The hits just keep coming for the New York Islanders and this is an injury note. As if losing Anthony Duclair wasn’t bad enough already, it somehow gets worse. The worse is news that now the team’s best player Mathew Barzal is going to time with an upper-body injury. He went down after a big hit in their last game, a 2-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Barzal remained on the Islander bench to get looked at by trainers and ended up finishing the game. Now, with the team still on the road Barzal will head back to Long Island. After being seen by team doctors, the news is he will miss four-to-six weeks. The team also announced that is the timeframe Adam Pelech will be out.
Mathew Barzal Injured
When it rains it pours and it is pouring on the Islanders at the moment. This injury could not have come at a worse time for the team. In the middle of a three-game losing streak, with Duclair already on LITR. The team is also having a historically bad offensive stretch this month. They were blanked in their last game marking the fourth time they have been shut out in the first ten games. The Islanders were already struggling to produce offence with Barzal in the lineup. He had yet to score a point in 5v5 this season. The team ranks dead last in the league with 2.10 goals per game. Now the show must go on without their top player. Fans are speculating this was the hit that is forcing Barzal to miss time.
What Does This Injury for the New York Islanders Mean?
Well, it means that the supporting cast of the Islanders is going to have to step up. It means more line shuffling than anticipated from head coach Patrick Roy. Bo Horvat will now have the overwhelming pressure on his shoulders to pick up his play and elevate others. Horvat has struggled so far this season with four goals and three assists in 11 games. Things won’t get any easier for him. He now welcomes two new linemates. Jean-Gabriel Pageau and the team captain Andres Lee will now flank Horvat on the wings. Lee and Pageau have been playing with each other on the third line, so they have some chemistry already. However, this is far from the top line of Barzal, Horvat, and Duclair that fans thought they would be getting when Duclair was signed in the offseason.
The injury to Barzal also means the team will have to change the way it plays at 5v5 and on the power play. Horvat will have the puck on his stick more but the game is simplified for him. The Islanders will be reduced to a basic north-south game. They will have to dump the puck in and work to retrieve it, instead of having someone carry it into the zone. They will place even more emphasis on shooting everything toward the net and have guys crashing, looking for a dirty goal. The defence will need to jump up on the play more and try to get their transition game going. The power play approach will be simpler and not as cute, which might actually be better for them. With their power play percentage tied for 24th at 14.3%, maybe a change is what they need. There will be less passing around and more shooting with traffic and rebounds.
Closing Thoughts
There are no positives to losing a player like Barzal. He has rare skating and play-making abilities that separate him from average players. Those attributes make him hard to defend but at times also hard to play with. Horvat and Duclair understood his play style which made the three effective and fun to watch. Now two of them are hurt with an injury and the New York Islanders need to find a new identity and fast. This could either be really bad or really good. We are hoping for the latter and hoping for a speedy recovery for one of the game’s most skilled players.
Main Photo Credit: Dennis Schneidler – USA TODAY Sports
