1980–81 Los Angeles Kings season

The 1980–81 Los Angeles Kings season, was the Kings' 14th season in the National Hockey League. It saw the Kings make it to the playoffs, losing in the preliminary round to the New York Rangers.

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	80	45	22	13	332	232	103
Los Angeles Kings	80	43	24	13	337	290	99
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	30	37	13	302	345	73
Hartford Whalers	80	21	41	18	292	372	60
Detroit Red Wings	80	19	43	18	252	339	56

^[1]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^[2]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – New York Islanders	PTK	80	48	18	14	355	260	110
2	x – St. Louis Blues	SMY	80	45	18	17	352	281	107
3	y – Montreal Canadiens	NRS	80	45	22	13	332	232	103
4	Los Angeles Kings	NRS	80	43	24	13	337	290	99
5	x – Buffalo Sabres	ADM	80	39	20	21	327	250	99
6	Philadelphia Flyers	PTK	80	41	24	15	313	249	97
7	Calgary Flames	PTK	80	39	27	14	329	298	92
8	Boston Bruins	ADM	80	37	30	13	316	272	87
9	Minnesota North Stars	ADM	80	35	28	17	291	263	87
10	Chicago Black Hawks	SMY	80	31	33	16	304	315	78
11	Quebec Nordiques	ADM	80	30	32	18	314	318	78
12	Vancouver Canucks	SMY	80	28	32	20	289	301	76
13	New York Rangers	PTK	80	30	36	14	312	317	74
14	Edmonton Oilers	SMY	80	29	35	16	328	327	74
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	NRS	80	30	37	13	302	345	73
16	Toronto Maple Leafs	ADM	80	28	37	15	322	367	71
17	Washington Capitals	PTK	80	26	36	18	286	317	70
18	Hartford Whalers	NRS	80	21	41	18	292	372	60
19	Colorado Rockies	SMY	80	22	45	13	258	344	57
20	Detroit Red Wings	NRS	80	19	43	18	252	339	56
21	Winnipeg Jets	SMY	80	9	57	14	246	400	32

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)

