After a much-needed All-Star break, where Mat Barzal represented the team about as well as one could, the Islanders returned on Monday to face off against the Leafs for the final time this season. They went into Toronto and closed out the season series sweep against the All-Star captain and MVP in Auston Matthews, who had drafted Barzy along with Leafs’ Reilly, Marner, and Nylander.
On Monday night’s matchup, the former captain John Tavares tied it up in the third for Toronto (once again) before the former-Leaf, Pierre Engvall, would notch the go-ahead goal and eventual game-winner for the Islanders. There were a lot of things to highlight from this game, including the importance of beating another wildcard team in the East. The recent 3-game slide didn’t do the Isles any favors in the standings, which remains incredibly competitive.
If the win alone didn’t feel good enough, we got to see Kyle MacLean score his first NHL goal on a breakaway dangle to beat Ilya Samsonov. I don’t know what his future with the team will look like, but he seems to have some of the new-age skill they’ve has been craving for some time.
Additionally, Mat Barzal is continuing to stand out as a true stud for this organization, tallying his 14th goal of the season (52nd point). It’s not a wild amount of goals, but he has never been a massive goal-scorer with a career-high of 22. Optically, one can tell he is feeling himself as he shifts all over the ice and creates offensive opportunity almost every shift. I think a lot of fans can agree that we haven’t seen him in this form for a while.
Barzal’s relationship with Patrick Roy is already proving to be an exciting factor in regaining momentum for this squad. In addition to his initial commentary on the coaching change, it is reported that he is very active at practice with Coach Roy, speaking with him often between drills. Perhaps Roy is the active and encouraging coach a guy like Mat needs. Barry Trotz was an incredible coach for this team, but he likely wouldn’t be the ideal coach for Barzy at this point in his career when he is able to dominate offensively and hopefully break some personal records (in addition to bringing us a playoff spot once again).
The morale overall seems to be more positive for the Islanders. The past 5 games have shown an Islanders team that, despite losing 3 of them, is playing much more effectively and competitively. I’ve never really been on the anti-Tavares train, but it felt good to see Clutterbuck and Mayfield giving him some shots and making it clear they will not spare anyone in front of our net. On a similar note, we got to see Barzal and Marner chirping back and forth from the bench after being All-Star teammates a few days earlier. This is not the same team we started this year with.
Bo Horvat (20G, 25A, 45P) has been a solid leader of this team, and further proved it when he dropped the mitts with Simon Benoit after stepping up on Barzal with a somewhat knee-on-knee. It wasn’t the worst hit, but considering Barzal was engaged with another Leaf, Benoit was likely looking to crush the Isles’ All-Star. Horvat was a bit outmatched in this fight, but the point remains that he is a dog, or as Coach Roy would say, an “eagle”.
The new-found spirit of the Islanders will be vital in the attempt to remain contenders in the East. I’m not worried about hat we can do in the play-offs yet, but what we can do between now and then. The sample-size under Roy is still too small to extrapolate through the rest of the season, but I do like what we’ve seen thus far.
The Islanders face-off next against the Tampa Bay Lightning, who we love to hate. Hopefully the Islander’s morale can outshine that of Kucherov’s bullshit skills competition performance and help them to defeat another team that they may end up competing with for a wild card spot. Tampa will be coming to the Island after playing the Rangers tonight, where I begrudgingly will have to cheer for NYR. Our sight is not on the first spot in the Metro as of right now, so ceding points to the Rangers to help us in a wildcard race will have to do for the time being.
Following the game against TBL, the Islanders will take on the Flames, Kraken, Rangers, and Pittsburgh.
Cover Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
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