1985 NHL Playoffs
Adams Division
Both
Montreal and
Hartford win their opening round series in 4 games. This sets up a rematch of last years Adams division final, only reversed. Despite
Montreal having home ice advantage, I’m saying the
Whalers are the favourites.
Hartford proves they are the team to beat in the Adams by having no problem with
Montreal. Their first 60 games do not matter anymore. They are clearly capable of turning it on.
Hartford advances to the Conference finals!
Patrick Division
The first place
Islanders needed a four goal third period in game 4 to eliminate the
Devils. That was very close to going the limit. Last years first round loss can now be forgotten in
Long Island. The
Rangers four game series win over
Washington sets up the battle of
New York.
The battle of
NY turns out to be a defensive smothering of the
Rangers. The
Islanders allow just 7 goals in their 5 game win. DEFENSE WINS TITLES!! The
Islanders advance to their first conference final!
Norris Division
I admit, every time
Minnesota trails in a series, I expect them to lose. I have attached that playoff failure label to them, but they beat the
Blues 3 straight after losing the opener to advance.
Mario Lemieux gets 3 goals and 5 points in his first playoff experience, leading the
Wings to the 2nd round.
Lemieux is held scoreless in the first 3 games of the 2nd round. The
North Stars end up winning all three of those games, and use that start to eliminate
Detroit in 5. Is this the year
Minnesota gets over this hump?
Smythe Division
It looked like the
Kings were gonna pull off the upset of
Calgary, but the
Flames bury
LA with consecutive 7-2 wins to advance.
Dominik Hasek, who did not play a game in
Winnipeg during the season, as he’s still developing, comes up and plays the 5th game of their series with the
Canucks, after
Jets goalie
Don Edwards gets hurt.
Hasek wins it 4-2 to advance!
Hasek continues in net for the 2nd round, getting the game two shutout! After 7 straight starts, and wins in game 5 and 6 to tie the series,
Hasek goes to the bench, as
Don Edwards returns to the lineup.
Edwards plays well, and
Brian Lawton scores the biggest goal in
Jets history, 28 seconds into overtime, to complete the comeback from a 3-1 deficit!
Jets advance in 7!
Wales Conference Final
NY jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game one, and led 4-1 after a period. That lead extended to 6-2 after two, but the
Whalers weren't done.
Petr Kilma scores twice, and
John Chabot added another third period goal to cut the lead to 1. Despite the momentum,
Hartford could come no closer. 6-5
Ny wins the opener. The best team in the NHL really took it to the defending champs in game two.
Dave Tippett and
Kenny Linseman each scored twice, while
Ray Bourque had two assists.
Hartford was held to just 17 shots, all stopped by
Phil Myre. The
Islanders win game two, 5-0.
Myre gets the game two shutout!
In game three, the
Islanders continue their defensive advantage, shutting out
Hartford for the 2nd straight game.
Bob Bourne’s 2nd period goal was the winner. 2-0
Islanders. Facing a sweep,
Hartford gets a little offense going in game four.
Brian Mullen and
Steve Thomas both get first period goals, but a late
Ken Berry tally tied it up for
New York. New York then scores 3 times in the 2nd, giving themselves what looks like an insurmountable 3 goal lead.
Wayne Gretzky disagreed. The great one would assists on 3 straight
Whaler goals tying it at 5.
Willi Plett though spoils the comeback, and wins the series for
NY late in the third. 6-5
Islanders. They sweep
Hartford and go to their first finals!
Campbell Conference Final
Is this the year the
North Stars finally play for a Stanley Cup?
Billy Carroll thinks so, as he scores just a minute into game one.
Chris Chelios follows that up to give the
North Stars a 2-0 lead.
Winnipeg’s Al MacInnis answers 30 seconds later, and
Greg Gilbert has it tied after a period.
Winnipeg would go up 5-2 in the 2nd, and despite 3rd period goals from
Dino Ciccarelli and
Joel Otto, Minnesota goes down.
Jets win the opener 5-4. The
North Stars play a much better defensive game in game two. They hold
Winnipeg to just 18 shots and 1 goal.
Chris Chelios would assists twice and be named the games first star.
Minnesota ties the series with a 3-1 win.
Chris Chelios has 3 points in the first two games of the series for Minnesota!
Trailing by 1 in the third period of game three, the
Jets get clutch goals from
Jim Peplinski and
Roger Hagglund, giving them a come from behind, 2-1 win. The
North Stars would get a big 4 goal second period in game 4. That put them up 5-2 after the buzzer sounded, giving them enough of a lead to hold onto the eventual 5-3 win. The back and forth series is tied at 2!
After missing a few weeks, Don Edwards is back in the Jets net.
It looks like
Minnesota has grabbed the momentum.
Doug Crossman scores a minute into game five, and
Tim Bothwell adds another first period goal. It’s 5-0 when the
Jets finally score in the third, which ends up meaningless.
Minnesota wins game five, 5-1. The
North Stars are now just one game from effectively ending their long streak of failure in the playoffs(In my books, playing for a cup matters!). Tied at one in the 2nd period of game six,
Joel Otto scores to give
Minnesota the lead.
Darryl Sittler then takes a pass from
Lanny McDonald, and adds a third goal with 30 seconds remaining in the period. That goal by long time
North Stars proves to be the winner.
Minnesota wins 4-2, and takes the series in 6 games!!
