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Isles follow the leader in third straight win

Tavares hat trick propels New York over Arizona at Barclays Center

October 25, 2017 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Team captain John Tavares celebrates his seventh career hat trick Tuesday night at Downtown’s Barclays Center. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II
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John Tavares spends a lot of time in front of the net.

The Islanders’ team captain did so throughout the entirety of last season, but couldn’t manage a single goal via deflection or tip-in by his own recollection.

Those results changed drastically Tuesday night as Tavares completed his seventh career hat trick with — count ‘em — three redirected goals in New York’s 5-3 victory over Phoenix in front of a sparse but hearty crowd of 9,795 at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

“I don’t think I tipped or deflected one in last year and I had three of them today, so it’s nice to get them and when they come in a win, it’s that much better,” said Tavares, who also added an assist on Scott Mayfield’s goal with just under three minutes remaining to cap the scoring.

Coming off a three-assist night in Saturday’s 5-3 win over San Jose, Tavares didn’t get on the scoresheet until the second period Tuesday, when he rerouted new line-mate Jordan Eberle’s shot past Phoenix netminder Louis Domingue for a 1-1 tie.

He got a stick on defenseman Adam Pelech’s blast to give New York a 2-1 lead with 5:35 left in the second stanza, and deflected another Pelech shot into the net at 12:41 of the third period to put the Isles in front for good, 4-3.

Tavares, whose pending free agency next summer has been hovering over Isles management for the past year, carried New York to its first 3-0-1 home start since the 1984-85 season.

He also passed Bob Bourne for seventh place on the team’s all-time goals list (241) and John Tonelli for seventh place on the franchise’s all-time points list (547).

“It’s significant and special to me because you look up to those guys and they obviously laid the foundation here for the Islanders,” Tavares said of Bourne and Tonelli, both of whom played key roles on the 1980s club that captured four Stanley Cups on Long Island.

“I have to pinch myself sometimes when I see some of the names I’ve passed. Hopefully I can keep going.”

Milestones aside, Tavares provided the Isles with the type of consistent scoring punch they were hoping for when they acquired Eberle to play on his wing this past summer.

“[Tavares] was owning the puck, possessing the puck, and he led us tonight,” Isles head coach Doug Weight noted after his team improved to 5-3-1 overall.

“We needed his leadership tonight.” 

New York also needed a critical penalty kill in the opening period to avoid falling into an early 2-0 hole.

With Phoenix on a two-man advantage for just over half a minute, the Isles scrambled to keep them away from goaltender Jaroslav Halak’s crease.

Most notable was a stick-less, one-gloved effort by Casey Cizikas, who had to sprawl across the ice with his gloveless hand behind his back to stave off a golden opportunity by the Coyotes.

“I just tried to get in the shooting lane, try to do as much as possible to take away lanes with my skates,” said Cizikas, who received a rousing ovation on his way back to the bench after New York killed off the most important of Phoenix’s three opportunities with the man advantage.

“When it comes down to it, our D and Jaro played a huge role in that. That’s a big turning point. It’s a big kill for us, especially after giving that first one up.”

Halak finished with 32 saves for New York, which will kick off a two-game road trip Thursday night in Minnesota before visiting defending Western Conference champion Nashville on Saturday.

 

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