TORONTO -- John Tavares and the New York Islanders have been road warriors this season and will have to continue that trend to end their NHL playoff drought. Tavares had two goals and an assist Thursday as the Islanders began their season-ending five-game road trip by rallying for an important 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Islanders (23-16-5) remain seventh in the tight Eastern Conference standings but are just two points behind fifth-place Toronto (24-15-5). And they did so by coming back from an early 2-0 deficit to improve to 10-1-2 in their last 13 games. "Thats where we want to go, we want to keep moving up ... and take care of our own business," Tavares said. "Thats the best way to handle the situation were in. "We know when we play well we can really take advantage of our opportunity here and not just get in but keep playing." The Islanders have been an excellent road team, improving to 13-5-2 away from Uniondale, N.Y., as they chase their first Stanley Cup playoff berth since 2007. New York visits the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday and head coach Jack Capuano isnt taking anything for granted. "Weve still got 12 periods of hockey left and on the road against some good quality teams," he said. But the 22-year-old Tavares, a native of nearby Mississauga, Ont., who played his junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals and London Knights, sent a season-high Air Canada Centre gathering of 19,676 home disappointed while continuing to strengthen his case for consideration as a Hart Trophy candidate. Brad Boyes, with a goal and two assists, Matt Moulson and Frans Nielsen also scored for New York, which took the season series with Toronto 2-1. Cody Franson, Joffrey Lupul and Dion Phaneuf scored for the Leafs, who were solidly outshot 38-21, the fourth straight game and 10th time in 13 contests that has happened. Phil Kessel, appearing in his 500th career NHL game, added three assists in Torontos second consecutive loss. Even with a victory Toronto wouldnt have cemented its first playoff berth since 2004, but the two points wouldve certainly been welcomed following a disappointing 5-1 road loss in Washington on Tuesday night. Now the Leafs find themselves having dropped two straight heading into an important road game in Ottawa against a Senators team thats sixth in the East and just one point behind. Franson said Torontos woes arent the result of the club looking ahead to the post-season figuring it has a spot already locked up. "We have to stop the bleeding here and get back to what made us successful," he said. "But our lack of lack of success the last two games has nothing to do with thinking weve got a playoff spot. "This is adversity. A lot of our mistakes are usually correctable, we just have to pay attention." Lupul said after going ahead, the Leafs became their own worst enemy. "We were making awful, awful turnovers especially when we got up 2-0 in the first," he said. "We were throwing the puck in the middle of the ice and giving them a chance to turn the momentum and have success. "Weve been a good team all year, were just steering away from some things in our system and (individually) were not out-competing or outplaying the guy across from us. We already talked, theres going to be a lot of video (Friday) and well get back to basics and well fix it." The Islanders controlled an eventful first, outshooting Toronto 19-5 but needed a late surge to erase a 2-0 deficit. Moulsons power-play goal, his 15th, at 15:03 tied it before Tavares, the first overall pick in 2009, gave New York its 3-2 lead at 17:24. Tavares fired a shot on a 2-on-1 break that Leafs goalie James Reimer got a piece of but couldnt keep out for his 25th goal of the season. Boyes had earlier converted Tavares smart centring pass for his ninth goal at 9:07 that cut Torontos lead to 2-1. Lupul opened the scoring at 5:05, skating around Islanders defenceman Matt Carkner and putting a shot through goalie Evgeni Nabakovs legs for his ninth of the season. It came after Toronto, which boasts the NHLs third-ranked penalty-kill unit, successfully defended a two-man New York power play for 1:28 early in the period, with Reimer making a nice save off Moulson. "We killed off a 5-on-3 that youd think would give us momentum, it seemed to drain our hockey club and then we had two more (penalties) right after," Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "We were fortunate to score on our first two shots and we were on our way and then all of a sudden we stopped. "We just dont seem to want to direct any pucks towards the net when we have the opportunity. Everyone wants to be that stop-up guy and hit the late guy with the pretty play and were not putting enough effort into the simple game." Fransons power-play goal at 6:41, his fourth this season, gave the Leafs a 2-0 advantage as they scored on their first two shots of the