The 1984 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1983–84 season, and the culmination of the 1984 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the defending Campbell Conference champion Edmonton Oilers and the defending Wales Conference and four-time defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders. The upstart Oilers defeated the four-time defending champion Islanders to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, becoming the third post-1967 expansion team and first former World Hockey Association team to win the Cup, and also the first team based west of Chicago to win the Cup since the WCHL's Victoria Cougars became the last non-NHL team to win it in .
In the previous year's Stanley Cup Final, the Islanders had swept the Oilers in four straight games. The teams met again in 1984, with the Islanders seeking their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup championship. While both teams had improved on their regular season records from the previous season, Edmonton had progressed more and finished with the best record in the NHL for the first time in their short history. However, it was New York who received home-ice advantage, as they had in since the rules in place since 1982 dictated that home-ice advantage went to the conference that won the coin toss and in 1984 because the Wales Conference had more points in head-to-head play against the Campbell Conference. It was also the first time that the Finals was played under a 2–3–2 format. This was the third time during the era that the team with the worse record received a home-ice advantage, the other two being the 1968 and 1970. Home-ice advantage reverted to the team with the better record for the following Final, and the Final reverted to the former 2–2–1–1–1 format in the Final after that.
This was the fifth straight Finals of teams that joined the NHL in 1967 or later. , the Islanders' four consecutive Cup wins (, , , 1983) and their appearance in the 1984 Cup Final is an NHL record of 19 consecutive playoff series wins that currently stands unbroken. The 1984 Final was the third of nine consecutive Finals contested by a team from Western Canada, second of eight contested by a team from Alberta (the Oilers appeared in six, the Calgary Flames in two, the Vancouver Canucks in one), and the first of five consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice (the Oilers won four times at home, the Montreal Canadiens once in Calgary).
The Oilers became the fastest Canadian-based expansion team to win a major sports title by winning a title in only their fifth NHL season. The feat was eclipsed in 2016 by the Ottawa Redblacks, who won the Grey Cup in their third CFL season.
To date, this is the last time the Islanders have appeared in the Stanley Cup Final, and they currently hold the second longest Finals appearance drought in the league at 40 years, the longest of any American-based team. The only team with a longer Finals appearance drought are the Toronto Maple Leafs, who last made the Final in 1967.
Paths to the Final
Edmonton defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3–0, the Calgary Flames 4–3 and the Minnesota North Stars 4–0 to reach the Final.
New York defeated the New York Rangers 3–2, the Washington Capitals 4–1, and the Montreal Canadiens 4–2 to reach the Final.
Game summaries NOTE: In 1981, the NHL realigned it conferences and divisions according to geographical regions. Along with this, it was decided to play the Stanley Cup Final in a 2-3-2 format, with home ice advantage being awarded to the division with the better aggregate record in interdivisional games. This format would be used until 1985, after which the Final would go back to a 2-2-1-1-1 format, with home ice going to the team with the better regular season record.
Game one
