John Tavares reaches an impressive milestone against his old team

John Tavares left the New York Islanders and went to his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs team in 2018 when he was an unrestricted free agent. Being a former first-overall pick who lived up to all expectations, he was highly sought after.  

He has since returned many times to Long Island to play against the franchise that drafted him. He is not well received there. Islanders fans despise him and send negative chants at him every chance they get. 

On Monday night, Tavares was back at his old stomping ground to play them once again. The Islanders won in overtime 4-3 at UBS Arena but it wasn’t without drama. 

Tavares entered the game with 998 career points. He scored a goal to bring his team within one during the second period which earned him point 999. When Morgan Rielly tied it with seven seconds left in regulation, Tavares collected an assist on the play for his 1000th career point. 

John Tavares now has 1000 points and he did it against his old team

Despite there being only 0:07 left on the clock, the entire Maple Leafs team was allowed to come onto the ice and congratulate their captain. He deserves all of the recognition. 

Tavares’s 1000 points came in the form of 435 goals and 565 assists. It took him 1054 games to reach this milestone. He has lived up to his draft status and then some. 

The Islanders congratulated Tavares for reaching this milestone over the loudspeaker and on the Jumbotron. As you’d expect, the Islanders fans did not like that one bit. 

They ended up getting the last laugh when Bo Horvat scored in overtime. It was a great game for all hockey fans to watch.

At 33 years old, there is a lot of hockey left for Tavares who is still a very good player. He has 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 25 games this season. With other studs on this team to help him carry the load, he is in great shape in terms of his production. 

Tavares will get to work on his next 1000 on Tuesday night when they take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.