Barzal Gets Off the Schneid, Scores First Two Goals of Season Against Stars

It had been 203 days since New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal scored a goal heading into the contest against the Dallas Stars. Barzal was not pointless, as he had recorded 19 assists amongst the league leaders entering the night.

Barzal was approaching history as his 19 assists were the fourth-most all-time before scoring a goal. But he got off the schneid on Saturday night as he scored his first goal of the season.

After Oliver Wahlstrom won a board battle along the left boards in the Stars zone, he fed defenseman Alexander Romanov at the top of the left circle. Romanov shot the puck quickly, and Mathew Barzal, who was in the low slot, was able to deflect the puck over the blocker of Starts netminder Jake Oettinger for his 20th point of the season.

Mat Barzal's 20th point of the season is his first (1) goal of the season 🚨 pic.twitter.com/lwiWeWzCRC

— Isles on MSGSN (@IslesMSGN) November 20, 2022

And then, while the Islanders were on their third power of the game, Barzal beat Oettinger low glove slid from the slot for his second goal of the game.

Barzal with his first multi-goal game of the season 😏🚨 pic.twitter.com/Zw7uhZOHdB

— Isles on MSGSN (@IslesMSGN) November 20, 2022

That gave Barzal 21 points in 19 games.

As the games piled up, and the goals didn’t for Mathew Barzal, there was panic given his eight-year contract worth $73.2 million that he signed before the start of the season. He has always been more of a playmaker, but he also had the ability to score.

Despite the lack of results, Barzal stayed level-headed and. continued to play his game. And against the Stars, he was rewarded.

“It’s nice anytime you score, whether it’s your first or 30th goal so I was never bothered by it,” Mathew Barzal said. “It really didn’t matter to me at all…just about making an impact.”

New York Islanders captain Anders Lee and head coach Lane Lambert weighed in.

“We all knew it was coming. He’s gotten those looks before. He’s gotten those touches, so now we can stop worrying about that and start seeing him do it more often,” Anders Lee said. “I don’t think that was as big a deal as it got made [out] to be.”

“Well, you know, it was nice to see him get on the board. We need him to be doing that,” Lambert said.