New York Islanders [http://thn.com/isles]' No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/sights-sounds-on-schaefer-incident-from-second-period-vs-bruins-in-3-2-shootout-loss] has received all of the attention out of the gate and rightfully so. But there's another Islanders player who is firing on all cylinders, and that's alternate captain Bo Horvat [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/islanders-mathew-barzal-bo-horvat-picking-up-where-they-left-off]. After his two-goal night in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/boston-bruins] on Tuesday, Horvat now has nine goals in 13 games this season, with six assists for 15 points on the young campaign. After going the first three games without a goal, he's on an absolute heater. He's shooting 20 percent on the season and is on pace for 56 goals His career high is 38, set during the season he joined the Islanders (2022-23), when he recorded 31 goals in 49 games with the Vancouver Canucks before just 7 in the final 30 games on Long Island. In that final stint with Vancouver, Horvat was scoring 0.63 goals per game. Right now, he's at 0.69 goals per game. On top of that, Horvat has played a vital role on the penalty kill, one that went 11-for-11 before seeing that streak come to an end on Tuesday night. He's also winning 59.8% of his draws, with his career high in the dot 58.2%, which he set last season. "He's got a hot stick," Islanders captain Anders Lee said. "He has the ability to create a shot on his own, and he can rip it. And those are some big goals tonight for us. Great play from Barzy on the first one, and then Bo finding the lane through a guy, which is what he does when he's rolling like that. It's huge for our team. And he had a great game tonight." Horvat spoke pregame about his game and what's led to his strong play. "The pucks are just finally going in," Horvat said with a smirk. "For myself, it's getting in those scoring areas, but at the same time bearing down when I have those opportunities. And yeah, I'm just trying to put the puck in that whenever I can. And thankfully, they're going in right now. I just got to continue to keep doing that."
