The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the Quarterfinals as the fourth seed and they qualified for this round by defeating the St. Louis Blues in the Preliminary round. The New York Islanders were seeded fifth in the Quarterfinals and qualified for this round by defeating the New York Rangers in the Preliminary round. This was the first playoff series between these two teams. The teams split this year's regular season series. After trailing the series 3–0, the Islanders rallied to win four straight games and take the series. They became the second North American professional sports team (after the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs) to accomplish such a feat.