Tavares scores OT winner in potential final act with Islanders

In what was possibly his last registered shot with the only NHL team he’s ever known, John Tavares did what he does best: score.

The New York Islanders captain and pending unrestricted free agent buried against the Red Wings in overtime on Saturday night, scripting the perfect ending if this was, indeed, his last hurrah with the franchise that drafted him No. 1 overall in the 2009 Entry Draft.

To say this was a thing of beauty would be a rather large understatement:

After pouncing on a turnover just inside his own blue line during the 3-on-3 OT period, Tavares turned on the jets and barrelled in on poor Anthony Mantha, who was promptly made to look quite foolish by the dipsy-doodling captain. After Tavares made his way around the Red Wings forward with a nifty inside-out move, he put one home short side.

Despite him publicly stated numerous times that he wants to stay with the Islanders, it seems certain that he will at least test the waters, given that free agency is this close.

If he doesn’t re-sign, he will be one of (if not the) most talented player to leave via free agency in the last 30 years.