At 7:11 of the first overtime period in game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup final played on May 24, 1980 at the Nassau Coliseum, Bob Nystrom of the New York Islanders put his ninth of the playoffs and second of the game past Philadelphia Flyers goalie Pete Peeters, assisted by Lorne Henning and John Tonelli. The goal gave the Islanders a 5-4 win and secured the first of four consecutive Stanley Cup championships for the team.
Along with Nystrom’s two goals, he was assessed a total of 21 penalty minutes in the game. Early in the first period, he had a fight with Bob Kelly, that came with an extra minor penalty. Later in the frame, he and Mel Bridgman were both given roughing minors and ten minute misconducts. In the third, he added to the total with a minor for holding.
Nystrom was outstanding for the Isles in those 1979-80 NHL playoffs. He scored nine goals and assisted on nine more for 18 points over 20 games. This was just less than half his regular season totals over 67 games. For Bob, it was is third game winning goal of the playoffs that year.
This was not the first overtime game for New York in the 1979-80 post season. The team needed extra time in seven of 21 games. They were 6-1 over those seven games. In the first game of the final, it was Denis Potvin scoring on Peeters 4:07 into the first OT, assisted by Nystrom and Tonelli.