John Tavares reached 1,000 NHL points with a goal and an assist for the Toronto Maple Leafs in their 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, on Monday.
The 33-year-old center reached the milestone with an assist on Morgan Rielly's game-tying goal with seven seconds left in the third period to make it 3-3.
“It was a bit surreal,” Tavares said. “It wasn’t pretty, so I just wanted to make sure that it was correct [that I had an assist]. I had a good feeling that I just had a net-front presence and it just went off me, so it helped lead to a big point for us.
“I’m just happy it came in a really good moment for the team. It’s been a great ride so far, a great journey. Obviously you want to celebrate in a win, but I’m proud of it. In certain ways, you’re kind of just happy it’s happened and you can move forward and there will be a time and place to kind of soak it in a little more.”
Tavares, scored at 7:43 of the second period, redirecting a pass from Conor Timmins through his legs with a backhand to cut New York’s lead to 3-2.
Bo Horvat won it for the Islanders 46 seconds into overtime.
“That’s an amazing achievement for him,” said New York center Casey Cizikas, who was Tavares’ teammate from 2012-18. “That’s something that he should be extremely proud of. It’s not easy, but he’s had one unbelievable career and he deserves to have a special moment like that.”
The No. 1 pick by the Islanders at the 2009 NHL Draft, Tavares has 435 goals and 565 assists in 1,054 games with Toronto and New York.
“It’s pretty incredible,” Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews said. “What he means to this team, this organization, obviously the history he has here (with the Islanders), the fathers’ trip with his dad in the crowd, it’s tough to write a better script. Obviously, it would’ve been nice to get that extra point, but we’re all so happy for him. Just a huge milestone and huge moment for him and it deserves to be celebrated.”
Tavares signed a seven-year, $77 million contract ($11 million average annual value) with Toronto on July 1, 2018, after nine seasons with the Islanders.
“Obviously for me, the uniqueness of doing it where I played the first nine years of my career, it’s a big part of who I am,” Tavares said. “The way this place impacted me was tremendous. Really unique and cool to do it here. This place means a lot.
“It would have been nice to get the two points and have a little happier locker room, but really nice to get it and to have the support of my teammates. To do it here was awesome.”
NHL.com independent correspondent Stefen Rosner contributed to this report
