Today was NHL All-Star media day up in Ottawa and John Tavares made the rounds. Including sitting down to chat with NHL Network.

In all honesty it was not one of the greatest interviews, the female host thought Tavares still had his 12 game point streak intact and mistakenly thought he was on Team Chara. However, John did discuss how he nearly arrived late for the draft and revealed he’ll be doing the break away challenge during tomorrow night’s skills competition.

Following last night’s NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft E.J. Hradek spoke with Islanders all-star John Tavares. They chatted about Tavares’s thoughts on the draft and how worried he was about being the last pick in the draft.

Team Alfredsson selected John Tavares in the 16th round during tonight’s NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft.

Below are the rosters for both Team Alfredsson and Team Chara. 

Uniondale, NY -- An overtime goal by John Tavares gave the Islanders a 2-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum. Tavares had already scored a goal in the second period to tie the game at one and extend his point streak to a league leading 12 games.

“Johnny is a power force out there,” said Evgeni Nabokov, who made 32 saves in the Islander win. “But I think all five of them are playing as a unit in the offensive zone. That’s what makes them successful. And obviously Johnny’s skill and his talent it shows up.”

The game-winning goal came with nearly two minutes left to play in the overtime period. PA Parenteau sent a no look pass to Tavares, who had made his way through the defense to get to the net. His initial shot was stopped, but he batted the rebound of the air and it found its’ way into the back of the net.

“I knew I had a great chance there once I got ahead of stall,” Tavares said when describing the game winner. “PA made a great play there and [Cam Ward] made a good save, good read on my first shot and lucky enough the rebound didn’t go to far.  I just stuck with it and it just squeaked over the line.”

The Islanders will look to do something they haven’t done since 2007; win in Philadelphia. The Islanders last victory over the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center came back on April 7, 2007 during their late season run into the playoffs.

The Flyers have won 23 of the last 24 matchups against the Islanders, so it’s safe to assume the Islanders are a welcomed sight. Though both teams have identical records in their last 10 games, 6-4-0, as well as an identical 3-2-0 record in their last five games. Both teams are also coming off victories on Tuesday night. The Islanders shutout the Capitals 3-0 and the Flyers downed the Minnesota Wild 5-1.

Players on both sides will look to continue streaks coming into this game, Philadelphia’s Sean Couturier has scored a goal in the Flyers last five games and John Tavares will look to extend his 10 game point streak. Matt Moulson will also look to extend a five game point streak. He has three goals and six assists over the five game span.

The Islanders will start Evgeni Nabokov, who shutout the Capitals on Tuesday, becoming the first Islander goaltender since Tommy Salo did it in 1997. Sergei Bobrovsky will start in net for the Flyers.

John Tavares extended his point streak to 10 games and PA Parenteau had his first career multi-goal game in the Islanders 3-0 shutout of the Washington Capitals. The shutout was the teams first one against the Capitals since Tommy Salo did it on March 2, 1997.

The Islanders kept the Capitals to just 17 shots on goal in the game, while they managed to get 28 shots, three of which found their way into the net.

Karl Alzner was called for holding at the 11:17 mark of the first period, which allowed the Islanders their first power play of the game. Tavares scored less than a minute into the power play. Mark Streit directed a shot towards the stick of Tavares and Tavares directed the puck passed Tomas Vokoun. Parenteau put the Islanders ahead 2-0 6:05 into the second period. A bad Capitals turnover in the defensive zone created the Islander scoring opportunity. Parenteau scored his second goal of the game 12:38 into the third period and put the Isles up by three.

Islanders’ goaltender Evgeni Nabokov held his own stopping all 17.

Highlights

The Islanders avoided the shutout, but were defeated by the Nashville Predators, 3-1, at the Nassau Coliseum. Three goals in the first period sunk the Islanders ship, though Islanders all-star John Tavares was able to extend his point streak to nine games.

