It had to be against the Islanders.
Of course it did.
John Tavares came into the night needing two points to reach 1,000 for his career and become the 98th NHL player to do so.
And the most hated man on Long Island did just that, as Morgan Rielly tapped in his rebound to send the game to overtime with just 6.4 seconds left.
The Islanders ultimately stopped disaster in its tracks via Bo Horvat’s game-winner, which sent the fans home happy from UBS Arena after a 4-3 victory.
But not before the 17,255 in attendance — still feeling spurned that Tavares left the Islanders for Toronto in free agency over five years ago — lustily booed Tavares as his achievement flashed up on the scoreboard and the game stopped to acknowledge it.
“Obviously, for me the uniqueness of doing it where I played the first nine years of my career and a big part of who I am, and the way this place impacted me was tremendous,” Tavares told reporters in the Toronto dressing room. “So, really unique and cool to do it here. Place means a lot.
“Would’ve been nice to get the two points and have a little happier locker room. Really nice to get it and to have the support from my teammates. To do it here was awesome.”
Down the hall, the vitriol for Tavares in the stands did not make its way into the Islanders’ dressing room, where many of his former teammates still consider Tavares a friend.
“That’s an amazing achievement for him,” Casey Cizikas said. “That’s something he should be extremely proud of. … He’s had one unbelievable career. He deserves to have a special moment like that, but we got two points, which is nice.”
Grant Hutton was returned to AHL Bridgeport Monday, opening up a roster spot if the Islanders were to activate Sebastian Aho off injured reserve.
Aho, however, stayed on injured reserve, though he continues to skate with the team.
Isles coach Lane Lambert said that Mike Reilly was, to his knowledge, OK after suffering an apparent hit to the shoulder and briefly leaving the match during the third period.
Nearly six weeks on from the death of Adam Johnson in England following a skate cut to the neck, the adoption of neck guards has yet to reach the Islanders’ dressing room as none of their players have yet tried wearing one in a game or practice situation.
“I’d like to see some final products here,” Anders Lee said. “I don’t wanna wear anything that’s not gonna do anything, if that makes sense.”