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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
The Isles couldn’t prevent history from happening for the second straight game, but fans went home with the same special feeling.
Former captain turned forever villain John Tavares achieved “great individual success” with a goal and a milestone-hitting assist on Morgan Reilly’s game-tying goal with 7 seconds left to play. The Leafs had received pre-approval from the league to empty the bench and pour onto the ice to congratulate Tavares on reaching the 1,000-point mark whenever and wherever it happened.
Of course, it happened on Long Island. A congratulatory note flashed on the scoreboard, and the fans booed because, of course, they would. After the game, The Athletic’s Arthur Staple explained why to hockey fans (and the hockey media) who still can’t fathom why Isles fans hold a grudge all these years later.
After the boos subsided, cheers came 46 seconds into O.T., and it was the Islanders emptying the bench for a better reason on Bo Horvat’s game-winner.
“Barzy and I looked at each other and just said, ‘chance to be the heroes again tonight,” Horvat shared after the game. And heroes they would be.
Horvat extended his point streak to seven games with 11 points (5G, 6A) during that span, becoming every bit the leader and clutch performer GM Lou Lamoriello expected he was getting from Vancouver last January.
The Islanders still can’t close and still can’t come close to scoring an empty-net goal (the only team in the NHL without), but they now have points in 12 of 13 games (8-1-3) and must be considered, by any measure, the hottest team in the NHL.
This team will still (and probably always) give you plenty to be frustrated about, but they earn points every night and have been anything but slow and boring this season. They wake up this morning in second place in the Metropolitan Division, and their seven regulation losses through 27 games are just one shy of their fewest in the post-dynasty era (six in 2019-20, 2021).