1980–81 regular season[4]
October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 1 W October 11, 1980 8–1 Detroit Red Wings (1980–81) 1–0–0 2 L October 14, 1980 2–4 @ Calgary Flames (1980–81) 1–1–0 3 W October 16, 1980 6–4 Quebec Nordiques (1980–81) 2–1–0 4 W October 18, 1980 4–3 Colorado Rockies (1980–81) 3–1–0 5 W October 22, 1980 4–0 Boston Bruins (1980–81) 4–1–0 6 W October 25, 1980 5–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81) 5–1–0 7 T October 26, 1980 4–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1980–81) 5–1–1 8 W October 28, 1980 8–4 @ Colorado Rockies (1980–81) 6–1–1 9 W October 29, 1980 4–2 Washington Capitals (1980–81) 7–1–1
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 10 W November 1, 1980 7–3 @ New York Islanders (1980–81) 8–1–1 11 W November 2, 1980 6–3 @ New York Rangers (1980–81) 9–1–1 12 W November 5, 1980 5–3 @ Washington Capitals (1980–81) 10–1–1 13 L November 6, 1980 2–8 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81) 10–2–1 14 L November 8, 1980 0–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1980–81) 10–3–1 15 W November 10, 1980 4–1 New York Rangers (1980–81) 11–3–1 16 L November 12, 1980 4–8 Montreal Canadiens (1980–81) 11–4–1 17 L November 15, 1980 3–5 St. Louis Blues (1980–81) 11–5–1 18 W November 16, 1980 3–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1980–81) 12–5–1 19 W November 19, 1980 7–2 Winnipeg Jets (1980–81) 13–5–1 20 W November 22, 1980 5–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81) 14–5–1 21 W November 24, 1980 4–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1980–81) 15–5–1 22 L November 26, 1980 2–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81) 15–6–1 23 W November 29, 1980 5–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81) 16–6–1
December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 24 W December 2, 1980 5–2 Hartford Whalers (1980–81) 17–6–1 25 W December 4, 1980 3–1 Vancouver Canucks (1980–81) 18–6–1 26 W December 6, 1980 5–3 New York Islanders (1980–81) 19–6–1 27 L December 8, 1980 2–4 Calgary Flames (1980–81) 19–7–1 28 W December 10, 1980 7–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1980–81) 20–7–1 29 W December 11, 1980 2–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1980–81) 21–7–1 30 T December 13, 1980 5–5 @ Hartford Whalers (1980–81) 21–7–2 31 L December 14, 1980 1–7 @ Boston Bruins (1980–81) 21–8–2 32 T December 17, 1980 3–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81) 21–8–3 33 L December 20, 1980 4–7 Buffalo Sabres (1980–81) 21–9–3 34 W December 23, 1980 7–4 Edmonton Oilers (1980–81) 22–9–3 35 W December 26, 1980 6–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1980–81) 23–9–3 36 T December 27, 1980 4–4 St. Louis Blues (1980–81) 23–9–4 37 L December 30, 1980 0–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1980–81) 23–10–4 38 W December 31, 1980 5–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1980–81) 24–10–4
January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 39 L January 2, 1981 6–7 @ Calgary Flames (1980–81) 24–11–4 40 W January 5, 1981 5–2 Calgary Flames (1980–81) 25–11–4 41 W January 7, 1981 5–3 Hartford Whalers (1980–81) 26–11–4 42 T January 10, 1981 6–6 @ St. Louis Blues (1980–81) 26–11–5 43 T January 11, 1981 4–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1980–81) 26–11–6 44 W January 14, 1981 5–4 @ Hartford Whalers (1980–81) 27–11–6 45 L January 15, 1981 0–3 @ Washington Capitals (1980–81) 27–12–6 46 L January 17, 1981 4–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81) 27–13–6 47 L January 18, 1981 2–7 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81) 27–14–6 48 W January 20, 1981 11–4 Detroit Red Wings (1980–81) 28–14–6 49 T January 22, 1981 3–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81) 28–14–7 50 W January 24, 1981 6–4 @ Boston Bruins (1980–81) 29–14–7 51 W January 26, 1981 7–5 @ Quebec Nordiques (1980–81) 30–14–7 52 L January 28, 1981 2–6 New York Rangers (1980–81) 30–15–7 53 W January 31, 1981 4–1 Montreal Canadiens (1980–81) 31–15–7
February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 54 W February 2, 1981 3–2 @ New York Rangers (1980–81) 32–15–7 55 L February 3, 1981 1–8 @ New York Islanders (1980–81) 32–16–7 56 L February 5, 1981 4–6 @ Detroit Red Wings (1980–81) 32–17–7 57 T February 7, 1981 4–4 Washington Capitals (1980–81) 32–17–8 58 T February 12, 1981 5–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81) 32–17–9 59 L February 14, 1981 4–5 Boston Bruins (1980–81) 32–18–9 60 L February 18, 1981 2–4 Quebec Nordiques (1980–81) 32–19–9 61 L February 21, 1981 1–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1980–81) 32–20–9 62 W February 24, 1981 5–2 Edmonton Oilers (1980–81) 33–20–9 63 W February 26, 1981 4–3 Vancouver Canucks (1980–81) 34–20–9 64 L February 28, 1981 1–2 New York Islanders (1980–81) 34–21–9
March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 65 W March 2, 1981 1–0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1980–81) 35–21–9 66 L March 4, 1981 5–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81) 35–22–9 67 W March 6, 1981 3–1 @ Colorado Rockies (1980–81) 36–22–9 68 W March 8, 1981 4–1 @ Winnipeg Jets (1980–81) 37–22–9 69 T March 11, 1981 4–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81) 37–22–10 70 W March 14, 1981 10–4 Minnesota North Stars (1980–81) 38–22–10 71 L March 17, 1981 1–3 Buffalo Sabres (1980–81) 38–23–10 72 T March 19, 1981 4–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1980–81) 38–23–11 73 T March 21, 1981 6–6 @ Edmonton Oilers (1980–81) 38–23–12 74 W March 22, 1981 7–5 @ Winnipeg Jets (1980–81) 39–23–12 75 W March 24, 1981 4–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1980–81) 40–23–12 76 W March 25, 1981 4–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1980–81) 41–23–12 77 W March 28, 1981 3–2 Minnesota North Stars (1980–81) 42–23–12 78 W March 31, 1981 7–3 Winnipeg Jets (1980–81) 43–23–12
April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 79 L April 2, 1981 4–6 @ St. Louis Blues (1980–81) 43–24–12 80 T April 4, 1981 5–5 Colorado Rockies (1980–81) 43–24–13
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Marcel Dionne C 80 58 77 135 70 55 23 4 9 Dave Taylor RW 72 47 65 112 130 47 13 0 3 Charlie Simmer LW 65 56 49 105 62 31 23 0 9 Larry Murphy D 80 16 60 76 79 17 5 1 1 Jerry Korab D 78 9 43 52 139 10 3 0 2 Billy Harris RW 80 20 29 49 36 -1 1 4 1 Jim Fox RW 71 18 25 43 8 0 2 0 2 Mike Murphy RW 68 16 23 39 54 -7 2 1 1 Steve Jensen LW 74 19 19 38 88 -6 5 1 4 Greg Terrion LW 73 12 25 37 99 -1 2 0 2 Dan Bonar C 71 11 15 26 57 0 3 1 3 Dean Hopkins RW 67 8 18 26 118 6 2 0 1 Mark Hardy D 77 5 20 25 77 14 3 0 1 Garry Unger C 58 10 10 20 40 -17 1 0 0 Doug Halward D 51 4 15 19 96 -2 1 0 0 Jay Wells D 72 5 13 18 155 9 0 0 1 Andre St. Laurent C 22 10 6 16 63 8 0 0 2 Glenn Goldup RW 49 6 9 15 35 -2 0 0 0 Dave Lewis D 67 1 12 13 98 25 0 0 0 John Paul Kelly LW 19 3 6 9 8 4 0 0 0 Rick Chartraw D/RW 21 1 6 7 28 1 0 0 1 Robert Palmer D 13 0 4 4 13 5 0 0 0 Rick Martin LW 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 Don Luce C 10 1 0 1 2 -4 0 0 0 Mario Lessard G 64 0 1 1 8 0 0 0 0 Jim Rutherford G 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 John Gibson D 4 0 0 0 21 -5 0 0 0 Ron Grahame G 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Doug Keans G 9 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 Dave Morrison RW 3 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 Paul Pageau G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kevin Schamehorn RW 5 0 0 0 4 -1 0 0 0 Don Waddell D 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO Mario Lessard 3746 64 35 18 11 203 3.25 2 Ron Grahame 360 6 3 2 1 28 4.67 0 Jim Rutherford 180 3 3 0 0 10 3.33 0 Doug Keans 454 9 2 3 1 37 4.89 0 Paul Pageau 60 1 0 1 0 8 8.00 0 Team: 4800 80 43 24 13 286 3.57 2

