The Skinny on February 11, 1982 - the last time the Isles won 10 straight

It's been over 37 years since the Isles stretched a winning streak to 10 games.  

The Isles will look for their tenth straight win at Barclays Center on Tuesday vs. Ottawa; an Isles win would produce the 51st winning streak of at least 10 games in NHL history.

No current Islander was born when this game was played; only six players who have appeared in a game this season were:

• Zdeno Chara
• Patrick Marleau
• Joe Thornton
• Ron Hainsey
• Ryan Miller
• Craig Anderson

(A few others, including Henrik Lundqvist, were born later in 1982)

Some young statistician was in his first month on the job (and no, his handwriting wasn't any better), when on February 11, 1982, the Isles went into Chicago Stadium and beat the Hawks 8-2 for their (then-franchise record) 10th straight win.

The game was actually tied 2-2 with four minutes left in the second period.  The Isles reeled off three goals in a 3:38 span to blow the game open, with a different defenseman (Denis Potvin, Stefan Persson, and Tomas Jonsson).

The Isles would add three more in the third period for the final margin.  Billy Carroll scored the final goal shorthanded, with Butch Goring serving just one of his 15 penalties as an Islander.

Roland Melanson made 30 saves; Bryan Trottier had two assists, extending his point streak to 10 games.

It was the first 10-game win streak in the NHL since Atlanta won 10 straight early in the 1978-79 season.

How dominant were the Isles in this streak?  In the first 10 games of their streak, they outscored the opposition by a combined total of 64-24 and had scored a power play goal in eight straight games.

Here's the box:

11-Feb-82

New York Islanders 8 @ Chicago Blackhawks 2

First Period

1 - NYI : Nystrom 14 (Goring, Bourne) (EV) 2:48

2 - CHI : Bulley 6 (Wilson) (EV) 9:52

3 - NYI : Bossy 41 (Trottier, Tonelli) (PP) 17:32

Penalties - CHI - Feamster 12:02 ; CHI - Wilson 15:36 ; NYI - Gillies 19:02 ;

Second Period

4 - CHI : Higgins 17 (Savard, Bulley) (EV) 7:26

5 - NYI : Potvin 13 (Trottier, Bossy) (PP) 16:02

6 - NYI : Persson 4 (EV) 17:24

7 - NYI : Jonsson 6 (Bossy) (EV) 19:40

Penalties - CHI - Marsh 8:15 ; NYI - Mcewen 13:29 ; CHI - Crossman 15:01 ;

Third Period

8 - NYI : Tonelli 24 (Bossy, Potvin) (EV) 1:19

9 - NYI : Sutter D 14 (Sutter B) (EV) 9:10

10 - NYI : Carroll 5 (SH) 13:44

Penalties - NYI - Goring 12:01 ; CHI - Mulvey 14:28 ; NYI - Sutter B 15:19 ; CHI - Hutchison 18:46 ;

Shots On Goal

                                1 2 3 T

New York Islanders 14 12 10 36

Chicago Blackhawks 10 12 10 32

Powerplay Conversions

New York Islanders : 2 of 6

Chicago Blackhawks : 0 of 4

Goaltenders

Esposito (CHI) (L) 28 saves on 36 shots - 60:00 mins

Melanson (NYI) (W) 30 saves on 32 shots - 60:00 mins

Attendance - 14,031

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