New York Islanders All-Star Mathew Barzal may not be lighting up the scoresheet the way Isles fans expect, but ask the 28-year-old himself, and he’ll tell you he’s playing some of the best all-around hockey of his career. And honestly? The evidence backs him up.
Barzal remains one of the NHL’s great inkblot tests - you can watch him dominate shifts with the puck on his stick, or you can wonder why that dominance doesn’t always translate into points. Over the past two weeks, he’s tallied only three points in six games. Yet the Islanders have won seven of their past nine, and Barzal has been at the center of so much of their offensive flow.