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Dave Taylor RW 4 2 2 4 10 1 0 0 Marcel Dionne C 4 1 3 4 7 1 0 0 Larry Murphy D 4 3 0 3 2 1 0 0 Billy Harris RW 4 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 Mark Hardy D 4 1 2 3 4 1 0 0 Dan Bonar C 4 1 1 2 11 0 1 0 Steve Jensen LW 4 0 2 2 7 0 0 0 Dave Lewis D 4 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 Don Luce C 4 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 Dean Hopkins RW 4 1 0 1 9 0 0 1 Greg Terrion LW 3 1 0 1 4 1 0 0 Rick Chartraw D/RW 4 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 Jim Fox RW 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 John Paul Kelly LW 4 0 1 1 25 0 0 0 Mike Murphy RW 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Andre St. Laurent C 3 0 1 1 9 0 0 0 Jerry Korab D 4 0 0 0 33 0 0 0 Mario Lessard G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rick Martin LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jim Rutherford G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jay Wells D 4 0 0 0 27 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO Mario Lessard 220 4 1 3 20 5.45 0 Jim Rutherford 20 1 0 0 2 6.00 0 Team: 240 4 1 3 22 5.50 0

^[5]

The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1980–81 season.^[6]

June 6, 1980	To Los Angeles Kings Garry Unger	To Calgary Flames Bert Wilson Randy Holt
December 12, 1980	To Los Angeles Kings Cash	To Quebec Nordiques Ron Grahame
February 17, 1981	To Los Angeles Kings Rick Chartraw	To Montreal Canadiens 3rd round pick in 1983 – Claude Lemieux
March 8, 1981	To Los Angeles Kings 5th round pick in 1982 – Ulf Isaksson Future considerations	To Vancouver Canucks Doug Halward
March 10, 1981	To Los Angeles Kings 7th round pick in 1981 – Craig Hurley	To Edmonton Oilers Garry Unger
March 10, 1981	To Los Angeles Kings Don Luce	To Buffalo Sabres 6th round pick in 1982 – Jeff Parker
March 10, 1981	To Los Angeles Kings Jim Rutherford	To Toronto Maple Leafs 5th round pick in 1981 – Barry Brigley
March 10, 1981	To Los Angeles Kings Rick Martin	To Buffalo Sabres 3rd round pick in 1981 – Colin Chisholm 1st round pick in 1983 – Tom Barrasso

May 6, 1980	From Team Canada Paul Pageau
August 1, 1980	From Edmonton Oilers Alec Tidey
August 1, 1980	From Vancouver Canucks Larry Goodenough
September 15, 1980	From Oklahoma City Stars (CHL) Cal Sandbeck
September 15, 1980	From Colorado Rockies Nelson Pyatt
October 18, 1980	From Detroit Red Wings Kevin Schamehorn

Los Angeles's draft picks at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	4	Larry Murphy	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
1	10	Jim Fox	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
2	33	Greg Terrion	Canada	Brantford Alexanders (OHA)
2	34	Dave Morrison	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
3	52	Steve Bozek	Canada	Northern Michigan University (NCAA)
4	73	Bernie Nicholls	Canada	Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)
5	94	Alan Graves	Canada	Seattle Breakers (WHL)
6	115	Darren Eliot	Canada	Cornell University (ECAC)
7	136	Mike O'Connor	Canada	Michigan Tech University (WCHA)
8	157	Billy O'Dwyer	United States	Boston College (ECAC)
9	178	Daryl Evans	Canada	Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
10	199	Kim Collins	Canada	Bowling Green University (CCHA)

• 1980–81 NHL season