John Tavares continues Hart push with beautiful game winner (Video)

John Tavares, what type of magic do you have working right now? Care to share?

The Islanders red hot captain simply appears unstoppable right now. He has 72 points in 68 games to lead the NHL. His team sits atop the Metropolitan Division standings by three points, though with four games in hand on the New York Rangers. And he’s playing like a potential Hart Trophy finalist.

Check out this goal that capped a 4-3 OT win over Toronto for the Isles after being down 2-0.

From the Toronto Star after the game:

“No matter where teams are in the standings, you can’t take anyone for granted, especially on the road,” said Tavares. “We just stuck with it. I think we know we didn’t play our best first couple of periods and they did some good things. We just tried to put them on their heels and we seemed to skate better as the game wore on.” 

While the Maple Leafs often gripe about their relationship with the media, there is no better place for a possible Hart Trophy guy to put on a show. Toronto is the center of the hockey universe, and when you play the Leafs in their building, you get eyeballs put on you. 

Also from The Star on Monday:

John Tavares doesn’t go cold, at least not very often.

That partly explains why the New York Islanders superstar went into Monday night’s game against the Maple Leafs as the NHL’s leading scorer.

The attention on Tavares was particularly high Monday when the Mississauga-born star had to scramble to come up with about 30 tickets for family and friends.

And Tavares didn’t disappoint, scoring in overtime to give the Islanders a come-from-behind 4-3 victory.

See, play well and you get praised. Take note Maple Leafs!

Even if the Toronto is awful this year, when the Islanders needed a big goal, Tavares delivered. He’s also doing quite nicely from an advanced stat perspective. Per the NHL’s enhanced stats site, his shot attempts relative percentage is at plus-4.1. His SAT Rel60 is plus-8.6.

As the Islanders have pushed for first place, he’s heated up with seven points in his last three games. Perfect timing for Tuesday’s showdown against the Rangers.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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