John Tavares scores his first career game winning goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins to give the Islanders a 3-2 win Friday night. At the 13 minute mark in the third period, Tavares knocked home the Matt Moulson rebound to give the Islanders the 3-2 lead. Josh Bailey and Sean Bergenheim scored the other two goals for the Islanders while Dwayne Roloson made 19 saves in the win.
3-2: Islanders’ John Tavares Scores Game-Winner Over Penguins
The Penguins were badly outshot in the contest, 37-21, and outshot in the third period 18-5. Penguins goals were scored by Evgeni Malkin and Matt Cooke. Brent Johnson took the loss for the Penguins.
Islanders blog, Lighthouse Hockey, had this to say about Tavares’ goal and the game in general:
John Tavares shines. Tavares was making moves and assertive plays with the puck we don't see every game. If his one-on-three move bySergei Gonchar (Brent Johnson made the poke-check) were, say, Crosby on Hillen instead, then the defenseman gets a penalty. Instead, Gonchar received the benefit of the doubt, but Tavares served notice. Fitting, then, that he was there to knock in the winning goal, after an excellent deflection by Matt Moulson on Freddy Meyer's shot from the point.
The Islanders have certainly improved from last season and can only get better as the season goes on. They will be a team to reckon with as the season continues.
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