It Happened at the Coliseum … on FEBRUARY 26th

28 years ago tonight (1987) -  In a game that featured four unassisted goals, including three by the Islanders, Alan Kerr scored the winning goal with 12:26 to play as the Isles beat Pittsburgh 5-4.

Dale Henry, Pat LaFontaine, Mike Bossy and Neal Coulter had the other goals for the Isles, who led 1-0, 3-1, 4-2  and 5-3 before hanging on for the victory.  Mario Lemieux, who was on his way to his first 50 goal campaign, recorded his 40^th goal of the season for Pittsburgh.

It was Kerr’s first goal in 19 games and he had a chance later in the period to score his second when he was awarded a penalty shot after Pittsburgh’s Randy Hillier dislodged the net moments before Kerr shot a puck into it.  Kerr told Newsday’s Jim Smith:  I'd never taken a penalty shot - ever, from minor hockey on up . . . I was a little nervous."

The win pushed the Isles back into second place in the Patrick Division, two points ahead of the Rangers and extended the Isles unbeaten streak over Pittsburgh to 13 games (12-0-1).

The Isles played nine February 26^th home games after this one, and didn’t win any of them (0-6-3).

Also on this date: (1977) – Clark Gillies and Lorne Henning each scored twice and added an assist as the Isles pounded Atlanta 8-2.  The Isles scored three goals in a 45 second span of the second period, establishing a club record (since broken).

All-time, the Isles have played fourteen February 26th games at the Coliseum and finish with a 2-7-5 record on this date at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale. 

Note from Eric:

Recently, I was approached by @Islesblog to participate in a project for charity based on the "It Happened" theme.

The result is these gorgeous T-shirts and hoodies:

and now they can be yours.

Please visit http://teespring.com/IslesBlogIHATC to order.

Check out http://nyislesblog.com/articles/it-happened-at-the-coliseum-shirts-now-available for more on the campaign.

 All proceeds benefit one of my favorite charities: Make-A-Wish® Metro New York.