Smith faced 48 shots that afternoon, yielding the winning goal to Guy Lafleur with 22 seconds remaining in the game.

For the next two seasons, he shared netminding duties with Chico Resch, with whom he formed perhaps the top goaltending duo in the NHL at the time.

In the 1980 playoffs, however, Smith played most of the games and helped the Islanders win the first of four consecutive Stanley Cups, firmly establishing him as the team's starting goaltender.

[2] Smith's playoff success bolsters his reputation as the supreme "money" or "clutch" goalie of his era, the person a team would want in net with the season on the line.

Rockies rookie Rob Ramage picked up the puck and accidentally made a blind pass from the corner boards in the opposing zone to the blue line.

He was nicknamed "Battlin' Billy" or "Hatchet Man" for his fiery temper and unabashed use of the stick or blocker on players crowding his crease; as such, forwards needed ankle guards to protect themselves.

Smith was also noted for his displays of feigned injuries that would often lead to penalties against opponents, for whom he carried an undisguised enmity.

Later Van Hellemond said that this was "making a bit of a fool of me", and when he officiated Game One of the 1984 Finals, a rematch of the Islanders and Oilers, he called no penalty when Smith and Anderson collided again.

Bossy has noted that Smith never liked being talked to in the locker room, and kept an intense focus before and after games and practices, but was much more laid-back off the ice.