Leafs’ John Tavares records 1,000th career point in OT loss to Islanders
Posted December 11, 2023 9:53 pm.
Last Updated December 12, 2023 10:56 am.
Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares had a goal and an assist, recording his 1,000th career point in a 4-3 overtime loss to his former team, the New York Islanders.
Tavares is the 98th player in NHL history to record 1,000 points. He’s the 11th active player with 1,000 points or more.
The 32-year-old scored his eighth goal of the season to trim New York’s lead to 3-2 in the second period. He then assisted on Morgan Rielly’s game-tying goal with seven seconds to go in the third period.
Islanders centre Bo Horvat would score the game-winning goal to give his team the overtime victory. Auston Matthews had the other goal for Toronto, while Brock Nelson, Casey Cizikas and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Islanders.
Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov stopped 27 of 31 shots. Ilya Sorokin stopped 36 of 39 shots for the Islanders.
Meanwhile, the Islanders faithful once again booed Tavares every time he touched the puck. After spending nine years in Long Island, Tavares, drafted first overall in 2009, left New York and joined his hometown Maple Leafs in the summer of 2018 on a seven-year contract.
“You see your teammates coming out. It’s really special. To do it where I spent the first nine years of my career… it was tremendous,” Tavares said post-game. “This place means a lot, but it would have been nice to get the two points.”
Through nine years with the Islanders, Tavares notched 621 points, though his team made it to the post-season just three times in his tenure.
Despite the loss, the Maple Leafs have recorded at least a point in their last six games.
Toronto will play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. With Joseph Woll on the injured list, backup goalie Martin Jones is expected to make his first start of the season.
