Pens halt Islanders' record winning streak at 15 in 1982

On February 20, 1982 the New York Islanders beat the Colorado Rockies to earn their 15th straight win, breaking the mark held for 52 years by the Boston Bruins.

The next night they visited the Igloo to take on the Penguins, who had but one win in their last 10 games. Seemed like a mismatch, but lo and behold, the Pens ended up stunning the Isles 4-3 behind the stellar goaltending of Michel Dion to put a kibosh on the rival Islansers' streak. It was just the kind of boost the Pittsburghers needed heading into the season's home stretch.

"Everybody in the league is going to know that it was the Pittsburgh Penguins who stopped their winning streak," said a proud Dion in this game report. "We're back on the map again."

The Isles' record would stand for 11 years when it was broken by - you guessed it - the Penguins, whose mark of 17 straight wins in 1993 still stands.

Dion backstops Pens to New Year's Day 1983 win

A look at the NHL standings on January 1, 1983 would reveal that the Penguins and Islanders were in different hockey universes, what with the three-time reigning Stanley Cup Champion Isles once again sitting near the top and the Pens languishing near the basement, nine games below .500. But for some reason Pittsburgh always played New York tough at this time in their history. Heading into a contest that day at the Civic Arena, the Pens had won the last four meetings between the two teams at the Igloo. And, of course, Pittsburgh had pushed the Isles to the brink in the first round of the playoffs the year before, losing in overtime of the fifth and deciding game.

One of the biggest reasons for the Penguins success was goalie Michel Dion's appetite for playing against New York. "I feel pretty comfortable against the Islanders," he told the Pittsburgh Press in this article. "I just like to play against them."

Dion foiled four breakaways from the star-studded Islanders while Andre St. Laurent and Mike Bullard, with the winner, provided the scoring. "It was nice to get two points now to start the year off right," said St. Laurent.