Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Scores twice in Game 6 loss
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Tavares scored a pair of goals in Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Lightning.
Tavares scored a pair of goals 26 seconds apart late in the second period to give Toronto a 3-2 lead before they'd eventually fall in overtime. The 31-year-old center has three goals and two assists in his last three contests. Tavares will look to stay hot as the Leafs head back to Toronto for Game 7.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Pots first goal of playoffs
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Tavares scored a power-play goal and added an assist in Tuesday's 4-3 Game 5 win over the Lightning.
Tavares got the monkey off his back with his first goal of the series early in the second period, cutting Tampa Bay's 2-0 lead in half. His third assist of the postseason helped Morgan Rielly tie it up early in the third. Toronto's leaders stepped up in this one, as the Maple Leafs got goals from Tavares, Rielly, William Nylander and Auston Matthews to take a 3-2 series lead.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Contributes helper
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Tavares recorded an assist, four hits, two PIM and a minus-2 rating in Sunday's 7-3 loss to the Lightning in Game 4.
Tavares set up the second of William Nylander's two goals in the third period. Through four playoff contests, Tavares has been mostly neutralized on offense. He has a pair of assists, seven shots on net and a minus-3 rating while adding six hits and five blocked shots from his typical second-line role.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: One assist in two Round 1 games
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Tavares has one assist and five shots on goal in two games against the Lightning in Round 1.
Tavares was trending on Twitter the day after Wednesday's 5-3 loss in Game 2, but fan fury in Toronto is a sport in itself. With line match-ups in the road barn focusing on Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Tavares will likely have more space to execute and more opportunity to generate offense. Remember -- the pivot managed a great 76-point season in a second-line role, and he has 895 regular-season points in 949 career games. And his 0.79 points per game playoff average is solid despite only having 39 games experience in the second season. Based on line rushes at Friday's practice, Tavares and William Nylander may be reunited to ignite even more scoring .
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Ruled out Friday
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Tavares (rest) will sit out Friday's clash with Boston, David Alter of The Hockey News reports.
Tavares will join Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Jack Campbell as a scratch versus Boston on Friday. The four are all expected to be ready for Game 1 of the playoffs, which could be a rematch with the Bruins. The 31-year-old Tavares is coming off a 76-point campaign after having missed the 75-point mark in each of the previous two seasons.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Status unclear Friday
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Tavares may sit out Friday's game against Boston to rest for the playoffs, but a decision has yet to be made on that front, NHL.com's Dave McCarthy reports.
Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and Jack Campbell will all rest against the Bruins. Look for an update on Tavares' availability sometime prior to Friday's puck drop.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Scores in victory
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Tavares scored a goal on four shots in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Detroit.
Tavares buried a cross-ice pass from William Nylander to extend Toronto's lead to 2-0 in the third period. The goal was Tavares' first in eight games, though he did record six assists in that span. The 31-year-old center now has 76 points in 79 games this season with 27 goals and 49 assists.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Unavailable Sunday
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Tavares (rest) will not play Sunday against Washington, Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reports.
Tavares is getting a rest day as the Maple Leafs gear up for the postseason. The veteran center has 26 goals and 75 points through 78 games this season. He should be back in the lineup Tuesday against Detroit.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Posts power-play assist
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Tavares notched a power-play assist and four shots on goal in Sunday's 4-2 win over the Islanders.
His 21:23 of ice time was Tavares' fifth-highest of the season as he absorbed some extra minutes with Auston Matthews (undisclosed) out. Tavares' helper came on William Nylander's second-period tally, which stood as the game-winner. With five assists in his last three games, Tavares is up to 74 points (25 on the power play), 224 shots on net, 82 hits and a minus-3 rating in 75 contests overall.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Three-pack of helpers in win
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Tavares delivered three assists in a 7-3 win over Washington on Thursday.
He finished plus-4 with three shots and four hits in just 14:04 of ice time. Tavares now has 72 points (26 goals, 46 assists) in 73 games and seven points, including five helpers, in his last five games. Splitting up Tavares and William Nylander has ignited both players and given the Leafs three lines that pound opponents like set waves. He's a strong fantasy play.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Three-game, four-point streak
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Tavares scored the game-winning goal Saturday in a 3-2 victory over Montreal.
