Maven's Memories: Isles Complete Comeback vs Penguins

The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.-- Theme of U.S. Navy Seabees (Construction Battalions) in World War II.
On April 26, 1975 the Islanders set out to do what many had thought impossible. It concluded in seven games and made hockey history.
Never before had an American NHL team been down three games to none in a Stanley Cup playoff and then rebounded to win the next four straight and capture the series.
True, a Canadian team -- the Toronto Maple Leafs -- pulled off such a miraculous comeback against the Detroit Red Wings in 1942, but that had taken place more than three decades ago.

Previously down -- and virtually out -- after losing three in row to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Islanders now were at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena about to play the most meaningful game in franchise annals.
In a real sense, the same could be said for the hosts. The embarrassment of allowing a foe to rally from 0-3 to tie a series 3-3would forever be a blot on the Penguins if coach Marc Boileau's club dropped the finale.
By this time, media types throughout the league were wondering whether Al Arbour's outfit could match the Leafs of 1942. Toronto-born Billy Harris -- the Isles first draft pick in 1972 -- allowed it had been on his mind for days.
"When I was a kid I'd hear people mention the '42 Leafs whenever a team went down three-zip in a playoff," Harris recalled. "After we lost the first three to Pitt, I began to think about it as well."
Prior to Game Seven, prize-winning Daily News sports cartoonist Bill Gallo pictured the Islanders on a desert island with their hands outstretched as an ocean liner cruised by with the name USS MIRACLE painted on its hull.
In Gallo's caption, Islanders were shouting to the world: "And who said I missed the boat!"

A few Penguins were shouting as well and the one who arrested the most attention was Pittsburgh's brash rookie, Pierre Larouche. Tossing seventh-game caution to the winds, Lucky Pierre put it this way:
"The last game is a goalie's game. If Gary (Inness) chokes or (Glenn) Resch chokes, the other team's going to win."
Bert Marshall, the Isles quiet defensive -- and occasionally on offense -- star couldn't resist a squelch. "When the kid says the goalie chokes," Marshall shot back, "he'd better look elsewhere. He's really saying that somebody else made a mistake in front of the goalie."
After two periods, fans were treated to a perfect 0-0 game although the shots on goal indicated otherwise -- 25-11 in favor of Pittsburgh.
"Even though we were being outshot," captain Ed Westfall claimed, "we stuck to our game plan. Our energy level still was high and our discipline good."
Under the circumstances, Resch had to be better than just good. Ditto for his colorful face mask. In the first period Syl Apps, Jr. of Pittsburgh fired a blast that proved a bullseye on the mask but rebounded to the corner and then to the point outside the blue line.
The Penguins immediately counterattacked and this time Jean Pronovost released a drive that again smacked into Chico's face protector. Once again, the rubber bounced out of danger.
Resch: "If it hadn't been for the mask, I don't know what would have happened. But I made both saves with my mask. I'm sure both shots would have been goals if they hadn't hit me. I remember thinking, 'Boy, do I have it going tonight!'"
With the tension mounting as the third period ticked away and the score still a heart-throbbing 0-0, Larouche's comment about goaltending would be tested by Pierre, himself, on a clean breakaway with the game likely hanging on the result -- and Denis Potvin in hot pursuit.
Denis Potvin: "Chico would not be out-psyched by the kid. He daringly skated right out to Pierre as Larouche prepared to shoot. Then Chico threw himself head-first to the ice, nicking the puck with the tip of his stick.
"He got just enough of it to deflect it harmlessly away," Potvin added. "It told me that our goalie had hermetically sealed his net for the night."
The score still was 0-0 which meant that in addition to the goaltending heroics, somebody -- anybody -- had to get the red light to flash. Meanwhile, overtime was beckoning over the horizon while Islanders forwards finally penetrated the Penguins zone.
While his mates ferociously forechecked, defenseman Bert Marshall positioned himself at the right point on Pittsburgh's blue line with no idea where the puck next would be moved.

