Written by Howie Kussoy at New York Post.com
There are only a handful of players as talented as John Tavares, just a few people in the world who could transform trash to art as often as he does. There are only so many others who could be assigned the savior of a downtrodden franchise and actually succeed in bringing that team back to relevance and respectability, to set the bar higher than it had been in decades.
But even he needs help to take the next step.
With a chance to place their skate on the Panthers’ throats at home in Game 4, the Islanders put on a performance evoking the uninspired play of playoff disappointments past, with Tavares scoring the lone goal in a 2-1 loss Wednesday night at a sold-out Barclays Center, sending the first-round series back to Florida tied 2-2 heading into Friday’s Game 5.
It was the second game of the series Tavares scored the team’s only goal, both times in losses.
For the second straight year, the Islanders missed an opportunity to take a 3-1 series lead on their own ice and inch closer to their first playoff series win in 23 years, extending a stretch of futility — dating back to 2002 — in which the Islanders have now failed to win back-to-back playoff games for the 12th straight time.
“You won’t win too many games when you score one goal and the same guy scores,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “We didn’t create much. We got one line creating all our offense. We got to find a way [to get] secondary scoring. … If not, it’s gonna be tough.”
Despite struggling to match the Panthers’ energy, as well as the consistency and quality of the latter’s scoring chances, the Islanders rode another outstanding effort by goaltender Thomas Greiss (27 saves) to a draw midway through the third period.
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