He spun around and shot from the right face-off dot at 8:07 of the second. The puck was going wide but careened off Jordan Harris' skate at the side of the net and past Sam Montembeault. Tavares is on a three-game, four-point streak (two goals, two assists) and he has points in eight of his nine games (six goals, five assists).
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Helps team earn a point
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Tavares had a goal and an assist -- both on the power play -- in Tuesday's 7-6 overtime loss to the Panthers.
Tavares' second-period assist led to one of Mitch Marner's four points on the night. Tavares' power-play goal with 3:54 left in the third helped the Maple Leafs avoid complete disaster, as he tied the game at six and helped Toronto salvage a point after blowing a 5-1 lead.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Five-game, seven-point streak
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Tavares scored his 21st goal of the season in Saturday's 6-3 win over Philadelphia.
He made is 6-3 at the 15:49 mark of the third, finishing off a rush from the right circle. The goal extended Tavares' point streak to five games and seven points (four goals, three assists).
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Four-game, six-point streak
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Tavares scored a goal in Thursday's 7-3 win over the Jets.
The goal was classic J.T. -- he quickly fired a rebound past Eric Comrie from in tight. Tavares is now up to six points (three goals, three assists) on a four-game scoring streak.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Strikes twice on power play
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Tavares scored a pair of power-play goals in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Panthers.
Tavares did well in a net-front role, cleaning up a rebound on his first goal before redirecting a Mitch Marner pass for his second. With five goals and six assists in his last 12 outings, Tavares has steadied his offense after failing to score a goal in February. The center is up to 22 tallies, 61 points (20 on the power play), 194 shots on net, 67 hits, 26 PIM and a minus-9 rating in 64 appearances.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Ten points in last nine games
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Tavares picked up an assist in a 3-2 win over the Hurricanes on Thursday.
It was another strong game as the Leafs' top pivot. Tavares smartly played a perfect chip pass to Mitch Marner for the Leafs' second goal, and extended his point streak to three games and four points (one goal, three assists). Despite the grumbling of Leafs' fans, Tavares is producing. He has 58 points in 60 games, including 10 in his last nine games.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Two-point effort Tuesday
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Tavares scored a goal and an assist in Tuesday's 4-0 win over the Stars.
Both points came in the first period, giving rookie netminder Erik Kallgren all the support he would need. Tavares skated on the top line next to Mitch Marner in this one with Auston Matthews (suspension) out, but the veteran center has been productive regardless of role, picking up three goals and nine points in the last eight games.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Snaps goal drought against Orcas
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Tavares scored a power-play goal and added an assist at even strength in a 6-4 loss to Vancouver on Saturday.
He now has the monkey off his back. Tavares had been stuck in a 14-game goal slump heading into action Saturday and put that to rest early. He has 52 points in 54 games, but fans in Toronto have been miserable because of his contract. He certainly hasn't been perfect so far, but his production for fantasy has been more than solid.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Dishes two assists Monday
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Tavares logged two assists in Monday's 5-3 win over the Capitals.
Tavares wasn't able to get on the scoresheet in Saturday's 10-7 win over the Red Wings, but he made up for it Monday. The center had a hand in goals by William Nylander and Rasmus Sandin, the latter being the game-winner. While Tavares went without a goal through 12 contests in February, he did contribute 10 assists. The 31-year-old is too good to stay quiet much longer -- he's at 17 tallies, 50 points, 160 shots on net and a minus-2 rating through 52 appearances this season.
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Maple Leafs' John Tavares: Good to go
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Tavares (illness) took line rushes in warmups and is expected to play Saturday versus the Red Wings, Mark Masters of TSN.ca reports.
Tavares was considered a game-time decision for this contest. He's racked up eight assists during an 11-game goal drought, but he'll continue to play as the second-line center. He'll also work on the top power-play unit.
