It Happened at the Coliseum … on NOVEMBER 17th

30 years ago tonight (1984) – Mike Bossy recorded his thirty-second career hat trick, tying Phil Esposito’s then-NHL record,  as the Isles pounded the Blueshirts 10-4 at the Coliseum.  Two Islanders assisted on each goal in the only 20 assist game in Islander history; the 30 points (10-20-30) tied a club record set 11 months earlier.  It was the Isles 25^th win in their last 29 home games against the Rangers.  

Bossy, who noted that he had “forgotten about the Esposito thing”, told the NY Times’ Kevin Paul Dupont:  “It’s nice to have fun on the job”.

It was the 9^th time in Isles history (then 973 regular season games) that the Isles scored at least 10 goals in a game, with three of the nine coming against the Rangers. Counting Saturday’s game in Tampa Bay, the Isles have played 2,298 regular season games since then without ever scoring ten goals again.

Unfortunately, I don't have any video of this game, but two months earlier Bossy scored a huge goal... to win the Canada Cup semifinals against the Soviets. (While the broadcast says Coffey, it was Bossy's goal.)

Also on this date: (2011) – Rick DiPietro earned his first career win in relief (replacing an injured Evgeni Nabokov)  as the Isles broke open a scoreless game with four second period goals enroute to a 4-3 win over Montreal. Each team had two Swiss-born players, marking the first NHL game with 4 players from Switzerland.

Here are the highlights of that 2011 games: 

All-time, the Isles have played six November 17th games at the Coliseum and finish with a 4-2-0 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale.