John Tavares notched a hat trick to lead the New York Islanders to 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Friday night.
Tavares scored his first of the night 3:48 into the first period, 1:26 after Jason Chimera opened the scoring, as the Isles built an early 2-0 lead.
Hs second goal gave him his 500th career point and he completed his three-goal effort with an empty-netter with 1:44 left to ice the game.
Nick Leddy scored the eventual game-winning goal with a second period blast and added two assists.
The Panthers closed within a goal twice during during the tilt, but couldn’t take advantage of their opportunities to draw even.