The Night a Grinder Helped Launch an Oilers Dynasty
When people think about the Edmonton Oilers dynasty, they usually think about the stars. Wayne Gretzky. Mark Messier. Jari Kurri. Grant Fuhr. The highlights, the records, and eventually the Stanley Cups. But dynasties often begin with moments that don't seem historic at the time.
For the Oilers, one of those moments came on May 10, 1984.
The New York Islanders had won four straight Stanley Cups.
Edmonton entered Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the New York Islanders carrying a burden that every NHL team understood. The Islanders had won four consecutive Stanley Cups and seemed almost untouchable. They weren't just champions. They were the standard everyone else was trying to reach.
The Oilers had talent, but talent alone wasn't enough. They still had to prove they could beat hockey's ultimate measuring stick. Just 1:55 into the game, an unlikely hero stepped forward. Kevin McClelland wasn't one of Edmonton's marquee names. He wasn't filling highlight reels or leading scoring races. He was the kind of player every great team needs but rarely celebrates enough—a hardworking grinder willing to do the difficult jobs.
That night, McClelland scored the only goal of the game. One goal.
Related: 3 Things That Made the Oilers' WHA Years So Special.
Grant Fuhr shut out the Islanders, and the Oilers' confidence began to grow.
That was all Edmonton needed because Grant Fuhr delivered one of the most important performances of his career. Calm, composed, and seemingly unfazed by the pressure, Fuhr stopped everything the Islanders threw at him and recorded a 1-0 shutout.
The statistics from that night are simple. The impact was anything but. What changed wasn't just the series score. It was the Oilers' belief in themselves. For the first time, the Oilers proved to themselves that the Islanders could be beaten. The dynasty that had dominated the NHL suddenly looked vulnerable. The psychological barrier that had stood between Edmonton and a championship began to crack.
The 1-0 win over the Islanders changed everything for the Oilers.
That's why this single game remains such an important moment in Oilers history. It wasn't Gretzky scoring five points. It wasn't a dramatic overtime winner. It wasn't even a Cup-clinching game.
Instead, it was something far more human. A depth player scoring a huge goal. A young goaltender refusing to blink. A team finds out that the giant standing in front of them is not invincible after all. The Oilers would go on to win the Stanley Cup and launch one of hockey's greatest dynasties. The banners, records, and championships all followed from that growing belief.
But sometimes history turns on a much smaller moment. On May 10, 1984, one goal and one shutout helped change everything.