1979–80 Los Angeles Kings season

The 1979–80 Los Angeles Kings season was the Kings' 13th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). It saw the Kings qualify for the playoffs, placing second in the Norris Division, but they lost in the first round to the New York Islanders. Just prior to the end of the season, the Kings sent Butch Goring to the Islanders for Billy Harris and Dave Lewis. Goring would help the Islanders defeat the Kings on their way to their first of 4 Stanley Cup wins. They also had the worst penalty kill percentage in a season in the history of the NHL at 67.70%.

1979–80 Los Angeles Kings
Division	2nd Norris
Conference	6th Wales
1979–80 record	30–36–14
Home record	18–13–9
Road record	12–23–5
Goals for	290
Goals against	313
Team information
General manager	George Maguire
Coach	Bob Berry
Captain	Mike Murphy
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Los Angeles Forum
Average attendance	10,453 (65.3%)
Team leaders
Goals	Charlie Simmer (56)
Assists	Marcel Dionne (84)
Points	Marcel Dionne (137)
Penalty minutes	Jay Wells (113)
Wins	Mario Lessard (18)
Goals against average	Doug Keans (2.48)

Regular season

Final standings

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	80	47	20	13	328	240	107
Los Angeles Kings	80	30	36	14	290	313	74
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	30	37	13	251	303	73
Hartford Whalers	80	27	34	19	303	312	73
Detroit Red Wings	80	26	43	11	268	306	63

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

League standings

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Philadelphia Flyers	PTK	80	48	12	20	327	254	116
2	y – Buffalo Sabres	ADM	80	47	17	16	318	201	110
3	x – Montreal Canadiens	NRS	80	47	20	13	328	240	107
4	Boston Bruins	ADM	80	46	21	13	310	234	105
5	New York Islanders	PTK	80	39	28	13	281	247	91
6	Minnesota North Stars	ADM	80	36	28	16	311	253	88
7	x – Chicago Black Hawks	SMY	80	34	27	19	241	250	87
8	New York Rangers	PTK	80	38	32	10	308	284	86
9	Atlanta Flames	PTK	80	35	32	13	282	269	83
10	St. Louis Blues	SMY	80	34	34	12	266	278	80
11	Toronto Maple Leafs	ADM	80	35	40	5	304	327	75
12	Los Angeles Kings	NRS	80	30	36	14	290	313	74
13	Pittsburgh Penguins	NRS	80	30	37	13	251	303	73
14	Hartford Whalers	NRS	80	27	34	19	303	312	73
15	Vancouver Canucks	SMY	80	27	37	16	256	281	70
16	Edmonton Oilers	SMY	80	28	39	13	301	322	69
17	Washington Capitals	PTK	80	27	40	13	261	293	67
18	Detroit Red Wings	NRS	80	26	43	11	268	306	63
19	Quebec Nordiques	ADM	80	25	44	11	248	313	61
20	Winnipeg Jets	SMY	80	20	49	11	214	314	51
21	Colorado Rockies	SMY	80	19	48	13	234	308	51

Divisions: ADM – Adams, NRS – Norris, PTK – Patrick, SMY – Smythe

bold – The top 16 teams in the league qualified for the playoffs, regardless of division or conference.
x – Won division; y – Won Conference (and division); p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and conference and division)

Record vs. opponents

Norris Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Norris Division

1979–80 NHL records
Team	DET	HFD	LAK	MTL	PIT	Total
Detroit	—	1–2–1	0–3–1	0–3–1	2–2	3–10–3
Hartford	2–1–1	—	2–1–1	0–1–3	2–1–1	6–4–6
Los Angeles	3–0–1	1–2–1	—	0–4	1–1–2	5–7–4
Montreal	3–0–1	1–0–3	4–0	—	2–1–1	10–1–5
Pittsburgh	2–2	1–2–1	1–1–2	1–2–1	—	5–7–4

