Bo Horvat takes last shot at Vancouver after first game with Islanders

Who can blame him? Bo Horvat thought he was going to be a Vancouver Canuck for life. Last week, ahead of the All-Star break, he was traded to the New York Islanders.

Horvat had a fantastic home debut with the Islanders on Tuesday night, scoring a goal in the 4-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken. The forward was grateful when fans chanted his name and gave him a standing ovation after he scored his first goal for the Islanders in his second game with the team.

When he commented on the ovation, Horvat couldn’t help but taking a small shot at Vancouver:

“It was pretty amazing,” Horvat said after the game. “I haven’t had a chant like that in a building that loud in, I don’t think ever.

“(It) definitely felt good to get (the goal) in my first game at home,” Horvat added.

It was obvious that the trade out of Vancouver frustrate Horvat, who admitted he was distraught about it during the All-Star weekend. The Islanders acquired Horvat from the Canucks in late January, and later signed him to an eight-year contract extension Sunday.

Horvat was set to be a pending unrestricted free agent before inking his new deal, and we all know the contract stalemate - or the decision to prioritize signing JT Miller and Andrei Kuzmenko - pushed him out of Vancouver.

We get why he would want to put the focus on the support he is now getting with the Islanders.

Horvat ranks among the league’s goal-scoring leaders with 32 goals and 23 assists in 51 games this season.

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