Mathew Barzal's goal vs. Maple Leafs could be a spark for himself and the Islanders

At first glance, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about the goal Mathew Barzal scored in Toronto on Saturday night.

There were two minutes and 20 seconds remaining and the Islanders were protecting their two-goal advantage against a Maple Leafs squad that was both desperate and aggressive.

The home net was empty because Craig Berube had pulled goaltender Joseph Woll for the extra skater two minutes and 25 seconds earlier. The Leafs had attempted five shots in that time. None had found their way past Ilya Sorokin.

As the seconds ticked off the clock, the puck found its way to Jake McCabe at the right point. The Toronto defenseman faked a shot, then fired the puck — right at Anders Lee, who backhanded a pass to Barzal. He skated the puck to center ice before wristing a shot into the empty net.

Goal.

Islanders 6, Maple Leafs 3.

Standing behind the visiting bench at Scotiabank Centre, Patrick Roy was pleased for a number of reasons. His Islanders had won a game. The team was fully healthy for the first time in weeks. They executed his directives fully. And Barzal had gotten rewarded for what the Hall of Famer thought was a stellar all-around performance.

“I was so happy for him to score that goal because [his line] had a great night,” Roy said after the morning skate at Northwell Health Ice Center before Monday night’s game at UBS Arena against the NHL-worst Sabres. “They had a lot of good chances and it was nice to see him rewarded with that empty-netter. But he was on the ice because I trusted him. I knew he could do the job.”

For a team that has spent a significant portion of the first half of the season trying to stay in playoff contention without key contributors, the win over old friend John Tavares’ Leafs could be viewed as something of a jumping-off point for the Islanders and Barzal.

He had missed 21 games with an upper-body injury suffered in a 2-0 loss in Columbus on Oct. 30 before returning to the Islanders’ lineup for a 5-3 loss to Chicago on Dec. 15.

“I feel all right,” Barzal told Newsday. “It takes time. I didn’t skate for five weeks, so it takes a minute to get back, but starting to feel better.”

Along with scoring his third goal of the season, Barzal had 16:43 of ice time spanning 19 shifts against the Leafs. He had five shots on goal and won all four faceoffs he took.

Not a bad night’s work.

“He’s looked great,” Lee said. “He’s still building his strength a little bit in his area — and it’s coming each game — but he sees the ice. He’s got his hands. He’s making plays. So I think he’s going to continue to get better and get back into his form. He stepped in and has played some good hockey.”

The reinsertion of Barzal — along with Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech — into the lineup has allowed Roy to construct three scoring lines. Barzal centers the top line with Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Duclair and Kyle Palmieri flank Brock Nelson on the second line and Maxim Tsyplakov, Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom comprise the third line. They are followed by the fourth line of Kyle MacLean, Casey Cizikas and Hudson Fasching.

All four lines contributed to the win in Toronto. The Islanders outshot the Leafs 34-29 and had a 69-55 advantage in shot attempts.

The only line not to have more scoring chances for was the Nelson line, which yielded five and generated three. But it was Nelson’s line that accounted for what proved to be the winning goal, rookie Isaiah George’s laser 5:23 into the third period, which extended the Islanders’ lead to 4-2.

“We controlled the game,” Barzal said. “We feel good . . . It felt natural . . . Up-and-down, top-to-bottom, everyone played well.”

Israeli hockey at UBS

UBS Arena will host the first professional hockey game in North America between two professional Israeli hockey teams as the Jerusalem Capitals meet HC Tel Aviv on Sunday, March 23, Israel Elite Hockey Clubs announced Monday.

“The game is a monumental step forward for Israeli hockey and a testament to the unifying power of sports,’’ IEHL co-owner Marc Brunengraber said in a statement.