John Tavares glided from one end of the ice to the other, skating circles around Devils like they were merely props to his personal highlight reel as the Nassau Coliseum crowd gasped in awe.
The play didn’t result in a goal — Tavares’ shot was stopped — but the face of the Islanders franchise was mesmerizing even when he wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard.
It was that kind of night for the steadily improving Tavares and the suddenly resurgent Islanders, who have now won two straight games over the Rangers and Devils after a five-game losing streak.
The first line center notched his fourth career hat trick and added an assist in the Islanders’ impressive 5-1 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Devils last night in front of 15,488 at Nassau Coliseum.
“I always thought he was an elite player since he’s come into the league and he’s starting to figure it out more and more as he matures naturally,” line-mate Matt Moulson said. “He’s one of the best in the world.”
The Islanders (6-7-1, 13 points) first win over the Devils (9-3-3, 21 points) at home in three contests also snapped their four-game losing skid on Long Island, important since they will be on home ice for eight of their next 11 contests, starting with tomorrow’s matchup with the Flyers.
During the team’s morning skate, Islanders coach Jack Capuano was asked about Tavares’ offensive prowess — he has team-highs of 20 points and 11 goals, tied with the Sabres’ Thomas Vanek and Penguins’ James Neal for the NHL lead — and instead harped on his defensive acumen, how well he has played helping his Islanders teammates in their own zone. Make no mistake, Tavares is a dynamic two-way player, a star not afraid to take on bigger players and win battles in the trenches, but he is most valuable at the offensive end.
He’s had a hand in the last two wins against the Isles’ local rivals. He scored once and had the clinching goal in the shootout against the Rangers and was brilliant again last night.
“Any great player puts a lot of responsibilities on themselves because they want to lead a team,” Capuano said. “To me, that’s the way Johnny is.”
He awoke a dormant crowd when he got to the rebound of a Brad Boyes shot to get the Islanders started. A minute and 43 second later, on the power play, he set up Moulson by the side of the net, then chopped the rebound out of mid-air, drawing loud “JT” chants.
He also was credited with a second assist when Moulston scored in front on a feed from Boyes between Adam Henrique’s legs and later put an exclamation point on his performance by ripping home a wrist shot past Johan Hedberg, starting in place of Martin Brodeur, for his third goal.
Soon, hats were strewn over the ice.
“I just try to keep building and keep getting better with the things I’m doing,” he said. “I’m just trying to create things every time I’m out there.”
Tavares was one of many Islanders who picked up where he left off on Thursday. Evgeni Nabokov made 30 saves and allowed just a power play goal, on a Marek Zidlicky blast, and the Isles’ physical fourth line of Colin McDonald, Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin again created havoc with the forecheck and drew penalties that led to power play goals.
“Casey, McDonald and Martin, they know exactly what their role is,” Capuano said. “There’s no bigger shift than after you score a goal. They got pucks deep, they sustained the forecheck, they gave us some zone time.”