Islanders Morning Skate Updates Ahead of Battle vs. Bruins EAST MEADOW, NY -- Lately, New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/players/zach-parise-new-york-islanders-lou-lamoriello-return-nhl-19th-season] forward Mathew Barzal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/players/mathew-barzal-new-york-islanders-bo-horvat-lane-lambert-thomas-hickey]has been flaunting all the familiar trademarks of his game. The skating, the hands, the vision… The blistering slap shot??? Where did that come from? "That's something I've been trying to get better at for the last couple of years," Barzal told The Hockey News Friday morning. "And it seems to be paying off a little bit right now." But the standings suggest it's paying off a lot. The Islanders have jumped from second-worst to second-best in the eight-team Metropolitan Division, thanks to a 9-1-2 strut through the past month. There's a lot going right, but the most striking development is how the Islanders' two most dynamic skaters - Barzal and Noah Dobson [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/players/noah-dobson-new-york-islanders-assist-record-maple-leafs] – have been playing calmly and brilliantly all the time instead of sometimes. For 23-year-old Dobson, the rise to bona fide Norris Trophy contender is a matter of little more than the three Cs – confidence, composure, and consistency. But for 26-year-old Barzal, it's different. It seems like we're watching an older dog learn a new trick, which, according to that old idiom, is not supposed to work. What's the new trick? Two words (or one if you're into hyphens)… Slap shot. It's a movie inspired in part by the Long Island Ducks. It's the means by which the likes of Kenny Morrow, David Volek, and Alan Quine have delivered playoff classics for the Islanders. And now it's all the rage in Elmont. Barzal has 10 goals in 27 games so far in 2023-24, putting him on pace for the best goal-scoring season of his career. Six of those ten goals have been slap shots, including the last four. His latest came on the power play, as he wired a one-timer from the left dot to tie the game at 3-3 in the third period in their 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. "He's working on it, and he's made a commitment to shoot. I thought the play they made was outstanding. Little give and go," Islanders head coach Lane Lambert said postgame. "You look at that; it's the same type of goal in Carolina in overtime, and it's a highly skilled play to be able to get that shot off in that situation. So it was a big goal." Here's the overtime goal from Carolina that Lambert is referring to: Now go watch the 129 goals Barzal has scored in his 475 previous career NHL games – regular and playoffs - coming into this year. Actually, don't. We did that for you. In his rookie year, 2017-18, Barzal scored zero goals on slap shots. In 2018-19, he scored two slappers. In 2019-20, he scored one slapper. In 2020-21, he had none. In 2021-22, he had two. And last year, another two. That's seven windups in his first 120 career goals, six of which were one-timers. This year, it's six out of ten, including five one-timers. "I've been trying to put it together now for a few years," Barzal said. "I put in the most time in the last year or so with it, after practice, before practice, just kind of sitting in that spot and taking one-timers… and making plays off that spot." "He's hammered a couple home,” Brock Nelson [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/features/brock-nelson-new-york-islanders-stan-fischler-stefen-rosner] said. "If you want to score, I think you got to shoot more and more." It appears Mathew has taken this advice. He leads the Islanders with an average of 3.26 shots on goal per game this season. His previous high for one year was 2.51 in 2020. That's a huge leap. And Barzal's shot attempts are up even more. He's at 5.74 tries per game, on pace to crush his previous season high of 4.38 in 2022-23. So if you're an Islander fan who feels like you've spent half your life screaming, "SHOOT THE PUCK!" – just like all hockey fans everywhere – you should be glad to know someone is listening. Barzal's "wait-and-see" approach to puck handling seems to be fading. These days, he's letting go of the rubber, and it's making life easier for everyone in blue and orange, especially a once-beleaguered power play unit. Last year, the Islanders' power play came through at just 15.8 percent for third-worst in the NHL, scoring 35 goals on 222 opportunities. This season, the Islander's power play ranks ninth at 24.4 percent, coming through 19 times on 78 chances. "I think [Barzal's shot] adds to the threat of the power play as a whole unit," Nelson said. "I think it just keeps guys maybe a little bit more honest if they have to start thinking that he might shoot it from certain areas. "So for him on the power play, I think it's a big opportunity for him to showcase that one-timer." Barzal credits a lot of his success this season to the play of his linemate, Bo Horvat [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/features/bo-horvat-new-york-islanders-vancouver-canucks-trade-lamoriello]. "I'd say that having Bo [Horvat] putting it right in my wheelhouse for me to hit makes him even more threatful on the dot line, instead of being on the other side all the time. So yeah, I'm just looking to bring it to the net a little more this year. It's something I put a lot of effort into, so it's nice to see it paying off." Barzal also made a point to mention stick length. "The stick length maybe has something to do with it," Barzal said. "Ovechkin uses a really small stick, and I'm sure Stamkos' isn't very long. I use a little medium-height stick, so my wheelhouse is maybe a little bit different than theirs, but no, I would say I don't work with anybody specifically. It's more just finding it." "Bo" and the "wheelhouse" cannot be overlooked, because chemistry is undeniably a factor here. Barzal has slapped home six one-time feeds since Horvat joined the club last year. All six passes were perfect. Dobson supplied three, and Horvat supplied three. No one else. What does that mean? It means that they Islanders' best players are connecting in ways that haven't been there in the past few years. Hence, second place in the Metro. "I think it's something he's really worked on," Dobson told THN. "Just noticing this year more, he's been more trigger-happy to pull it than in years past. It makes him dangerous. Obviously, he's scored a couple of really nice one-time goals. So to have that as a threat now at five-on-five, especially on the power play as well, makes it huge, but definitely something he's worked on, and you could see how much better it's got." Barzal has focused heavily on adding more tools to his toolbox outside of his playmaking ability. With how much the power play struggled last year, Barzal's ability to take one-timers and make plays from the left dot has become integral to the Islanders' success this season. "You can really make a living off of being in those holes," Barzal said. "Like, Kucherov makes a career off being in that spot and Stamkos taking one-timers, Ovechkin, Pastrnak, etcetera. "I'm not those guys, but if I'm evolving and can bring a shot to the table with my playmaking, it makes me more dangerous." You can watch Rosner talk Islanders hockey on Hockey Night in New York [https://www.youtube.com/@hockeynightny] with co-host Sean Cuthbert [https://twitter.com/seanyhockey] live Sunday nights at 8 PM ET during the season at twitch.tv/hockeynightny [https://www.twitch.tv/hockeynightny]. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAyOTA3MTA5MzYzNDkxODUy/hockey-night.jpg]