Grant Fuhr shut out the Islanders in the first game, on the Islanders home ice, stopping 34 shots, and Kevin McClelland scoring the game's only goal early in the third period. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score1stNone2ndNone3rd EDM Kevin McClelland (3) Pat Hughes (9) and Dave Hunter (5) 01:55 1–0 EDM Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st EDM Kevin Lowe Tripping 08:40 2:00 NYI Denis Potvin Hooking 11:34 2:00 EDM Dave Hunter Elbowing 14:09 2:00 NYI Denis Potvin Tripping 14:51 2:00 EDM Don Jackson Roughing 15:47 2:00 2nd EDM Dave Hunter Holding 09:06 2:00 NYI Gord Dineen Holding 11:52 2:00 EDM Don Jackson Cross-checking 14:37 2:00 NYI Tomas Jonsson Holding 15:52 2:00 3rd None Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 10 12 16 38 14 12 8 34
Game two
The Islanders won game two 6–1, with Clark Gillies recording a hat trick and Bryan Trottier recording 2 goals and an assist. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st NYI Bryan Trottier (7) Mike Bossy (8) and Paul Boutilier (6) 00:53 1–0 NYI NYI Greg Gilbert (5) – pp Pat LaFontaine (6) and Stefan Persson (5) 05:48 2–0 NYI EDM Randy Gregg (3) Kevin McClelland (5) 15:06 2–1 NYI NYI Clark Gillies (8) Anders Kallur (2) 18:31 3–1 NYI 2nd NYI Bryan Trottier (8) Brent Sutter (8) and Patrick Flatley (4) 04:52 4–1 NYI NYI Clark Gillies (9) – pp Denis Potvin (5) and Mike Bossy (9) 16:48 5–1 NYI 3rd NYI Clark Gillies (10) Bryan Trottier (9) and Paul Boutilier (7) 17:08 6–1 NYI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st EDM Glenn Anderson High-sticking 00:09 2:00 NYI John Tonelli High-sticking 00:09 2:00 EDM Charlie Huddy Hooking 04:14 2:00 EDM Pat Hughes Slashing 06:29 2:00 EDM Don Jackson Roughing 06:29 2:00 NYI Duane Sutter Slashing 06:29 2:00 EDM Pat Hughes High-sticking 08:51 2:00 NYI Brent Sutter Holding 09:12 2:00 EDM Don Jackson High-sticking 12:11 2:00 NYI Greg Gilbert High-sticking 12:11 2:00 NYI Tomas Jonsson Hooking 12:52 2:00 EDM Kevin McClelland Cross-checking 15:42 2:00 EDM Kevin McClelland Fighting – major 15:42 5:00 NYI Duane Sutter Elbowing 15:42 2:00 NYI Duane Sutter Fighting 15:42 5:00 2nd NYI Tomas Jonsson Hooking 05:37 2:00 EDM Glenn Anderson High-sticking 16:05 2:00 3rd EDM Mark Messier High-sticking 06:52 2:00 EDM Mark Messier Fighting – major 06:52 5:00 NYI Gord Dineen Charging 06:52 2:00 NYI Gord Dineen Fighting – major 06:52 5:00 EDM Wayne Gretzky Hooking 08:30 2:00 EDM Dave Semenko Roughing 15:16 2:00 EDM Ken Linseman Roughing 17:25 2:00 EDM Ken Linseman Fighting – major 17:25 5:00 EDM Ken Linseman Misconduct 17:25 10:00 EDM Dave Lumley Fighting – major 17:25 5:00 EDM Dave Lumley Game misconduct 17:25 10:00 NYI Gord Dineen Fighting – major 17:25 5:00 NYI Gord Dineen Game misconduct 17:25 10:00 NYI Greg Gilbert Roughing – double minor 17:25 4:00 NYI Greg Gilbert Fighting – major 17:25 5:00 NYI Greg Gilbert Game misconduct 17:25 10:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 12 6 5 23 12 9 5 26
Game three
In game three, the Islanders had a 2–1 lead in the second period, but Mark Messier scored on an individual effort to tie the game. They proceeded to beat the Islanders 7–2. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st NYI Clark Gillies (11) Patrick Flatley (5) and Brent Sutter (10) 01:32 1–0 NYI EDM Kevin Lowe (3) Glenn Anderson (9) and Willy Lindstrom (5) 13:49 1–1 2nd NYI Clark Gillies (12) – pp Bryan Trottier (6) and Mike Bossy (10) 02:54 2–1 NYI EDM Mark Messier (6) Lee Fogolin (4) 08:38 2–2 EDM Glenn Anderson (6) Charlie Huddy (7) and Wayne Gretzky (20) 19:12 3–2 EDM EDM Paul Coffey (7) Pat Hughes (10) and Ken Linseman (4) 19:29 4–2 EDM 3rd EDM Mark Messier (7) Kevin McClelland (6) and Charlie Huddy (8) 05:32 5–2 EDM EDM Kevin McClelland (4) Dave Lumley (5) 05:52 6–2 EDM EDM Dave Semenko (5) Jari Kurri (10) and Wayne Gretzky (21) 09:41 7–2 EDM Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st EDM Ken Linseman High-sticking 02:27 2:00 NYI Duane Sutter High-sticking 02:27 2:00 NYI Brent