Before the playoffs, Torrey made the difficult decision to trade longtime and popular veterans Billy Harris and defenseman Dave Lewis to the Los Angeles Kings for second line center Butch Goring.
Contributions from new teammates, such as wingers Duane Sutter and Anders Kallur and stay-at-home defensemen Gord Lane and Ken Morrow (the latter fresh off a gold medal win at the 1980 Olympics), also figured prominently in the Islanders' playoff success.
Clark Gillies resigns the team captaincy and is replaced by defenceman Denis Potvin.
In that game, Bob Nystrom continued his overtime heroics, scoring at 7:11 of the extra frame, on assists by John Tonelli and Lorne Henning, to bring Long Island its first Stanley Cup.
The Islanders would become the first NHL team to win a Stanley Cup with Europeans (Stefan Persson, Anders Kallur, Bob Nystrom) on its roster.