Barzal dominates in Isles’ victory over Jets

Mathew Barzal has been told for nearly two season now to shoot the puck more. Barry Trotz has tried to ingrain it into the young star’s mind that it’s not always about making the fancy pass. Sometimes greasy goals work too.

This was true on Monday against the Blues, and true again on Thursday night against the Winnipeg Jets. Barzal added a pair of goals, including one of the PP, in a 3-1 victory over the Jets.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 31 shots and stopped 15 of 16 in a tumultuous first period for the Islanders. Varlamov seems to have hit a stride, as he’s won back-to-back games and has looked much more comfortable in net. The Islanders needed him when their team was sputtering in their own zone.

Josh Bailey scored an empty-net goal to seal the deal, and the Islanders have now won three straight games. Oliver Wahlstrom impressed yet again, recording one shot and four hits in 13:11 of ice time. With Wahlstrom, the Islanders have a shooting threat they haven’t had in quite some time.

One of the highlight’s of the game (other than the win) was Barzal’s second period intermission interview with MSG’s Shannon Hogan. Barzal was knocked in the mouth twice by a high stick with no call. When asked how he felt, Barzal had this to say;

It’s nice that the kid can show some personality. Regardless, the Islanders now head to Columbus to play the Blue Jackets and try to continue this winning streak. The work isn’t done, but the team looks a lot better than they did just a few weeks ago.