Bo Horvat isn't allowing anyone to mess with Mathew Barzal.
Bo Horvat isn't allowing anyone to mess with Mathew Barzal.
Since Patrick Roy walked through the doors of the New York Islanders' practice facility, he's preached the importance of family, wanting this team to act like brothers.
Well, what do brothers do?
They protect one another.
Inside the first minute of the second period Monday night, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit took a run at Islanders All-Star Mathew Barzal along Toronto's half-wall.
Barzal was able to spin out of it and only take a small percentage of the hit, but Benoit's actions didn't sit well with Bo Horvat.
As the puck started to make its way out of the Maple Leafs zone, Horvat initiated a fight with Benoit:
Benoit had a size advantage, standing at six-foot-three compared to Horvat at an even six feet, but even when the Leafs blue liner got Horvat to the ice, the former Vancouver Canucks captain got back up before wrestling his opponent to the ice.
It's not the first time Horvat has stood up for his linemate Barzal, and it certainly won't be the last time. But it was the first time Horvat has dropped the mitts as a member of New York, as his leadership through this season has been a monumental standout.
After the game, Roy had high praise for his No. 1 centerman.
"This is who he is," Roy said on Horvat. "He's a leader on this team.
"In life, you could be an eagle or a duck. He was an eagle there."
If you remember, last season, one of the issues that plagued the Islanders was that they struggled to stand up for one another on the ice.
There was little response when Adam Pelech got drilled behind his net by now teammate Robert Bortuzzo. When Nick Ritchie drilled Kyle Palmieri in the head out in the Arizona desert, one person went after the Coyotes forward.
When Simon Holmstrom took a knee-on-knee from Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett, there was nothing.
It wasn't as if they didn't care about one another -- they certainly do -- but there were too many times when they were passive in those moments.
Wins like Monday could be the wins that spark a team and allow them to go on a run.
While the game was far from over at that point, it set the tone that if an opponent wanted to mess with Barzal, there would be consequences.
After the final horn, that mental mindset of playing as a team, going to war for one another, was shown yet again as Cal Clutterbuck went after former Islanders captain John Tavares, leading to a scrum.
It was the first time that the Islanders had "gone after" Tavares since he left Long Island in the summer of 2018.
Now, Clutterbuck is usually someone who is involved in those scrums, and that's not to say Horvat doesn't do what he has to do on a nightly basis, but it was out of character for him to throw down.
It speaks volumes to not just Horvat as a member of that locker room but also how much he genuinely cares about Barzal.
No. 13 missed 23 games last season after Boston Bruins forward Craig Smith pinned him along the boards in mid-February, making contact with his ankle.
The dangerous hit attempt by Benoit could have been a disaster if he connected the way he intended.
Horvat knew that, and Horvat made him answer. Yes, Horvat was given an extra two minutes for an unsportsmanlike contact -- for some reason, still not sure -- and the Maple Leafs were able to tie the game at 1-1 while at 4-on-4 play.
Sure enough, the extra penalty came back to help the Islanders, as Kyle MacLean -- who served Horvat's penalty -- jumped out of the box at the same time Clutterbuck dove to get the puck out of the Islanders zone, leading to a breakaway.
On the 1-on-0, MacLean showed off the hands to score his first career NHL goal, which gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at the time.
You never know how things turn out, and Horvat will tell you that even if he's going to get an extra penalty, he's standing up for Barzal every day of the week.
You can watch Rosner talk Islanders hockey on Hockey Night in New York with co-host Sean Cuthbert live on Sunday nights at 8 PM ET during the season on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter & Facebook.