The Isles will be looking for their first Leap Day win in 40 years tonight.
It is the 6th time the Isles have ever played on 2/29 and the first time on the road since they were in Detroit 28 years ago tonight.
29-Feb-84 @ Winnipeg 4 3 W
29-Feb-92 Vs New Jersey 1 3 L
29-Feb-96 @ Detroit 1 5 L
29-Feb-04 Vs Pittsburgh 2 3 Lot
29-Feb-20 Vs Boston 0 4 L
Of those, the 2/29/84 game is by far the most interesting (beyond the fact that the Isles won) - LaFontaine and Flatley made their NHL debuts in that game. Flatley had a goal and an assist in his debut; LaFontaine was held scoreless that night but would have a hat trick three days later in Toronto. Check the video of Flats' goal here: https://youtu.be/bLPKPXXqgWM?t=619 which begins with Jiggs and Eddie explaining Leap Day.
The others:
1992 - Chris Terreri made 28 saves; David Volek's goal with 51 seconds to play got the Isles within one before an ENG sealed matters.
1996 - Ziggy Palffy had the only Isles goal as the reigning Champs completed a sweep of a home/home. Chris Osgood was in goal for Detroit.
2004 - Ryan Malone beat Garth Snow in overtime; Andy Chiodo (an Isles draft pick) recorded the second of his three NHL wins.
2020 - Butch Goring's #91 heads to the Coliseum rafters but the Isles are blanked by Boston 4-0. You can see the ceremony here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nor1swktLCo
If you check out that Winnipeg game, you will find Doug Soetaert in goal for the Jets; he faced the Islanders in another famous game about 4 1/2 years earlier: Double Chili.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick
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