Sutter Hooking 06:30 2:00 EDM Kevin McClelland Interference 08:49 2:00 NYI Tomas Jonsson Interference 10:59 2:00 EDM Lee Fogolin Holding 14:32 2:00 EDM Randy Gregg Roughing 15:16 2:00 NYI Don Jackson Fighting – major 15:16 5:00 NYI Patrick Flatley Roughing – double minor 15:16 4:00 NYI Greg Gilbert Fighting – major 15:16 5:00 EDM Ken Linseman High-sticking 17:53 2:00 NYI John Tonelli High-sticking 17:53 2:00 2nd EDM Dave Hunter Elbowing 01:55 2:00 NYI Brent Sutter Holding 03:34 2:00 NYI Jaroslav Pouzar Tripping 10:00 2:00 EDM Jaroslav Pouzar Roughing 14:22 2:00 NYI Bryan Trottier Roughing 14:22 2:00 EDM Lee Fogolin High-sticking 17:53 2:00 EDM Lee Fogolin Roughing 17:53 2:00 NYI Duane Sutter High-sticking 17:53 2:00 NYI Duane Sutter Roughing 17:53 2:00 3rd EDM Jaroslav Pouzar High-sticking 06:16 2:00 EDM Glenn Anderson Tripping 06:56 2:00 EDM Glenn Anderson High-sticking 14:19 2:00 NYI Ken Morrow High-sticking 14:19 2:00 EDM Kevin McClelland High-sticking 19:37 2:00 NYI Roland Melanson High-sticking 19:37 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 10 8 7 25 11 12 17 40
Game four
Grant Fuhr was injured in game three, and Andy Moog had to replace him. The Oilers won game four by the same score, with Wayne Gretzky and Willy Lindstrom both scoring two goals. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st EDM Wayne Gretzky (10) Dave Semenko (4) and Jari Kurri (11) 01:53 1–0 EDM EDM Willy Lindstrom (4) Glenn Anderson (10) 03:22 2–0 EDM NYI Brent Sutter (4) Greg Gilbert (7) and Ken Morrow (2) 14:03 2–1 EDM EDM Mark Messier (8) Unassisted 17:54 3–1 EDM 2nd EDM Willy Lindstrom (5) – pp Paul Coffey (13) and Mark Messier (18) 05:21 4–1 EDM EDM Pat Conacher (1) Pat Hughes (11) 06:58 5–1 EDM EDM Paul Coffey (8) Jari Kurri (12) and Dave Semenko (5) 10:52 6–1 EDM NYI Patrick Flatley (9) Clark Gillies (5) and Stefan Persson (6) 19:44 6–2 EDM 3rd EDM Wayne Gretzky (11) Unassisted 14:01 7–2 EDM Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st NYI Bob Nystrom High-sticking 04:41 2:00 EDM Dave Lumley Elbowing 13:40 2:00 NYI Denis Potvin Roughing 13:40 2:00 NYI Dave Langevin High-sticking – major 15:43 5:00 EDM Wayne Gretzky Unsportsmanlike conduct 17:31 2:00 EDM Jari Kurri High-sticking 17:31 2:00 NYI Ken Morrow Cross-checking 17:31 2:00 EDM Kevin Lowe Holding 18:25 5:00 EDM Ken Linseman High-sticking – major 18:51 5:00 2nd NYI Bobby Nystrom Hooking 04:47 2:00 EDM Kevin McClelland Fighting – major 13:47 5:00 NYI Duane Sutter Roughing 13:47 2:00 NYI Duane Sutter Fighting – major 13:47 5:00 3rd EDM Charlie Huddy Slashing 06:36 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 7 7 7 21 16 10 12 38
Game five
The Oilers then won game five by the score of 5–2 thanks to Gretzky's two first-period goals, and two Duane Sutter penalties. They became the first former WHA team, and the first team from Edmonton, to win the Stanley Cup. Mark Messier was awarded with the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st EDM Wayne Gretzky (12) Jari Kurri (13) 12:08 1–0 EDM EDM Wayne Gretzky (13) Jari Kurri (14) 17:26 2–0 EDM 2nd EDM Ken Linseman (10) – pp Charlie Huddy (9) and Wayne Gretzky (22) 00:38 3–0 EDM EDM Jari Kurri (14) – pp Paul Coffey (14) and Glenn Anderson (11) 04:59 4–0 EDM 3rd NYI Pat LaFontaine (2) Patrick Flatley (6) and Clark Gillies (6) 00:13 4–1 EDM NYI Pat LaFontaine (3) Clark Gillies (7) 00:35 4–2 EDM EDM Dave Lumley (2) – en Unassisted 19:47 5–2 EDM Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st EDM Bench (served by Willy Lindstrom) Too many men on the ice 00:47 2:00 NYI Patrick Flatley Elbowing 04:09 2:00 NYI Stefan Persson High-sticking 07:43 2:00 NYI Duane Sutter Roughing 18:47 2:00 2nd NYI Duane Sutter Hooking 04:19 2:00 EDM Dave Semenko High-sticking 10:22 2:00 3rd NYI Patrick Flatley Interference 16:45 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 8 6 11 25 9 5 9 23
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