period. The Islanders held a 15-5 edge in shots in the second and had the periods lone goal. Tavares scored his second of the game and 26th overall at 14:40. Nielsen made it 5-2 with his fifth goal at 10:22 of the third before Phaneuf rounded out the scoring late on the power play. Carlyle said theres a simple cure to the Leafs woes. "We said when we started this process we werent going to stray away from the template weve created," he said. "We have to revisit that ... provide some video and some things to show them because theyre not seeing the same thing were seeing in some of the situations and thats always the way it is with players. "It seems at times were trying to do too much as individuals and its costing us." Notes: Toronto and Buffalo are tied for the NHLs youngest roster with an average age of 26.9 years of age. ... The Islanders came in sporting a 20-2-2 record when they score at least three goals but just 2-14-3 when scoring two or fewer times. ... New York defenceman Andrew MacDonald entered Thursdays action with a league-high 114 blocked shots. cheap nfl jerseys . The 23rd-seed crushed Italian Filippo Volandri 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 at the Australian Open on Tuesday and joined fellow Canadians Aleksandra Wozniak and Stephanie Dubois in the second round. nfl jerseys china . But watching Leafs goalie James Reimer go down Thursday night after taking a blow to the head brought back painful memories of something more serious. http://www.wholesalejerseychinastore.com/ . Pacquiao is coming off two losses and has not fought since his devastating knockout defeat at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez almost a year ago. Garcia said hes noticed subtle signs of decline in the Filipino boxer, once considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. cheap jerseys . Gretzky was asked if he believes Montreal Canadiens defenceman PK Subban should be on Canadas blueline in February at the Sochi Olympics. "Im not going to get in the middle of that controversy because Stevie Yzerman obviously knows what hes doing, he won a gold medal in 2010," said Gretzky. wholesale jerseys . Benteke injured his hip during Villas 1-0 victory over Norwich in the Premier League on Saturday. Villa manager Paul Lambert says "it is not as bad as we feared it was going to be. NEW ORLEANS -- Chris Paul is headed to Los Angeles for real this time -- to the Clippers, not the Lakers. The Hornets traded Paul to the Clippers for guard Eric Gordon, forward Al-Farouq Aminu, centre Chris Kaman and a first-round draft choice. The deal required the approval of NBA commissioner David Stern because the Hornets are owned by the league. For Paul, Wednesday nights trade means no more lame-duck practices -- or ducking questions -- in New Orleans. It also ended a tortured week in which the Hornets season sat in limbo while the NBA took a public relations beating over everything from potential conflicts of interest, to retarding the Hornets pursuit of free agents, to disrespecting the New Orleans fan base. "I knew we were doing the best thing for New Orleans and that was my job," Stern said. "You have to stick with what you think was right. I must confess it wasnt a lot of fun, but I dont get paid to have fun." Stern said he never allowed other owners opinions or considerations of large and small markets to determine where Paul, one of the NBAs biggest stars, would end up. He said his only focus was on getting the best deal for the Hornets. That may take time to determine. But for now, the Hornets at last have a measure of certainty about the roster theyll have when the regular season begins in less than two weeks. Paul, already a star with international appeal, gets to play in one of the NBAs biggest markets, even if his new team plays in the shadow of the Lakers. Thats the club Paul was almost traded to last week, only to have Stern nix the deal and unleash a torrent of bad publicity on his league just as it was trying to generate good will following a nearly five-month labour dispute that has already caused a shortening of the season. Then again, maybe there is no such thing as bad publicity, or as Stern called it, "a frenzy." Even with the NFLs Saints on a five-game winning streak and wrapping up a playoff spot, the Hornets and Paul ordeal were the talk of New Orleans for a change. "Our sole focus was and will remain, until we sell this team, hopefully which will be in first half of 2012, how best to maintain the Hornets, make them as attractive and a competitive as we can and ensure we have a buyer who can keep them in New Orleans," Stern said. Stern said the team is in negotiations with several potential ownership groups, who, if all goes to plan, will have to accept a new long-term lease in the state-owned New Orleans Arena in order to buy the team. "The future of the Hornets in New Orleans is brighter than its ever been," Stern