(Sports Network) - Goals have been hard to come by for the Islanders over their franchise record-tying losing streak and things don't figure to get any easier tonight against a Thrashers club that shut out the league's points leader last time out.
That is what New York is up against this evening as it hopes to avoid its 13th consecutive loss in a battle with Atlanta at Philips Arena.
It has been exactly a month since the Islanders last recorded a victory, a 3-2 overtime triumph over the Lightning on Oct. 21. New York lost a 4-3 game in Florida two days later, the start of a 0-11-1 stretch that was extended last night with a 4-1 setback versus the Panthers.
New York has lost 12 straight for the third time in club history, setting the original mark on Dec. 27, 1972-Jan. 18, 1973 and later matching it from Nov. 22-Dec. 17, 1988.
Matt Moulson had the lone goal in last night's loss, his team-leading eighth of the season, but New York has scored just 11 goals in its last 10 games. Dwayne Roloson made 27 saves in defeat.
"We're getting there. We're taking steps in the right direction to get there," Roloson said. "Unfortunately, it's taking us a long time."
The Islanders, who have lost their last two under interim head coach Jack Capuano after Scott Gordon was fired on Monday, were without captain Dough Weight last night due to back spasms.
New York has also lost eight straight on the road and tonight faces an Atlanta team that blanked the NHL-leading Washington Capitals on Friday. Ondrej Pavelec turned aside all 29 shots faced in a the 5-0 victory for his first shutout of the season and third of his career.
The Thrashers scored three times on their first five shots, getting goals from Evander Kane, Nik Antropov and Ben Eager before the game was 10 minutes old. All three skaters also finished with an assist each.
"It was a team effort. We played all 60 minutes," Pavelec said.
Atlanta halted a three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in eight games. The club has now split the first two contests of a six-game homestand and has dropped four of its last six at Philips Arena.
Forward Fredrik Modin has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury and did not practice on Saturday, leaving him questionable for tonight.
Though the Isles won three of four over the Thrashers last year, they did suffer a 6-3 loss in their last game at Philips Arena on March 4.