NEW YORK _ It was a pretty quiet night for John Tavares as far as potential last home games go.
The impending unrestricted free agent vowed to approach Thursday night's game against the Rangers at Barclays Center as he would any other and there was nothing in his demeanor during the Islanders' 2-1 win that gave away any emotions he might be feeling.
There were some "John Tavares" chants in the third period from the bi-partisan announced crowd of 14,152.
Tavares had his four-game point streak snapped as the Islanders (34-37-10) won two straight for the first time since Feb. 15-16. They leap-frogged the Rangers (34-38-9) out of last place in the Metropolitan Division into seventh place by one point. Still, the Islanders are just 4-12-4 since Feb. 19.
The Islanders swept the four-game season series from the Rangers, who have lost all six games they have ever played at Barclays Center. The Islanders are 11-1-0 against the Rangers since the start of the 2015-16 season and have won seven straight overall.
Tavares, selected ninth overall by the Islanders in 2009 and their captain since 2013, is completing a six-year, $33-million deal and has kept a solid poker face all season as to his intentions, or even if he's leaning toward returning or testing the market.
It's been the question that's hung over whole season.
"I'm going to go down the road of John and just look at it as another game," Islanders coach Doug Weight said when asked about the possibility of this being Tavares' final home game with the team. "We hope that's not the case. To get too deep into that thought process is not healthy for me or anybody else. We're hopeful that John will be here but only he knows how special tonight is."
"That stuff comes into play but, no, we haven't thought about that like that," Anders Lee added. "We've all known this was the path for John this whole time. This isn't anything new. He's still going through his whole process. For us, as players, it's status quo."
Weight said the trepidation about Tavares' ultimate decision was probably more pronounced at the beginning of the season.
"I think the nervousness was early and now it is what it is," Weight said. "He'll make a decision when he makes it. Unfortunately, we can't control that. I don't have nerves. Anxiety is probably a closer word. You've got to do what you've got to do as an organization. With or without him we're going to move forward and try to win. We'd like him here."