said. Meanwhile, the Clippers have plenty of reason for optimism themselves. The 26-year-old Paul is a four-time All-Star who averaged 18.7 points and 9.8 assists last season, his sixth in the NBA. He will earn US$16.4 million this year and has a player option for the 2012-13 season -- in which he is due $17.8 million. Pauls move to the Clippers means hell now be able to make alley-oop lobs to a young star famous for dunking over a car. That would be forward Blake Griffin, who averaged 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds last season, his first as a pro. The Hornets get a prolific young shooting guard in Gordon, who turns 23 on Christmas Day and averaged 22.3 points last season. Gordon would be a restricted free agent after this season unless he signs an extension with New Orleans. Hornets general manager Dell Demps those talks havent started yet. The six-foot-nine Aminu is a second-year pro who averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds as a rookie. The seven-foot Kaman, 29, is an eight-year veteran who averaged 12.4 points and seven rebounds last season, but played in only 32 games because of a left ankle injury. Hes in the last year of his conntract, which will pay him $12.dddddddddddd2 million this season. "With this trade, we now have three additional players who were among the top eight draft picks in their respective drafts as well as our own first-round pick and (another) first-round pick," Demps said. "Aminu is a young talent with a bright future, Gordon is a big-time scorer and one of the best (shooting) guards in the league and Kaman is a proven centre and former All-Star." ESPN, citing anonymous sources, first reported the trade, which also involves New Orleans sending two 2015 second-round draft picks to the Clippers. "We wanted to make sure that we got the best possible deal for a player of Chris calibre, and we feel great about the outcome," said Jac Sperling, who Stern appointed as the Hornets governor after the league bought the team in December 2010. The Hornets can only hope the deal will sit well with fans and area businesspeople, who bought more than 10,000 season tickets despite the lockout in an effort to show the NBA their community could make the franchise viable for whatever ownership group eventually buys the club. Paul, whom the Hornets drafted fourth overall in 2005, told New Orleans earlier this month that he was not going to sign an extension, and Demps had been trying to trade him since to avoid losing him in free agency with no compensation after this season. Demps came close to making a three-team deal last Thursday that would have sent Paul to the Lakers. The Lakers would have sent Lamar Odom to the Hornets and Pau Gasol to Houston, while the Rockets would have sent Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic, and a first-round draft choice to New Orleans. Stern, however, told Demps to take that deal off the table because he thought the Hornets could do better, both in terms of personnel and salary obligations. While the move caused speculation that Stern was acting against Demps better judgment, Demps said he and Stern were acting "hand in hand," while Stern said people who anonymously leaked details of the proposed Lakers trade did so because they "were trying to force him to make that deal." Paul showed up for Hornets training camp last Friday but has not spoken to reporters since. He was excused from a normally mandatory media event on Wednesday, hours before the trade went through, in which players pose for photos in uniform and talk about the upcoming season. For the Hornets, the urgency to make a deal appeared to be growing, even though Demps insisted earlier Wednesday that the Hornets had no timeline and would not be rushed into a "rash decision." Still, Demps acknowledged that it was hard for the Hornets to pursue free agents and further build their roster while Pauls status was in limbo. If trade talks had dragged on much longer, the Hornets could have gone into Friday nights pre-season opener at Memphis with little idea of what their roster would look like in their first regular season game at Phoenix on Dec. 26. Other than Paul, the Hornets had only five returning veterans under contract: centre Emeka Okafor, forward Trevor Ariza, point guard Jarrett Jack, second-year swingman Quincy Pondexter and shooting guard Marco Belinelli. The addition of Gordon, Aminu and Kaman give New Orleans desperately needed depth while opening the way for the franchise to further strengthen its roster through free agency. Meanwhile, the Hornets also could look forward to an additional first-round draft choice next summer. The pick originally belonged to Minnesota, meaning it will be tied to where the Timberwolves finish in the standings this season. "For the long-term future of the New Orleans Hornets, this is the best deal," Demps said. cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '