If you haven’t been paying attention already, John Tavares got his message across to the Devils. The franchise center recorded his fourth career hat trick and an assist in the Islanders’ 5-1 dismantling of the defending Conference champs.

The 22-year old delivered a big performance against one of the league’s best. His three goals tied Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek and Pittsburgh’s James Neal for the league lead with 11. It came on the heels of a goal and shootout clincher in the Islanders’ win over the Rangers Thursday. That ended a five-game skid. Now, they’ve won two in a row thanks to their superstar.

Tavares broke a scoreless tie late in the second period. He took a feed from Brad Boyes (2 assists) and beat Johan Hedberg for his ninth. It started an Islander barrage. They scored three goals in a 2:20 span. Eerily similar to what the Flyers did the previous night before the Devils stormed back.

New Jersey ran into penalty trouble, which caused their undoing. Captain Bryce Salvador lost discipline by high-sticking Matt Martin after the Islander checker delivered a hit. Tavares scored his second 83 seconds later to put them up 2-0. Using his lacrosse skills, he batted a Matt Moulson rebound past Hedberg for his 10th. Lubomir Visnovsky drew a helper.

Already trailing by two, Henrik Tallinder was called for tripping Kyle Okposo. It was a new NHL special. Okposo was already falling down. The Islanders took full advantage when Boyes set up Moulson all alone for a lay-in. The Devils blew the coverage in front. It was a mix up between Anton Volchenkov and Salvador. Tavares added a helper.

The Devils couldn’t break through on Evgeni Nabokov, who was sharp making 30 saves. They certainly had chances. But the veteran netminder kept them off the board for two periods. Still down three, they finally broke the shutout thanks to a power play goal from Marek Zidlicky. Islander captain Mark Streit held Patrik Elias. Fittingly, the Devils’ all-time scoring leader figured in on Zidlicky’s first. He took an Ilya Kovalvchuk feed and dished across for Zidlicky, who fired a laser inside the post with David Clarkson in front.

With an assist on the goal, it was Kovalchuk’s 800th career point. Since coming over from Atlanta in 2010, he’s tallied 185 points (83-102-185) for the Devils. Amazingly, Kovalchuk’s in third full season with New Jersey. The milestone came in his 200th game in red and black. Following 83 points (37-46-83 in 77 GP) last year, he’s a point-per-game in 2013 with 5-10-15 in 15 GP.

The Devils had a chance to get closer but couldn’t convert a second straight power play. However, Zidlicky was sent off for interference over a minute later. With the Islanders back on the power play, reacquisition Alexei Ponikarovsky was whistled for interference- handing them a two-man advantage. Jack Capuano took a timeout to rest his best player. Unlike other five-on-threes, this one worked to perfection. Moulson and Streit combined to find Tavares, who rifled one from the right circle top shelf to turn the trick.

With the Islanders leading 4-1, Krys Barch speared Martin, who suckered him into a five-minute major following an unsportsmanlike conduct from Steve Bernier, who was a little snake bit. He was denied by Nabokov twice and probably was the Devils’ best forward.

Michael Grabner closed the scoring at 19:25. The Islanders and Devils have split the first four games. New Jersey leads the season series 2-1-1 with one game remaining at Newark on April Fool’s Day.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Evgeni Nabokov, NYI (30 saves including some big ones early)
2nd Star-Matt Moulson, NYI (PPG-7th of season, 3 assists)
1st Star-John Tavares, NYI (goals-9, 10, 11 for 4th hat trick, assist-11-9-20 in 14 GP)