Islanders captain Tavares perfect example of consistency
John Tavares doesn’t go cold, at least not very often.
That partly explains why the New York Islanders superstar went into Monday night’s game against the Maple Leafs as the NHL’s leading scorer.
The attention on Tavares was particularly high Monday when the Mississauga-born star had to scramble to come up with about 30 tickets for family and friends.
And he didn’t disappoint, scoring the winner in overtime as the Isles won 4-3.
Last month, Tavares went a seasonhigh four games without tallying a goal. But you can’t really call that a slump, because in those four games he did register four assists.
This season, he has never gone more than two straight games without getting at least a point.
This is the kind of consistency Leaf fans would like to see from Phil Kessel. He is currently without a goal in five games; that is not his coldest streak. In the middle of January, he went seven games without a goal.
Tavares, the first overall pick of the Islanders in 2009, says there’s a reason he has avoided any prolonged slumps.
The Isles captain says he doesn’t treat practices as just practice, he treats them with almost the same intensity as a game.
“You show up at practice almost with an attitude where it’s game-like. You battle for every puck, you put as many pucks in as you can. The more you see pucks go in, the more confidence and the better feeling you get.”
As consistent as he has been, however, Tavares has noticed officials have been letting more infractions go since the NHL all-star game and checking has tightened up.
Tavares, in his sixth NHL season, knows he’ll be getting more scrutiny down the stretch as he lays claim to the Art Ross Trophy, which goes to the NHL scoring champion.
However, Tavares would like to concentrate on team goals because the Islanders know they have something special going on and want to make some noise in the playoffs.
Tavares can’t wait to see what kind of raucous feeling there will be at home at Nassau Coliseum if the Islanders go deep in the playoffs.
This is the team’s last season in the old barn that hosted its first NHL game in 1972. They move next season to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, home of the NBA’s Nets.
“The roof’s going to blow off,” Tavares said.