The first period was one the Islanders did not look prepared to play. For the ninth time this season they let in a goal on the first shot of the game.  Sergei Kostitsyn ripped a shot past the glove of goaltender Kevin Poulin, who was playing in his first game in over a week, to give the Predators an early 1-0 lead. Matt Halischuk scored three minutes later on his teams second shot of the game. A miscommunication between the Islanders allowed Nashville’s third goal of the game at the 11:37 mark. Martin Erat drew Poulin the right side of the net, to compensate for missed defensive coverage, and Erat feed David Legwand who easily put the puck in the net.

The Islanders were outshot in the first period, 12-6, and eventually got better chances later in the period.

Midway through the second period the Islanders had a five on three power play opportunity. They were able to put the pressure on, but Pekka Rinne was able to stand tall and, with the help of his penalty killers, keep the Islanders off the board.

The Islanders would remain without a goal until the 16:02 mark of the period. John Tavares redirect a shot past Rinne to break the shutout, but it would be too little, too late.

In the end it was a sloppy first half to open the game that hurt the Islanders. The team did not look ready to come out and play until after the Predators scored the third goal. Kevin Poulin was clearly still working off some of the rust he had from not playing in over a week. The first goal was one that he’d want to have back. After the first he looked more comfortable and the team overall played well after that first period. They finished the game outshooting Nashville 37-32, but could not find a way to beat one of the top goaltenders in the league.

One of the few good things to come out of the game was that Tavares was able to continue his points streak. He will look to make it a 10 game streak tomorrow night when the Islanders take on the Washington Capitals.

Uniondale, NY -- Evgeni Nabokov secured his 300^th career win on an already special night when the Islanders organization inducted Pat Flatley into the team’s hall of fame. Michael Grabner scored the go ahead goal at the 16:57 of the third period and then secured the win scoring on an empty net.

“I guess it’s nice to have it in the pocket,” Nabokov said after the game about win 300. “But it’s not the biggest thing. I’m glad that it’s kind of behind us… hopefully many more [wins] in front of me.”

Win was nearly derailed when the officials called Mark Streit on a questionable delay of game penalty and awarded Thomas Vanek a penalty shot. Vanek’s shot beat Nabokov, but was stopped by the goal post.

“Well I didn’t really stop it,” Nabokov said about the penalty shot. “The post that stopped it, but I’d like to say that the only area was open was my post.” 

Updated 10:07 AM: The Islanders released a statement confirming reports that Dipietro will undergo surgery to repair a sports hernia. It is abdominal surgery and will sideling him for 10 weeks, according to the team.

Dipietro has also been suffering from Knee swelling.

Original Post: Newsday’s Arthur Staple is reporting that Rick Dipietro will under surgery Tuesday to repair a sports hernia.

The news is the latest setback for the Islanders former number one overall pick. Staple suggests that this will likely sideline Dipietro for the remainder of the season, but notes the best-case scenario would be an April return. The surgery will be his sixth surgery since 2008.  Dipietro has only appeared in 47 games since the beginning of the 2008-09 season.

Dipietro also shot down rumors that he has been considering retirement. He told Newsday, "Nothing like that has even crossed my mind... I know I can play."

Uniondale, NY -- The Islanders will look to end their streak of bad luck against the Philadelphia Flyers tonight when the two division rivals meet at Nassau Coliseum.

The Flyers have been known to have the upper hand over the Islanders whenever the two clubs meet. It’s a bit of ironic timing, since the Islanders last game was against an opponent, the Detroit Red Wings, that the Islanders had the upper hand.

Last time the Flyers and Islanders met, the Islanders lost 4-3 in overtime on Thanksgiving eve. That game saw the Islanders take 3-1 lead after the first period off two goals from Kyle Okposo, his first two goals of the season, as well as a goal from Michael Grabner. However, the Flyers tied the game with a power play goal in the second period and a go in the third period. Danny Briere won the game for Philadelphia 2:34 into the overtime period.

Coming into tonight’s game Islanders head coach Jack Capuano knows the Islanders need approach the game the same way they approached the game against Detroit.

“Well we have to approach this game the same way we approached the last one and the way we approached all our games,” Capuano said at the team’s morning skate. “Making sure that our guys are prepared to play. We know the tendencies of what Philly is gunna do, but it’s going to come down to the desire and hard work.”