John Tavares insists he’s more concerned with wins than his own numbers. Still, the Islanders’ leading scorer took a moment to marvel at his 100th NHL goal and his team’s resurgent play.
The 22-year-old center scored two power-play goals in the third period to lift the Islanders to a 5-2 win over Washington yesterday at the Coliseum, ending the Capitals’ three-game winning streak. The Islanders won for the third time in four games and improved to 11-11-3, one point behind the Rangers for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
“Sure, it feels great,” Tavares said of his goals. “It was nice to come through in a big way. We just have to keep working. Our momentum is good.”
Tavares scored his 15th goal at 12:13 and his team-leading 16th — the 100th of his career — 30 seconds later, and Evgeni Nabokov made 22 saves for the Islanders. Josh Bailey, Casey Cizikas and Frans Nielsen — with a short-handed goal — also scored for the Islanders, 5-2-2 in their last nine games.
Tavares’ first goal came as Washington’s Mike Ribeiro was serving a four-minute penalty for high sticking and unsportsmanlike conduct. His second came with Jeff Schultz in the box — also for a double-minor — as Tavares beat Washington’s Philipp Grubauer, who faced 45 shots in his first NHL start.
Tavares – the top overall pick of the 2009 draft – is tied with Jeff Carter of Los Angeles for second behind Tampa Bay’s Steve Stamkos, who leads the league with 18.
“We came at them hard in the third, so it felt good to get the results,” Tavares said.