Mathew Barzal knows he has to be better to help the Islanders get out of their goal-scoring funk.
ELMONT, NY -- Mathew Barzal beat a goaltender for the first time this season on Tuesday night, scoring on the power play in their 3-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
It was just his second goal of the season, the first coming via an empty-net goal in their 6-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche, the club's third game of the season.
Scoring on the power play is a sure positive for a group that's struggling to bury on the man advantage as well. But scoring at 5-on-5 is so important, and the top line had their chances to do that.
Instead, their struggles to produce continued.
When Barzal, Bo Horvat, and Simon Holmstrom were on the ice, 6:46 minutes, the Islanders out-chanced the Ducks 6-2, per NaturalStatrick.com.
Barzal had a chance early to bury a back-door feed from Holmstrom but couldn't find the twine. Off the rush, Horvat hit the post.
“I thought we had some good looks. Kinda been the same script for a lot of games this year: a lot of chances, outshooting a team and feeling like we were the better team in the game. We come out on the losing end, but it’s a long season and we have belief it’ll down the road."
Because of a lack of finishing from Barzal's line and others, head coach Patrick Roy made many line changes in an effort to spark the group.
Nine, to be exact:
“My line with Bo and Holmer haven't scored a five-on-five goal, so at some point, Patty’s gotta make a change and I feel like it woke the group up a bit.”
But even with the group getting a spark, with Roy citing postgame that he owed it to his players to give them different chances to see if someone could clip, the result was the same.
As Nashville Predators Juuse Saros says in his Mass Mutual commercial, "No goals"...at 5-on-5.
“It’s just the belief in the guys that are in here, coaching staff and everybody in the organization," Barzal said. "We know that no one’s feeling sorry for us, and we are where we are. There’s nothing we can do about it so we got, what is it, 71 more games?
"We believe that it’s going to turn. We believe we’re playing good hockey, and it sucks. It sucks as a team. It just hasn’t gone our way. Individually, I know me and Bo put a lot of pressure on ourselves and haven’t found that spark to score a big goal and win a hockey game.”
The Islanders need their top player and top line to get going. They're too talented not to.
"I understand how he feels, but again, he has his chances. So, for me, it's just a matter of time to keep playing the right way, and eventually, the puck will go in," Roy said. "I mean, he had two or three good chances in that game, especially in that second period when he had, like, a one-timer at the back door. He could have scored there. So, I mean, I feel like we're playing the right way, were in each other's right mindset to have, and hopefully that we we could get those goals.
They'll get another chance at building that goal-scoring confidence when they battle the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night at 7 PM ET.