Islanders rookie Mathew Barzal had no issues with head coach Doug Weight’s decision to sit him for two key stretches late in Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Flames.
The first came with the Islanders on a power play with 7:12 to play in the third period and the game tied. Barzal took his usual spot with the first power-play unit, but after a bad giveaway just 32 seconds in with a face-off coming, Jordan Eberle hopped the boards and gave the likely Calder Trophy winner the tap to get off the ice.
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With 58 seconds left in the game and the Islanders down a goal, Jaroslav Halak headed to the bench for an extra attacker. Again, Barzal is usually the one to join John Tavares’ line for a six on five. And again, Weight sent Eberle out and the Islanders lost a crusher in regulation with their most dynamic chance-generator on the bench.
“I was having a terrible game,” said Barzal, who picked up his 43rd assist of the year on Anthony Beauvillier’s second-period goal but had a 30% Corsi rating at even strength. “I wasn’t playing my best and Dougie did what he thought was best for the team. Hey, man – he’s the coach and I respect him a lot. He’s going to do whatever it takes to win. Ebs was having a good game, so was Johnny’s line and I was on the bench hoping we get to overtime. I want to win. I’m not here to chase cookies and get points and stuff. That’s great, but check the standings right now – I only care about winning. I wasn’t frustrated at all. Unfortunately, we didn’t score. I didn’t deserve to be out there.”
After a short, crisp practice at Northwell Health Ice Center, Weight bristled at having to discuss the decision to sit Barzal late in Sunday’s loss. Immediately after the game, Weight responded with a simple “yes” when asked if he were unhappy with Barzal’s game.
On Monday, he elaborated, but still wasn’t pleased with the questions.
“That’s not the time of the game where it’s about accountability, it’s who’s going to score for us?” Weight said. “He just threw the puck away three times on the last power play. We had meetings between periods showing him what’s going on and what we have to exploit. So that’s not a teaching tool, it’s not a young guy, ‘We’re going to teach him a lesson and he’ll be a pro for 20 years.’ If you think that’s what I’m doing, in the 58th minute, fighting for our lives, you got a little bit more to think about, guys.
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“That is a point where Ebs, arguably to me, has been our absolute best player in the last month. Smart, reliable, makes plays but gets it in, makes the right play. He’s cerebral, he’s thinking about being above the puck and he’s battling. That’s what my choice is. That’s it. It’s not a teaching point in the 58th minute.”
There are plenty of numbers to cite in rebuttal to Weight, from Barzal’s 6.7% relative Corsi for compared to the rest of his team (trailing only Eberle’s 9.24%) to his rookie-leading assist and point totals to just Friday night, when he recorded his remarkable third five-point game of the season in keying a wild comeback from 5-2 down with less than seven minutes to play in a 7-6 overtime defeat of the Red Wings.
Everyone knows what this young man can do, including Weight. And the coach has no issues with Barzal’s season so far.
“It’s not the end of the world for Mathew Barzal, for god’s sakes… He’s played well. He’s had good results,” Weight said. “This is his first year in the NHL, he’s had a tremendous year, he’s a good kid. Do you want every player to make better decisions, be more consistent, shoot the puck instead of pass it every time? Of course. He’s done a damn good job, he should be proud of his year to this point and he should continue to try to get better in all areas. Because the kid sat down for 30 seconds, this is going to become… I’m done talking about it.”
The bigger issue on Sunday was how the game changed late in the second period, when the Flames started to rally from 2-0 down and both the Tavares and Barzal lines started to cave. Weight defended having his fourth line of Ross Johnston, Casey Cizikas and Jason Chimera out midway through the third, when a routine Calgary dump-in turned over along the wall and no one was within 15 feet of Matthew Tkachuk as he tipped a pass over Halak to tie it.
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“Casey had a good game, Ross has been really good. Two minutes left in the second period, our top two lines were turning the puck over against (Johnny) Gaudreau,” Weight said. “We have a good first 30 minutes, smart, playing hard, chances are 9-9 after the second. I put out Casey and Ross (in the third), they get scored on. I don’t care. It was a rim forecheck, we shouldn’t have gone up, Chimmer should have gotten in front of Tkachuk when he sees our guy going up. It’s a basic play, we’ve seen it a hundred times and it’s in the back of our net. But they deserved (the ice time). They’re not turning it over, they’re getting it in, they’re playing heavy, getting out above the puck.”
The Islanders’ wild week, in which they went 1-2-1 and gave up the tying or go-ahead goal with less than five minutes left in regulation each game, is behind them. They host the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, the Rangers on Thursday and travel to Raleigh to face the Hurricanes on Friday — three teams within a point of them in the playoff race.
Barzal, for one, isn’t going to mope over some missed minutes.
“Regardless of how I was playing we should’ve won that game,” he said. “We put ourselves in pretty good position to win and it’s unfortunate we didn’t. (Andrew Ladd), JT, guys like that have that veteran presence and they can help me. I think they knew last night wasn’t my best, we talked about it and you’ve got to move on quick in this league. We’ve got the biggest game of the year tomorrow against Columbus so you’re going to dwell on it too much.”
Blue and Orange notes
Cal Clutterbuck skated on Monday after missing the bulk of Sunday’s third period following a stick to the throat from Calgary’s Curtis Lazar. Clutterbuck’s throat swelled up and he was sitting in a Brooklyn emergency room as his team gave away the lead and then the game, but he seemed fine except for a softer-than-usual voice following Monday’s practice.
Calvin de Haan (shoulder surgery) has begun his rehab at the Isles facility nearly eight weeks after suffering his season-ending injury. His season is over, as is his Islanders tenure with so much uncertainty facing the team and the player. De Haan has now had three shoulder surgeries in the last nine years and may find the free-agent market a bit wanting despite his appeal.
(Photo credit: Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports)
