NHL power rankings: Lightning’s big dilemma, Leafs on top
(New York Post Rangers)

So the Islanders were upset in the 1978 quarterfinals by the Maple Leafs and in the 1979 semifinals by the Rangers, and it was clear once and for all that neither they nor Al Arbour could or would ever win the big one. And they probably wouldn´t have if not for the 1980 deadline acquisition...