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John Tavares spoils Toronto’s perfect start with OT goal

tavaresbeatstoronto

James O’Brien

Well, the dream run had to end some time, right? Maybe you can picture a perfect season in football, but in hockey, it’s usually nice to just have a perfect couple weeks.

After rushing to an impressive 4-0 season opening run, the Toronto Maple Leafs settled for a “charity point” as John Tavares scored in overtime to help the New York Islanders keep pace with the Pittsburgh Penguins atop the Atlantic Division.

NY Islanders 2, Toronto 1 (OT)

The Islanders only generated 20 shots on goal in this one, but only needed one shot in overtime to win it as Tavares as scored a power-play goal assisted by recently suspended defenseman James Wisniewski and P.A. Parentau. Dwayne Roloson stopped 29 out of 30 shots, only allowing a Phil Kessel tally on the man advantage in this one. Matt Moulson scored the first goal shortly after another power-play expired, with Tavares earning one of the assists.

Tavares and the Isles are tied with the Penguins with eight points to lead the Atlantic, but have played in one less game so are essentially “ahead” of the favored club at this moment. While the Maple Leafs might be a little bit sad about finally getting a loss (they’re now 4-0-1), they still earned a point and are No. 1 in the Northeast Division with nine points in only five games played.