"When the puck came around the boards," Marshall recalled, "I moved up from the point. Meanwhile, one of Pittsburgh's forwards tried to control the bouncing puck but it got away from him and I intercepted it on my forehand and move on the offensive."
Westfall, who had been forechecking in the corner awaiting Marshall's next move, skated into better scoring position. "When I saw him with the puck, I thought that this was not where I expected to see a defensive defenseman like Bert," the Captain remembered.
"I yelled, 'Hey, Bert, look at me.' Now I was all alone in the slot trying to figure what my teammate planned to do; hoping, of course, for the best."
Marshall had a split second to make one of two moves: 1. Take a shot -- even though his drives were usually weak -- or; 2. Pass the rubber to his Captain.
"I had the puck on my forehand and planned to shoot," Marshall went on, "but then I saw Eddie out of the corner of my eye. One of their defenseman was on me so I faked a shot, slid it by the guy to 18 who had his stick down. My pass was right on Eddie's stick."
The puck slid flat -- looking fat to the waiting Westfall -- and arrived on the Captain's backhand. A seasoned pro such as Westfall instinctively knew that the backhand always was -- and is -- the most deceptive shot in a sniper's arsenal.
Westfall: "I knew I had a scoring chance and I told myself in that split-second, 'Don't hesitate. Get it on the net. Don't blow this chance.'"
Crouched in his crease, Inness was thinking along those lines except he needed the save, badly. "What could I do?" the Penguins goalie wondered in retrospect. "Westfall kept moving in from the side. I stayed where I was as long as I could, then I had to move with him.
"He wasn't panicking, partly because there was nobody there to check him," Inness said. "He held it and held it; so I moved to my right and he put the shot whereI had been."
The backhander flew high enough to clear the goalie's left shoulder and low enough to clear the crossbar. There were only 5:18 remaining in the third period when the red light flashed.
From that point until the final buzzer sounded, the Penguins failed to get a single shot on Resch. "We wound up winning it, one-zip," Westfall concluded, "on my goal. Who would have thought it possible?"
Frankly, nobody thought it was possible when the Isles were down three games; except the Captain and his corps of believers.
Westfall: "I have said that any of us could have scored that goal but I happened to be the lucky one. The thing to remember is that the goal represented the Islanders."
And one heck of a historic comeback.

LISTS: SEVEN HEROES OF THE GAME SEVEN VICTORY:
1. ED WESTFALL:Never in the club's young history did their first captain come to the fore in more dramatic fashion than his Game Seven virtuoso performance. "We went out there," Eddie said, "and wanted to be as good as we could be. And we were."
2. GLENN RESCH:Chico was at the top of his goaltending game, keeping his team in the contest despite an incessant bombardment. Without his first period saves, the club could have been a goner.
3. BERT MARSHALL:When Bill Torrey originally signed the veteran defenseman, the general manager was vilified by critics as making the wrong move. Marshall became the foundation of the Isles defense and architect of the series-winning goal against Pitt.
4. AL ARBOUR:It was Radar's demeanor as well as his smarts which kept the team on a solid, disciplined footing throughout Game Seven. With Arbour, the key words were inspiration, contemplation and execution. Also, humor. including his best post-series quip: "I don't think I'll have a bedcheck tonight!"
5. CLARK GILLIES: Game by game, the big fella from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan proved that he could score and punch a few jaws as well. In the first period of Game Seven, Jethroe slugged it out with Pitt defender Bob Paradise. In this case it was Paradise Lost.
6. DAVE LEWIS:Another Saskatchewan toughie, defender Dave was challenged by Bob (Battleship) Kelly in the opening frame of Game Seven. Although Kelly was notorious as one of the NHL's best fighters, Lewis was dauntless in the battle, inspiring his mates.
7. DENIS POTVIN: Despite lingering injuries the sophomore ace toughed it out and was one of the many stout-hearted Islanders who cemented this most incredulous comeback.