Isles fans gathered to to make John Tavares’ return to Long Island miserable. And they succeeded, pushing the home team to a convincing win over the MapleLeafs. (reporterchris)
Tavares was the centre of attention. Tailgaters burned No. 91 t-shirts and sweaters in the parking lot, some fans taped words such as "Traitor" and "Liar" across the name bar on their old blue and orange jerseys, and Tavares heard derisive chants every time he stepped on the ice.
"The Coliseum is an intimate place," said Islanders coach Barry Trotz. "I remember as a visitor [the fans] are on top of you. There’s no question they’re on top of you and you can hear them and kind of feel like they’re breathing down your neck a little bit." His teammates didn’t do much to make his return any easier on a night when they were playing the second half of a back-to-back with backup Garret Sparks in goal and a third defensive pairing of Martin Marincin and Justin Holl, who had 19 total games between them all season.
Anthony Beauvillier’s goal off a 3-on-1 tied it up for New York and Anders Lee followed with another odd-man rush early in the second period. A potential Hyman tying goal was wiped out by an offside challenge and the Leafs lost any grip on the game from there.
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