Vs. Adams Division

1979–80 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	MIN	QUE	TOR	Total
Detroit	1–2–1	1–3	2–1–1	2–1–1	0–4	6–11–3
Hartford	1–2–1	1–3	0–4	1–1–2	2–2	5–12–3
Los Angeles	1–2–1	0–3–1	2–0–2	3–1	3–0–1	9–6–5
Montreal	3–1	1–1–2	3–1	2–1–1	3–1	12–5–3
Pittsburgh	2–2	0–4	1–3	2–2	2–2	7–13–0

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Patrick Division

1979–80 NHL records
Team	ATL	NYI	NYR	PHI	WSH	Total
Detroit	1–2–1	3–1	1–3	0–3–1	2–1–1	7–10–3
Hartford	3–1	1–3	1–2–1	0–2–2	1–2–1	6–10–4
Los Angeles	1–2–1	1–2–1	1–3	0–4	1–3	4–14–2
Montreal	3–0–1	0–3–1	3–0–1	2–1–1	2–1–1	10–5–5
Pittsburgh	2–1–1	1–0–3	2–2	0–3–1	3–1	8–7–5

Vs. Smythe Division

1979–80 NHL records
Team	CHI	COL	EDM	STL	VAN	WIN	Total
Detroit	1−3	1−3	2−1–1	1−2−1	2−2	3−1	10−12−2
Hartford	1–1–2	2−1−1	2–1–1	2–2	1−1−2	2−2	10−8−6
Los Angeles	3−0−1	4−0	1−2−1	1−3	2−2	1−2−1	12−9−3
Montreal	2−2	3−1	3−1	2−2	2−2	3−1	15−9−0
Pittsburgh	0−2–2	2−2	1−3	1−2–1	2−1–1	4−0	10−10−4

