Islanders' Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal have taken off since Lou Lamoriello told them they could play better

Lou Lamoriello wasn’t calling out Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, just stating what he felt were facts. And before the Islanders' president/general manager told the media on Nov. 25 that both top-liners had “much more to give,” Lamoriello made sure he spoke directly to the players first.

The Islanders are 8-2-4 since — part of a larger 11-2-6 run that has vaulted them to second place in the Metropolitan Division — and  the point-per-game pace of Horvat and Barzal is a huge reason why.

Their level of elite play is absolutely necessary for the Islanders to be a dangerous team when they resume their season on Wednesday against the Penguins at UBS Arena after the Christmas break. Or come playoff time.

So give Lamoriello a primary assist for pushing them.

“He told us flat-out,” Horvat told Newsday. “He said, ‘I don’t think you guys are playing bad. I think you guys can be even better.’ I respect that. I’d rather him tell us directly than find out through the media and not know how he’s feeling about our game.

“When you hear that, you want to raise your game to another level. I don’t take it personally. You know where he stands and you know he’s going to push you hard to be better. I just use it as fuel more than anything.”

Horvat, in the first season of an eight-year, $68 million deal, has nine goals and 10 assists in 14 games to coincide with Lamoriello’s pep talk, including a career-high 11-game point streak. Overall, he has 14 goals and 19 assists in 32 games and is on pace for 36 goals, which would be one shy of the career high he set last season split between the Canucks and the Islanders.

Barzal, in the first season of an eight-year, $73.2 million extension, has five goals and 14 assists in his last 13 games. He has 10 goals and 25 assists in 32 games and is on pace for a career-high 90 points.

Horvat's acquisition on Jan. 30 forced Barzal’s switch from his natural position of center to right wing. Barzal’s gradual acceptance and understanding of his new role has blossomed in the past month.

The unspoken on-ice chemistry the two have developed — witness Barzal’s pinpoint cross-ice feed to set up Horvat’s first-period one-timer from the right circle in Saturday’s 5-4 win in Carolina — has given the Islanders their most dangerous top line since the Anders Lee-John Tavares-Josh Bailey trio in Barzal’s rookie season.

Beyond Lamoriello’s words, don’t overlook Lee’s contribution to Barzal and Horvat at the net and in the corners since being assigned to the line on Nov. 28.

And Horvat and Barzal — along with defenseman Noah Dobson, also on a point-per-game pace — have elevated the Islanders’ long-maligned power play to sixth in the NHL.

Not that Lamoriello is taking a bow.

“I think both are playing some of the better hockey that they’ve played,” he said. “They’re committed to doing that. There’s the reasons they’re the top elite with our team as far as talent. Potential is a funny word. Unless it’s activated, it doesn’t mean much.”

Whatever the reasons for their elevation in play, Horvat isn’t discounting Lamoriello’s honesty to them.

“I’ve never had a GM be more transparent with me than Lou,” he said. “Right from the beginning, he’s just been honest. You don’t want to read between the lines. I’d rather he be straight up and honest with me. I respect that about him. I know a lot of guys in this room respect that about him. It’s nice to have that transparency and that trust with your GM.”

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.