The New York Islanders were off on Tuesday as they rested and prepared for Game 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Mathew Barzal spoke with the media about his return to game action after a 23-game absence, along with what the playoff atmosphere was like.
Barzal on Return
In his return to the lineup, Barzal played 21:12, with two shots, one giveaway, and a block. There was a bit of rust, as one would expect, but as the game went on, he looked more like himself.
"Oh, I actually felt better than I thought I was gonna feel, to be honest with you. Like my lungs and legs felt alright," Mathew Barzal said Tuesday afternoon.
"Well, it's a tough game to jump right into, playing those guys and in a game where everyone's amped up," Barzal said. "But, the hands and legs part of it...you can never simulate game speed in practice, so as the game went on, I felt a little more comfortable with the puck."
Barzal's game is all about creating time and space for himself and his teammates with his speed and edge work, but Carolina did a phenomenal job against him and his teammates in limiting any kind of transition.
"They bogged down the neutral zone pretty good last night. We really didn't have much in the neutral zone, so it would be nice to carry the puck a little bit, but we know the series is going to be like that," Barzal said. "It's gonna be a lot of pucks on the yellow (, a lot of pucks on the board, so be nice to possess a little more I thought they kind of drove that last night, so hopefully tomorrow we can gain that back a little bit."
Barzal on Chemistry with Horvat
The duo of Barzal and Horvat played just six games together before the injury, showing well over that span.
At five-on-five, over their six-plus games together, the Islanders outscored their opponents 4-2 when this duo was on the ice, outshooting them 51-30, per NaturalStatrick.com.
But after all that time, the question was how long it would take for them to click.
"He made a good pass to me for my breakaway last night. There just wasn't a lot of pucks out there, to be honest with you," Barzal said. "That's what it comes down to. I think when we have the puck, there's going to be chances for us to make plays and find each other but last night, Carolina did a great job just shutting down -- a lot of players not just for our line -- but just in the entire game.
"They did a great job of just making it harder for us to make plays. So yeah, hopefully, we can get that going with me and Bo (Horvat) here in the next game."
When Barzal and Horvat were on the ice, the Islanders outshot the Hurricanes 7-6 at even strength, with six scoring chances to their five.
Barzal on Playoff Atmosphere
PNC Arena, the home of the Hurricanes, was loud before their hometown team even stepped on the ice. The place started shaking when injured star Andrei Svechknikov came out to sound the Hurricane siren and the volume grew as game time inched closer and close.
"Yeah, it was cool just hearing that kind of energy in a building again," Barzal said. "That was exciting. That was loud last night. So credit to their fans. They were great last night. But yeah, the actual atmosphere of the game and just you know what's on the line was really fun to be a part of again."
The Hockey News asked Barzal how his team can benefit from the crowd, and he gave an interesting response.
"Pulock with that hit early on, I thought it did a good job of silencing the crowd a little bit. Maybe we get the first goal (to) quiet them down a bit, but they're pretty rowdy," Barzal said. "They brought a lot of noise last night so I think just trying to get the first goal, just change momentum.
"When they get buzzing, and they start putting pucks on the net, fans get into it pretty good. So just do the best we can to stop that momentum and shift it a little bit."