Schedule and results

1979–80 regular season
October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 1 T October 10, 1979 4–4 Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 0–0–1 2 W October 13, 1979 5–3 St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 1–0–1 3 L October 16, 1979 6–8 @ Washington Capitals (1979–80) 1–1–1 4 W October 17, 1979 5–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 2–1–1 5 L October 19, 1979 3–6 @ Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 2–2–1 6 L October 20, 1979 4–5 @ Boston Bruins (1979–80) 2–3–1 7 W October 23, 1979 7–4 @ Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 3–3–1 8 W October 24, 1979 5–3 Washington Capitals (1979–80) 4–3–1 9 W October 27, 1979 7–5 Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 5–3–1 10 T October 30, 1979 4–4 Boston Bruins (1979–80) 5–3–2
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 11 W November 1, 1979 4–2 New York Rangers (1979–80) 6–3–2 12 L November 3, 1979 1–4 @ St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 6–4–2 13 W November 4, 1979 5–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80) 7–4–2 14 L November 6, 1979 1–4 @ New York Islanders (1979–80) 7–5–2 15 L November 7, 1979 4–8 @ New York Rangers (1979–80) 7–6–2 16 T November 10, 1979 6–6 Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 7–6–3 17 W November 13, 1979 4–1 Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 8–6–3 18 T November 15, 1979 3–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 8–6–4 19 L November 17, 1979 1–3 Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 8–7–4 20 W November 20, 1979 5–1 @ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 9–7–4 21 L November 21, 1979 4–6 Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 9–8–4 22 T November 24, 1979 4–4 New York Islanders (1979–80) 9–8–5 23 W November 27, 1979 5–3 Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 10–8–5
December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 24 W December 1, 1979 7–0 Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80) 11–8–5 25 W December 4, 1979 6–2 @ Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 12–8–5 26 L December 6, 1979 4–9 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 12–9–5 27 L December 7, 1979 2–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 12–10–5 28 L December 9, 1979 2–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 12–11–5 29 W December 12, 1979 7–4 Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 13–11–5 30 W December 15, 1979 4–3 Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 14–11–5 31 T December 19, 1979 4–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 14–11–6 32 L December 20, 1979 3–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 14–12–6 33 W December 22, 1979 9–3 Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 15–12–6 34 W December 27, 1979 3–0 Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 16–12–6 35 W December 29, 1979 4–3 Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 17–12–6
January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 36 W January 2, 1980 4–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 18–12–6 37 T January 5, 1980 3–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 18–12–7 38 T January 6, 1980 4–4 @ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 18–12–8 39 L January 8, 1980 3–6 @ St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 18–13–8 40 W January 9, 1980 6–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80) 19–13–8 41 W January 12, 1980 6–5 @ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 20–13–8 42 L January 13, 1980 3–5 @ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 20–14–8 43 L January 16, 1980 2–4 Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 20–15–8 44 L January 19, 1980 2–4 Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 20–16–8 45 L January 22, 1980 4–5 New York Rangers (1979–80) 20–17–8 46 W January 24, 1980 5–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 21–17–8 47 T January 26, 1980 4–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 21–17–9 48 L January 27, 1980 1–9 @ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 21–18–9 49 L January 29, 1980 3–7 Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 21–19–9 50 L January 30, 1980 1–8 Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 21–20–9
February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 51 L February 2, 1980 4–5 Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 21–21–9 52 L February 3, 1980 3–5 @ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 21–22–9 53 L February 6, 1980 3–7 @ Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 21–23–9 54 L February 7, 1980 1–4 @ New York Islanders (1979–80) 21–24–9 55 W February 9, 1980 7–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 22–24–9 56 L February 10, 1980 2–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 22–25–9 57 L February 12, 1980 2–5 Washington Capitals (1979–80) 22–26–9 58 L February 14, 1980 4–6 St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 22–27–9 59 W February 16, 1980 3–2 New York Islanders (1979–80) 23–27–9 60 W February 18, 1980 4–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 24–27–9 61 W February 20, 1980 3–0 Boston Bruins (1979–80) 25–27–9 62 L February 23, 1980 1–5 Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 25–28–9 63 L February 26, 1980 3–5 @ Washington Capitals (1979–80) 25–29–9 64 L February 27, 1980 4–5 @ New York Rangers (1979–80) 25–30–9
March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 65 L March 1, 1980 0–4 @ Boston Bruins (1979–80) 25–31–9 66 W March 2, 1980 4–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 26–31–9 67 L March 5, 1980 1–3 Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 26–32–9 68 T March 8, 1980 3–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80) 26–32–10 69 L March 10, 1980 3–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 26–33–10 70 L March 12, 1980 2–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 26–34–10 71 T March 13, 1980 2–2 @ Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 26–34–11 72 T March 15, 1980 2–2 Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 26–34–12 73 W March 19, 1980 4–3 Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 27–34–12 74 W March 22, 1980 4–1 Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 28–34–12 75 W March 25, 1980 5–2 @ Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 29–34–12 76 T March 27, 1980 2–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 29–34–13 77 T March 29, 1980 2–2 Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 29–34–14
April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 78 W April 1, 1980 4–3 Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 30–34–14 79 L April 3, 1980 2–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 30–35–14 80 L April 5, 1980 3–5 Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 30–36–14
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Marcel Dionne C 80 53 84 137 32 35 17 0 6 Charlie Simmer LW 64 56 45 101 65 47 21 0 8 Dave Taylor RW 61 37 53 90 72 39 12 0 7 Butch Goring C 69 20 48 68 12 -21 2 1 1 Doug Halward D 63 11 45 56 52 14 8 0 0 Mike Murphy RW 80 27 22 49 29 -12 7 3 1 Robert Palmer D 78 4 36 40 18 29 1 0 0 Steve Jensen LW 76 21 15 36 13 -39 4 2 2 Andre St. Laurent C 77 6 24 30 88 -13 1 0 0 Glenn Goldup RW 55 10 11 21 78 -4 1 0 1 Steve Carlson C 52 9 12 21 23 -7 1 0 1 Syl Apps Jr. C 51 5 16 21 12 -17 1 0 0 Randy Manery D 52 6 10 16 48 -13 3 0 0 Dean Hopkins RW 60 8 6 14 39 -16 1 0 2 Brad Selwood D 63 1 13 14 82 -14 1 0 0 Barry Gibbs D 63 2 9 11 32 -13 0 0 0 Billy Harris RW 11 4 3 7 6 4 1 0 1 Bert Wilson LW 75 4 3 7 91 -19 1 1 0 Don Howse LW 33 2 5 7 6 -16 0 0 0 John Paul Kelly LW 40 2 5 7 28 -6 0 0 0 Jerry Korab D 11 1 2 3 34 -3 0 0 0 Richard Mulhern D 15 0 3 3 16 1 0 0 0 Dave Lewis D 11 1 1 2 12 3 0 0 0 Ron Grahame G 26 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Mark Hardy D 15 0 1 1 10 -7 0 0 0 Randy Holt D 42 0 1 1 94 -3 0 0 0 Rick Hampton LW/D 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Doug Keans G 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mario Lessard G 50 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 Mike Marson LW 3 0 0 0 5 -2 0 0 0 Jay Wells D 43 0 0 0 113 -22 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Mario Lessard 2836 50 18 22 7 185 3.91 0 Ron Grahame 1405 26 9 11 4 98 4.19 2 Doug Keans 559 10 3 3 3 23 2.47 0 Team: 4800 80 30 36 14 306 3.83 2

