Much like the team that went on that surprise run 27 years ago, the current Islanders, who are the No. 6 seed in the East, have exceeded expectations, knocking off the No. 3 seed Washington Capitals in the first round and the No. 1 seed Flyers in the second round after defeating the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.
The Islanders play Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the No. 2 seed Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS) at Rogers Place in Edmonton, the hub city for the conference finals and the Stanley Cup Final.
“I actually have a feeling they’re going to win the Cup,” said Rich Pilon, a defenseman on the 1992-93 team. “It’s not necessarily the best players that win championships, it’s the best team.”
The Islanders didn’t win the Cup in 1993, but their run was memorable nonetheless following a third-place finish in the Patrick Division. Holding a 3-2 lead in their best-of-7 series against the Capitals in the first round, center Pierre Turgeon, New York’s leading scorer with 132 points (58 goals, 74 assists) during the regular season, was blindsided by Washington center Dale Hunter while celebrating a goal in the third period of Game 6 at Nassau Coliseum that gave them a 5-1 lead.
Turgeon sustained a separated shoulder from the hit. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman suspended Hunter for the first 21 games of the 1993-94 season, the longest in League history at the time.
“At the Coliseum, the dressing rooms were about 60 yards apart,” said goalie Glenn Healy, who started all 18 playoff games for the Islanders in 1993. “We tried to get down to that locker room to inflict our sense of revenge. We didn’t quite get there; New York’s finest got in the way of that.”
The Islanders advanced in the playoffs, but they would do so without their best player.
With Turgeon out, the Islanders were faced with what seemed to be an impossible task in the second round. They were up against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who were led by Hockey Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman and four players who were later inducted — forwards Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis and Joe Mullen, and defenseman Larry Murphy (a fifth, forward Jaromir Jagr, will join them soon enough). They won the Presidents’ Trophy with 119 points, highlighted by an NHL-record 17-game winning streak.
“That Pittsburgh team was beyond loaded,” center Ray Ferraro said. “That was a team. Like, holy crap. If you looked at the two teams side by side on the whiteboard, you would laugh. You’d be like, ‘You mean that team on the left’s going to beat that team on the right?’ There was zero people that picked our team to beat Pittsburgh, and if anybody did, they were out to lunch.”
Al Arbour, the Hall of Fame coach of the Islanders, didn’t have a star-studded lineup. But he did have veteran leaders in goal, with Healy, and up front, with forwards Patrick Flatley, Steve Thomas and Ferraro. His defense was mostly young, sparked by rookies Darius Kasparaitis, who was 19 years old, and Vladimir Malakhov, who was 24.
So how could the Islanders possibly defeat the Penguins, who were seeking their third straight Stanley Cup championship? Arbour challenged his players prior to Game 1.
“He asked us individually, starting with Pat Flatley, ‘Can you tie one shift against Mario Lemieux? I don’t need you to score, just tie the shift,'” Healy said. “And then the next guy. … The exercise went on.”
“The hair was standing on the back of my neck. It was amazing,” Pilon said. “When he would do his pregame speech, you were almost frothing at the mouth. It was unbelievable how he could get you motivated and focused. It was something to feel and be part of.”
The Islanders trailed 3-2 in the best-of-7 series, but Thomas scored two goals and two assists in a 7-5 win in Game 6 at Nassau Coliseum.
“To my recollection, we didn’t have flights back to Pittsburgh for Game 7; they booked them the day we had to go,” Ferraro said. “We were all flying commercial. We’re all jammed in middle seats and stuff. It’s a short flight, but still.”
David Volek, a forward who scored eight goals in 56 games during the regular season and hadn’t scored in the playoffs, gave New York a 2-1 lead at 6:10 of the third period in Game 7. Forward Benoit Hogue made it 3-1 less than three minutes later, and the Islanders appeared to be on their way to the conference final, especially after Lemieux and New York defenseman Uwe Krupp took coincidental slashing penalties with 4:05 remaining.
“I remember being on the bench and going, ‘What an unbelievable trade.’ Not that we’re not going to miss [Krupp], but oh my God, one of the best players in the history of the game is not going to be able to play,” Ferraro said.
But the Penguins didn’t go away quietly. Francis made it 3-2 with 3:47 left, and forward Rick Tocchet tied it 3-3 with one minute remaining.
“It was like someone taking away your meal when you’re really hungry,” Pilon said. “You’re like, ‘Really?’ It was devastating, but I remember Al saying, ‘If you could’ve asked us at the beginning of this series that we were going to be going into overtime [in Game 7], would you not have taken it?’ He told us not to be devastated.”
Healy made three of his 42 saves in overtime, and Volek finished a 2-on-1 with Ferraro at 5:16 to complete what is still the most improbable playoff series win in Islanders history.
“The owners desperately wanted to trade Volek all year,” Healy said. “I remember standing by the bus with Al and [we] were celebrating a pretty big win. … The owners came up and they were all ecstatic we had won and Al just looked at them and said, ‘What do you think of David [bleeping] Volek now?’ That’s Al Arbour.”
The ’93 playoff run ended for the Islanders in the Wales Conference Final, where they lost to the eventual Cup winner, the Montreal Canadiens, in five games. Montreal won Games 2 and 3 in overtime.
“After we lost to Montreal, a bunch of us went on vacation together in Ireland,” Healy said. “As if we hadn’t had enough time together for the six weeks of our ride, we decided to go for a longer ride. To this day, we’re still friends. We talk all the time.”
Led by coach Barry Trotz, the current Islanders have learned to share a similar bond, one that center Jean-Gabriel Pageau called “a brotherhood” earlier this postseason. It’s a big reason why they’ve matched that run from 1993.
“They’ve got so much depth, and Barry does such a good job managing that bench and getting everybody ice time,” Pilon said. “Everybody feels part of it, and that’s why they play so hard for a guy like him and his coaching staff. Kudos to them.”
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
