Pre-Game Skinny: Nielsen streak ends tonight; other streaks

Frans Nielsen's consecutive game streak is expected to end tonight at 113. He
played the final 76 games last season and the first 37 games this season.
Matt Moulson is the current Islander iron man; he'll play his 120th consecutive
game tonight.

The only other Islander to appear in every game this season is Zenon Konopka.
Konopka will play in his 38th consecutive game as an Islander (and 50th overall,
counting the final 12 last season for Tampa).

Travis Hamonic plays his 8th straight tonight - tops among defensemen.

The Isles are dressing 2 goaltenders with a combined total of ZERO NHL wins.
Nathan Lawson is expected to start as the Isles look for their fourth straight
win; including three straight by three different goalies: Roloson and DiPietro
were credited with the last two wins of this streak.

The isles will be looking for their third straight road win and fourth straight
overall.

They have not won three straight on the road in almost three years (January
11-22, 2008 -- when they won 4 consecutive road games for Ted Nolan)
They have not won four straight overall in almost one year (Jan 9-18, 2010)

They will also be looking for their third straight win, all on the road.

The Isles last did that over two seasons, winning on April 7 and 8, 2007 to get
into the playoffs (mini Easter Epic) and then winning on opening night the
following October in Buffalo.

To find the last time the Isles won three straight games, all on the road in a
single season, you have to go back to Garth Snow's first four games as an
Islander ... player. They were also the first four games of Peter Laviolette's
coaching career. The Isles won in Tampa, Florida, Pittsburgh, and New Jersey to
open that season: Oct 5-6-10-11, 2001, with Osgood winning the first three and
Snow the final one.

The Isles trail Edmonton by 1 point and have a game in hand so they would pass
Edmonton with a victory. The Isles could also catch Toronto with a victory and
a Leaf regulation loss (to St. Louis). With Carolina idle tonight, an Islander
win and a Devil regulation loss would mean the Isles would be as close to 9th
place Carolina as they are to 15th place New Jersey.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick