Ever since John Tavares tweeted, on July 1, a picture of his younger self in Maple Leafs bed sheets — ending a string of tweets confirming he was leaving the Islanders to go home to Toronto in free agency — 7 p.m. on Thursday has been looming.
The Islanders are already 62 games deep into their playoff chase without Tavares, while the Maple Leafs are right in the thick of it with him. The two sides squared off in late December, when the Islanders pummeled the Maple Leafs 4-0 in Toronto.
“We’ve kind of already had that game,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said.