This Day in Hockey History – April 10, 1982 – City of Angels’ Miracle

To the Forum’s sellout crowd (of 16,005), the third game in the best-of-five Smythe Division Semifinals, held April 10, 1982, seemed like a done deal by the third period. In what became known as the “Miracle on Manchester” (because of the Forum’s location on Manchester Boulevard), the Los Angeles Kings achieved the greatest playoff single-game comeback in NHL history.

At the end of the 1981-82 season, the Kings’ 63 points (24-41-15) placed them fourth in the Smythe Division. Their first playoff opponents would be the Edmonton Oilers, who had tallied 111 points (48-17-15) to lead the division. While the Oilers had set an NHL record with 417 goals, the Kings only won one of the eight matchups with them. Despite their seeming disadvantage, the Kings took the first game of their series, on April 7, 10-8. The Oilers came back to defeat them 3-2 in overtime the following night.

Although Wayne Gretzky of the visiting Edmonton Oilers was the big attraction, selling out the Forum for the third time that season, the local Los Angeles Kings fans had had enough of his scoring contributions. After Mark Messier scored first for Edmonton, at the end of the first period Gretzky scored their next goal unassisted and short-handed. Less than a minute into the second period, Gretzky assisted on the Oilers’ third goal. About four and a half minutes later, he assisted on Risto Siltanen’s shot that put the puck through the back of the net. For his finale, at 14:02 of the second period, Gretzky scored a power-play goal as the Oilers’ last. As the penalties mounted, the “crowd chanted obscenities at him and booed every time he touched the puck.” Edmonton had a 5-0 lead that seemed unbeatable.

Instead of giving up, like Kings owner Dr. Jerry Buss who left the game around that time, the team began catching up. Thanks to defenseman Jay Wells, the Kings finally made it on the board at 2:46 of the third period. Although Wells had been playing for Los Angeles since 1979, he had only notched one regular-season goal, and this became his only postseason goal. At 5:58, rookie center Doug Smith made a power-play goal by “lifting a rebound just inside the crossbar.” By the time playoffs ended, Smith ranked seventh among the team’s scorers. The only real veteran to score, left winger Charlie Simmer (playing since 1974 and for the Kings since 1977), made fans start believing the Kings had a chance when, at 14:38, he “scored from behind the net.” According to the Los Angeles Times, “His shot appeared to go off the stick of Edmonton defenseman Randy Gregg.” Another defenseman drafted in 1979, Mark Hardy, “took a drop pass from Bozek, cut around Fuhr and beat Gretzky stick side” with four minutes and one second remaining. He had been sixth in scoring during the Kings’ regular season. Los Angeles was one goal away from tying Edmonton.

For once, the odds were in the Kings’ favor. With five minutes remaining, Garry Unger (who had been traded by the Kings a year earlier) had to serve a high-sticking major and ten-minute misconduct. Kings Captain Dave Lewis only received a minor in addition to his ten-minute misconduct. That left the Kings with a power play for the final three minutes. The Los Angeles Times described the situation: “Wayne Gretzky simply had to clear the puck from his team’s zone, but with 10 seconds remaining he had his pocket picked by Jim Fox, and the Kings regrouped for a final rally. Fox shoveled the puck to Hardy, who got a shot off that was stopped by Edmonton goaltender Grant Fuhr. As the rebound trickled out, with just five seconds remaining, Steve Bozek directed the puck into the net.” Left wing Bozek was also a rookie, and during the regular season, he had ranked fifth for Los Angeles scorers. With five seconds remaining, the Kings had their fifth and tying goal.

The game went into sudden-death overtime. At 2:35, Smith beat Messier on the faceoff and sent the puck back to fellow-rookie Daryl Evans. The left wing “blasted a 25-foot shot over the right shoulder of goalie Grant Fuhr.” Reminiscing, Evans later commented, “It was just close your eyes and hope it hits the net. It found a hole over Grant Fuhr’s shoulder.” Evans had only played 14 games with the NHL, having spent most of the season with the AHL affiliate and nursing a broken hand. Not only did he score the winning goal in the comeback of the century, but he also became the Kings top postseason scorer.

Although tempted to feel bad for poor Grant Fuhr after letting in so many goals, he came out a winner in the long run. At that game, he was only a 19-year-old playing in his first NHL season. His save percentage was .898 with 3.31 goals against. However, he stayed with the Oilers until 1991 and, in the process, won four Stanley Cup championships. He bounced around a bit until his retirement in 2000 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame just three years later.

After the “Miracle on Manchester,” the Oilers tied up the series on April 12 with a 3-2 victory. However, the Kings took the series back the next night winning 7-4. Their playoff run only lasted five more games before Los Angeles was eliminated by the Vancouver Canucks, who went on to lose the Stanley Cup to the New York Islanders. Two years later, in 1984, the Edmonton Oilers won their first Stanley Cup championship to break the Islanders’ dynasty and begin their own.

 Additional Sources:

• Mike Commito, Hockey 365: Daily Stories from the Ice (Toronto: Dundurn, 2018), kindle edition.
• Gordon Edes, “Kings Are Winners Over Oilers in the Comeback of Year, 6-5,” Los Angeles Times, 11 April 1982, sports, pp. 1 and 6.