Facts and Figures: Islanders look to tie record point streak set in 1982

The New York Islanders will try to match their longest point streak since entering the NHL in 1972 when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ATTSN-PT, MSG+, NHL.TV).

The Islanders' 14-game point streak (13-0-1) is the longest by any team this season. They've had three 15-game streaks: Nov. 4-Dec. 9, 1978 (12-0, three ties), Nov. 4- Dec. 2, 1980 (13-0, two ties) and Jan. 21-Feb. 20, 1982 (15-0-0).
The only blemish on their current streak is a 4-3 overtime loss to the Penguins at Barclays Center on Nov. 7. The Penguins also ended New York's 15-game winning streak, then an NHL record, with a 4-3 win in Pittsburgh on Feb. 21, 1982.

Surging Western Conference teams try to continue winning streaks

The San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars each will put winning streaks on the line at home Tuesday.
San Jose, 6-0-0 in its past six games, takes the longest active winning streak into its game against the Edmonton Oilers at SAP Center (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SNW, NHL.TV). The Sharks (10-10-1) will have to cool off the top two players in the NHL scoring race, forward Leon Draisaitl (43 points; 16 goals, 27 assists) and center Connor McDavid (40 points; 14 goals, 26 assists).
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (19 points; five goals, 14 assists) and forward Evander Kane (18 points; 12 goals, six assists) are within reach of joining teammates Tomas Hertl (21 points; 10 goals, 11 assists) and Logan Couture (21 points; three goals, 18 assists) with at least 20 points. The Vancouver Canucks and Washington Capitals are tied for the NHL lead with
three 20-point players
.
The Blackhawks (9-7-4) go for their fifth straight win when they host the Carolina Hurricanes at United Center (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, FS-CR, NHL.TV). Chicago has outscored its opponents 21-10 during a four-game winning streak, are 6-1-2 since Nov. 1 and lead the NHL in goals during that span with 36 (including shootout-deciding goals). Forward Patrick Kane has a nine-game point streak (17 points; eight goals, nine assists) and is second to Draisaitl (18 points; four goals 14 assists) in scoring this month.
The Stars (11-8-2) have won three in a row entering their game against the Canucks at American Airlines Center (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, SNP, NHL.TV). Goalie Ben Bishop is 5-1-0 in his past six decisions, allowing no more than two goals in any of those games.

Carlson, Holtby lead way for Capitals

The combination of defenseman John Carlson and goalie Braden Holtby continues to excel for the Capitals. Carlson had three assists and Holtby made 32 saves for the NHL-leading Capitals (16-3-4) in a 5-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Capital One Arena on Monday. Washington is 9-1-1 in its past 11 games.
Carlson, the highest-scoring defenseman in the NHL with 35 points, had his 25th, 26th and 27th assists to become the seventh different defenseman since 1979-80 to require 23 or fewer team games to reach 25 assists in one season. The other defenseman to accomplish the feat prior to 1979-80 was Bobby Orr, who did it five times for the Boston Bruins. One of those occasions was 1969-70, when he had 25 assists in Boston's first 16 games.

Holtby is 10-0-1 since a 6-5 loss at the Nashville Predators on Oct. 10. He is the only Capitals goalie since the team entered the NHL in 1974 to have three point streaks of at least 11 games. He is the fifth active goalie with at least three personal point streaks of at least 11 games, joining Marc-Andre Fleury (four with Pittsburgh, one with the Vegas Golden Knights), Pekka Rinne (four with the Predators), Sergei Bobrovsky (four with the Columbus Blue Jackets) and Tuukka Rask (three with the Bruins).

Holtby (11-1-3) has 11 wins through his first 15 decisions for the second time in his NHL career; he also did it in 2017-18. The two Capitals goalies with more than 11 wins after 15 decisions are Michal Neuvirth (12-3-0 in 2010-11) and Semyon Varlamov (12-1-2 in 2009-10).

Coyotes climb in West with second straight shutout

The Arizona Coyotes (13-7-2) earned their second straight shutout by defeating the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 at Gila River Arena behind a 31-save performance from Antti Raanta.
Arizona, which moved within one point of tying the St. Louis Blues (12-4-5) and Oilers (13-6-3) for the most among Western Conference teams, had consecutive shutouts for the sixth time in franchise history. All have come since the team relocated from Winnipeg in 1996.