NY Islanders fans with mixed feelings about John Tavares' iconic goal 10 years later

It’s been 10 years since John Tavares delivered one of the most iconic moments in New York Islanders history — and the emotions around it are still complicated.

On that night in 2016, Game 6 against the Florida Panthers, Tavares did what franchise players are supposed to do. He took over. After scoring late in regulation to force overtime, he ended it in double overtime, weaving through traffic and beating Roberto Luongo to send the Islanders to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 1993.

For a fan base that had waited more than two decades, it was everything.

Tavares wasn’t just the hero — he was the guy. The former No. 1 overall pick. The captain. The face of the franchise. In that moment, he looked exactly like what the Islanders had hoped he’d become when they drafted him in 2009.

That’s what makes it so complicated now.

Because just two years later, Tavares left. He signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the summer of 2018, walking away from Long Island and leaving behind a fan base that had fully invested in him. The reaction wasn’t just disappointment — it was anger. For many, it still is.

And yet… that goal still lives.

You can’t erase it. You can’t rewrite what it meant. For one night — and really, for that entire series — Tavares was everything Islanders fans wanted him to be. Clutch, dominant, unforgettable.

Time has added layers to his legacy. The departure stings. The boos when he returns are loud. The resentment hasn’t disappeared.

But neither has the memory.

Ten years later, that goal remains one of the most important moments this franchise has had in a generation — a reminder of what was, what could have been, and what, for a brief moment, actually was.

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