Mathew Barzal exits early in latest Islanders’ injury
NHL
February 19, 2023 | 2:35 p.m
BOSTON — After a few weeks of relative calm on the injury front, the Islanders are right back to determining their lineup through triage.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Josh Bailey, both struggling with upper body injuries, skipped the trip to the Bruins on Saturday, leading Lane Lambert to play Ross Johnston for the first time since January 21, which the manager did instead to call 11 forwards and seven defenders.
To make matters worse, Mathew Barzal went into the dressing room just 6:01 after a Craig Smith goal. After doing a few laps on the ice during a break, Barzal spent the rest of the Islanders’ 6-2 loss in the dressing room.
Lambert didn’t have an update on Barzal after the game.
“Of course he is a very important player for us in all aspects,” said Lambert. “As hard as you try not to let that affect you, we had a power play that didn’t go very well and he’s a big part of it. There is a residual effect across the board.”
Barzal, who missed just one game this season in Calgary on Jan. 6, is arguably the Islanders’ most important player. If he misses any length of time, it would border on a knockout blow for a team trying to make progress during a playoff race where the math is already working against them.
Barzal’s 51 points is second this season with the Islanders, behind only Brock Nelson, and his 37 assists lead the team. Barzal was also key in quickly integrating center Bo Horvat, who came off the Canucks in a trade before the All-Star break.
Lambert chose to put Johnston in the fourth row with Andy Andreoff and Simon Holmstrom. It was only the 12th game of the season for Johnston, who was passed over for regular time despite the team’s numerous injuries in December and January.
With a makeshift fourth row at the start that became a makeshift fourth row after Barzal left, the Islanders quickly lost any chance of putting on a competitive performance, resulting in an embarrassing defeat.
Lambert didn’t draw goaltender Semyon Varlamov, despite his struggles in which he allowed six shots from 27, because he wanted to keep Ilya Sorokin fresh for Monday’s game in Pittsburgh. Sorokin played the Penguins on Friday.
Brock Nelson’s points streak ended after 12 games.
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