NHL

Tavares has Islanders pointing in right direction

There were a lot of stars on the ice last night at the Nassau Coliseum, but the one shining brightest was wearing a blue-and-orange sweater, the “A” emblazoned on his left shoulder a seeming understatement of his importance.

When the puck found the open stick blade of John Tavares, the score 3-2 in favor of the Islanders and less than two minutes remaining, it seemed only appropriate the Islanders’ 21-year-old superstar would be allowed to tie a bow on his superlative performance.

Tavares pushed his third goal of the night into the empty Rangers’ net, giving the Islanders a 4-2 win over their cross-river rivals in front of a raucous sold-out crowd.

“He’s Johnny Tavares, you know?” said P.A. Parenteau, who had two assists and is benefiting greatly from being on Tavares’ line. “He’s unbelievable. When Johnny’s confident, the sky’s the limit.”

It was Tavares’ fifth goal and eighth point of the season, as he has been the catalyst for the Islanders’ 3-1-0 start.

“It’s nice to produce, it’s what I do best,” Tavares said, who added an assist to his hat trick to make it two four-point games in a row. “I take a lot of pride in it and it’s nice to come through.”

After a back-and-forth first 30 minutes, the two energetic rivals were tied 1-1 by trading a Matt Moulson goal 12:04 in for a Marian Gaborik breakaway goal 6:24 into the second.

Soon thereafter in the second, with the Islanders on a 5-on-3, Tavares got the puck wide open on the doorstep but was denied when Henrik Lundqvist made a spectacular sprawling save. Less than a minute later, with the Isles now on a 5-on-4, Tavares retrieved a rebound, made a spin and backhanded the puck along the ice and into the back of the net, his resiliency giving the Islanders a 2-1 lead.

“He’s been our best player,” coach Jack Capuano said. “Right now, he’s playing with confidence and he wants to help get this team into the postseason.”

When Tavares deflected a Mark Streit point shot during a third-period power play, it gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. That was also in part because of the solid play in nets by Evgeni Nabokov, who got his first start as an Islander and stopped 29 of 31 shots.

“It’s still early in the year, and we’re just trying to take advantage of the opportunities,” Tavares said. “There’s still a long way to go, we know that. We’ll enjoy it tonight, and move on.”

bcyrgalis@nypost.com