William Nylander praises John Tavares after milestone night in Maple Leafs’ win (Source: Imagn)

John Tavares led the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday. He scored two goals and had an assist, reaching 1,100 career NHL points. He is the eighth active player to reach this milestone, with 485 goals and 615 assists.

William Nylander, who has an eight-year, $92 million contract, praised John Tavares. Nylander recorded two assists and spoke about Tavares’ dedication.

“It’s incredible—what an accomplishment. He had a great game tonight. The way he prepares before every game, he’s just a complete pro on and off the ice.”

Nylander also spoke about Tavares’ performance.

“He’s strong all over the ice, winning battles, and obviously finishing the way he does. Just incredible.”

Toronto has won three games in a row and is building momentum for the playoffs. Toronto coach Craig Berube liked the team’s fast start in their back-to-back game.

“I liked our start,” Berube said (via NHL.com). “I thought we came out of the gates really good, on our toes. We played last night too so sometimes you wonder how we’re going to come out, but we were working right away and doing the right things and took hold of the game in my opinion.”

With his three-point performance, John Tavares’ points total stands at 60. He now has scored 29 goals matching last season’s goal count. He is on pace to reach nearly 71 points this season while averaging 18:21 minutes.

John Tavares’ goals helped the Maple Leafs defeat the New York Rangers

John Tavares opened the scoring at 12:30 of the first period with a one-timer. Jake McCabe and Nylander assisted on the goal, which also gave Nylander his 600th career NHL point.

New York tied it 1-1 late in the first period through Will Borgen’s goal. Toronto regained the lead before intermission when Bobby McMann redirected McCabe’s shot into the net.

Artemi Panarin tied the game early in the second period. Tavares responded with his second goal at 4:16, scoring off a rebound from McCabe’s shot, for his 1,100th career point.

Later in the same period, Toronto extended the lead when Matthew Knies scored after a defensive mistake by New York. Nylander set him up from behind the net, and Knies scored from the slot. Chris Kreider scored late in the third period, but Toronto held on to win.

Toronto is tied with the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division with 87 points in 69 games. Florida holds the regulation wins tiebreaker. The Rangers have lost three straight home games and are two points behind the Montreal Canadiens for a playoff spot.