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Dave Taylor RW 4 2 1 3 4 0 0 0 Robert Palmer D 4 1 2 3 4 0 0 0 Marcel Dionne C 4 0 3 3 4 0 0 0 Charlie Simmer LW 3 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 Steve Carlson C 4 1 1 2 7 0 0 0 Mark Hardy D 4 1 1 2 9 0 0 0 Glenn Goldup RW 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 Mike Murphy RW 4 1 0 1 2 0 1 0 Andre St. Laurent C 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 Dean Hopkins RW 4 0 1 1 5 0 0 0 Jerry Korab D 3 0 1 1 11 0 0 0 Dave Lewis D 4 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 Barry Gibbs D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Doug Halward D 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Billy Harris RW 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Don Howse LW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Steve Jensen LW 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Doug Keans G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 John Paul Kelly LW 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Mario Lessard G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brad Selwood D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jay Wells D 4 0 0 0 11 0 0 0 Bert Wilson LW 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Mario Lessard 207 4 1 2 14 4.06 0 Doug Keans 40 1 0 1 7 10.50 0 Team: 247 4 1 3 21 5.10 0

Note:

Pos = Position;GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Pos = Position;GP = Games played; Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved;SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1979–80 season.

Trades

June 9, 1979	To Los Angeles Kings Barry Gibbs	To New York Islanders Tom Williams
June 11, 1979	To Los Angeles Kings Mike Marson	To Washington Capitals Steve Clippingdale
August 16, 1979	To Los Angeles Kings Cash	To St. Louis Blues Tom Williams
September 14, 1979	To Los Angeles Kings Brad Selwood 4th round pick in 1982 – Dave Ross	To Montreal Canadiens 4th round pick in 1982 – John DeVoe
March 10, 1980	To Los Angeles Kings Billy Harris Dave Lewis	To New York Islanders Butch Goring
March 10, 1980	To Los Angeles Kings Jerry Korab	To Buffalo Sabres 1st round pick in 1982 – Phil Housley

Free agent signings

October 1, 1979	From Montreal Canadiens Don Howse
October 11, 1979	From Saginaw Gears (IHL) Scott Gruhl

Free agents lost

January 21, 1980

To Philadelphia Flyers Dave Gardner

Free agent compensation

August 22, 1979

To Los Angeles Kings Andre St. Laurent 1st round pick in 1980 – Larry Murphy 1st round pick in 1981 – Doug Smith

To Detroit Red Wings Dale McCourt Rogie Vachon

Waivers

February 10, 1980

To Toronto Maple Leafs Richard Mulhern

Expansion draft

June 13, 1979	To Edmonton Oilers Larry Brown
June 13, 1979	To Quebec Nordiques Hartland Monahan
June 13, 1979	To Winnipeg Jets Dennis Abgrall
June 13, 1979	To Winnipeg Jets Mark Heaslip

Draft picks

Los Angeles's draft picks at the 1979 NHL entry draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	16	Jay Wells	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OHL)
2	29	Dean Hopkins	Canada	London Knights (OMJHL)
2	30	Mark Hardy	Canada	Montreal Juniors (QMJHL)
3	50	John-Paul Kelly	Canada	New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
4	71	John Gibson	Canada	Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
5	92	Jim Brown	United States	University of Notre Dame (WCHA)
6	113	Jay McFarlane	Canada	University of Wisconsin (WCHA)

See also

• 1979–80 NHL season