The New York Islanders became a part of New York City on Friday night, playing their first ever home game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The Isles faced the Chicago Blackhawks and gave up the first goal of the night, allowing recent Chicago acquisition Artem Anisimov to become the first player to score a regular season goal at Barclays Center.
Anisimov put in a shorthanded goal just over halfway into the first period of the game, simultaneously grabbing the first goal of his Blackhawks career.
Anisimov spent last season playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets and was traded to Chicago over the summer as a part of the Brandon Saad deal.
Then, just over five minutes into the second period, Islanders captain John Tavares became the first Islander to score a goal in their new home. It seems fitting that it was Tavares of all people.
Watch Tavares’s goal below.
After that point the Islanders were never able to do more than pull even with Chicago on their way to a 3-2 overtime loss, that saw Patrick Kane grab his second goal of the night on the power play in the extra frame.
