Despite no goals scored yet, Mathew Barzal continues to improve his game
Mathew Barzal of the Islanders skates against the Flames at UBS Arena on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Of course, there’s an obvious nitpick: Mathew Barzal did not have a goal for the Islanders through the season’s first 13 games.
But, there’s a weird juxtaposition because the elite playmaker is creating and skating as well as he ever has in his career.
Barzal enters Tuesday night’s game against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden with a team-high 14 assists after adding three, including two primary assists, as the Islanders rallied for a 4-3 overtime win over the Flames at UBS Arena on Monday night. That tied him for third in the NHL.
Per team statistician Eric Hornick, no Islander has had more than 14 assists in the first 13 games since Brent Sutter and Mike Bossy both did so in 1984-85.
“I’m just trying to play my game,” said Barzal, who agreed to an eight-year, $73.2 million extension before this season. “Obviously, I’d love to score. At the end of the day, I like to be a playmaker. I’m just trying to make an impact in every way I can.”
Barzal was third on the Islanders with 37 shots as he tries to carry through on the shooting mentality the coaching staff is pushing him to have. Still, it doesn’t always come naturally. Barzal curiously bypassed a good look as he led a two-on-one early in the Islanders’ 3-0 road loss to the Red Wings on Saturday afternoon, choosing instead to force a pass to Josh Bailey.
Barzal logged a season-high 24:01 against the Flames — only the fourth time he’s topped 20 minutes of ice time this season — and had five shots, one shy of Brock Nelson’s team high.
Short a forward after Cal Clutterbuck exited following the first period and down two goals entering the third period, coach Lane Lambert starting using Barzal and Nelson, two natural centers, together with power forward Anders Lee.
The new combination proved dominant, even though Barzal and Lee rarely skate together other than on the power play.
“It felt nice,” Barzal said. “ 'Leesy' is a horse. He was doing his thing. With Brock, he’s really good at getting open for shots. I thought there was some chemistry there.”
“They’re top offensive guys,” said defenseman Noah Dobson, set up by Barzal for the power-play overtime winner against the Flames. “Barzy was really going. He was controlling the play. He was determined. That’s huge. He drives us up there. Every time they were on the ice, they had two or three Grade A [chances].”
Per Natural Stat Trick, the trio created four high-danger chances without allowing one in its 3:57 together and held an 8-1 shot advantage.
“He’s taken his play to another level,” Lambert said of Barzal. “He’s looking confident. For me, he’s looking like he wants to take charge. He’s doing a really good job.”
Also per Natural Stat Trick, Barzal had created 50 high-danger chances for the Islanders this season, second to defenseman Adam Pelech’s 53. His high-danger chances for a percentage of 56.82 was third behind Nikita Soshnikov, who had played two games, and Kieffer Bellows, who played in the season opener and was later claimed off waivers by the Flyers.
Barzal’s expected goals-for of 11.42 ranked third behind Pelech (12.76) and his defense partner, Ryan Pulock (12.19).
“He creates so much space out there for guys,” Lee said. “He puts the puck on guys’ tapes in scoring positions. [The goals] are going to start coming for him soon. He’s getting the opportunities. It’s not something you think too much about. You just want to see a good bounce go in for him.”
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.
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