington Capitals

2–0

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

April 12

Washington Capitals

4–1

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

April 14

New York Islanders

4–2

Washington Capitals

Capital Centre

April 16

Washington Capitals

4–5

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

April 18

New York Islanders

3–2

4OT

Washington Capitals

Capital Centre

New York won series 4–3

Round 2: New York Islanders (3) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (1)

April 20

New York Islanders

2–4

Philadelphia Flyers

Spectrum

April 22

New York Islanders

2–1

Philadelphia Flyers

Spectrum

April 24

Philadelphia Flyers

4–1

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

April 26

Philadelphia Flyers

6–4

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

April 28

New York Islanders

2–1

Philadelphia Flyers

Spectrum

April 30

Philadelphia Flyers

2–4

New York Islanders

Nassau Coliseum

May 2

New York Islanders

1–5

Philadelphia Flyers

Spectrum

Philadelphia won series 4–3

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Bryan Trottier C 80 23 64 87 50 3 13 0 1 Mike Bossy RW 63 38 37 75 33 -7 8 1 5 Pat LaFontaine C 80 38 32 70 70 -10 19 1 6 Brent Sutter C 69 27 36 63 73 23 6 3 8 Mikko Makela RW 80 24 33 57 24 3 11 0 3 Pat Flatley RW 63 16 35 51 81 17 6 0 4 Denis Potvin D 58 12 30 42 70 -6 8 0 1 Duane Sutter RW 80 14 17 31 169 1 1 0 1 Tomas Jonsson D 47 6 25 31 36 -8 1 1 0 Richard Kromm LW 70 12 17 29 20 2 0 0 0 Ken Leiter D 74 9 20 29 30 2 4 0 0 Randy Boyd D 30 7 17 24 37 0 3 1 0 Brad Lauer LW 61 7 14 21 65 0 1 0 1 Steve Konroyd D 72 5 16 21 70 -4 3 0 0 Bob Bassen C 77 7 10 17 89 -17 0 0 1 Alan Kerr RW 72 7 10 17 175 -10 0 1 1 Gord Dineen D 71 4 10 14 110 -8 0 0 0 Greg Gilbert LW 51 6 7 13 26 -12 0 0 0 Ken Morrow D 64 3 8 11 32 7 0 0 0 Ari Haanpaa LW 41 6 4 10 17 8 0 0 3 Brian Curran D 68 0 10 10 356 3 0 0 0 Dale Henry LW 19 3 3 6 46 2 0 0 0 Gerald Diduck D 30 2 3 5 67 -3 0 0 0 Neal Coulter RW 9 2 1 3 7 -2 0 0 0 Billy Smith G 40 0 2 2 37 0 0 0 0 Randy Wood LW/C 6 1 0 1 4 -1 0 0 0 Mark Hamway RW 2 0 1 1 0 -1 0 0 0 Kelly Hrudey G 46 0 1 1 37 0 0 0 0 Derek King LW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Kelly Hrudey 2634 46 21 15 7 145 3.30 0 1219 1074 .881 Billy Smith 2252 40 14 18 5 132 3.52 1 1007 875 .869 Team: 4886 80 35 33 12 277 3.40 1 2226 1949 .876

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Bryan Trottier C 14 8 5 13 12 -6 3 0 2 Pat LaFontaine C 14 5 7 12 10 -6 1 0 2 Mikko Makela RW 11 2 4 6 8 -4 1 0 1 Pat Flatley RW 11 3 2 5 6 -2 0 0 0 Mike Bossy RW 6 2 3 5 0 -2 2 0 0 Tomas Jonsson D 10 1 4 5 6 2 1 0 0 Alan Kerr RW 14 1 4 5 25 -1 0 0 0 Steve Konroyd D 14 1 4 5 10 4 0 0 0 Ken Leiter D 11 0 5 5 6 -2 0 0 0 Greg Gilbert LW 10 2 2 4 6 3 0 0 1 Denis Potvin D 10 2 2 4 21 -7 1 0 0 Richard Kromm LW 14 1 3 4 4 0 0 0 0 Ken Morrow D 13 1 3 4 2 -6 0 0 0 Randy Wood LW/C 13 1 3 4 14 0 0 0 1 Gord Dineen D 7 0 4 4 4 4 0 0 0 Bob Bassen C 14 1 2 3 21 2 0 0 0 Brad Lauer LW 6 2 0 2 4 1 0 0 0 Brent Sutter C 5 1 0 1 4 -4 1 0 0 Duane Sutter RW 14 1 0 1 26 -3 0 0 0 Randy Boyd D 4 0 1 1 6 -2 0 0 0 Brad Dalgarno RW 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Gerald Diduck D 14 0 1 1 35 -7 0 0 0 Brian Curran D 8 0 0 0 51 -4 0 0 0 Ari Haanpaa LW 6 0 0 0 10 -1 0 0 0 Dale Henry LW 8 0 0 0 2 -5 0 0 0 Kelly Hrudey G 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Billy Smith G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Kelly Hrudey 842 14 7 7 38 2.71 0 464 426 .918 Billy Smith 67 2 0 0 1 0.90 0 22 21 .955 Team: 909 14 7 7 39 2.57 0 486 447 .920

^[6]

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; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

References

1. "1986 NHL Entry Draft". hockeydb.com.
2. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN   9781894801225.
3. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
4. "1986-87 New York Islanders Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
5. Kara Yorio (April 17, 2007). "Two overtimes in the playoffs would be plenty". The Sporting News. Archived from the original on May 29, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2009. Anyone around for the 1987 Easter Epic between the Islanders and Capitals (an extra 68:47 of hockey that holiday) has a story to tell.
6. "1986-87 New York Islanders Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved July 27, 2009.