Discipline No Longer an Issue for New York Islanders Mathew Barzal

At 7:28 of the third period in the New York Islanders game against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night, Islanders forward Mathew Barzal was penalized for hooking Kraken’s defenseman Adam Larsson.

For a player that has had discipline issues over his career, it seemed like it had been a while since the 24-year old broke the NHL rulebook.

It turns out that Mathew Barzal had not been penalized in six games before that hooking call, with that only being his third penalty in his last 24 games.

Barzal has just 14 penalty minutes on the season (0.33 PIM/GP), which has him tied with Ross Johnston for ninth on the New York Islanders.

In a season where the negatives have outweighed the positives, Mathew Barzal’s discipline has undoubtedly been a positive story.

Back in the shortened 56-game campaign in 2020-21, Barzal led the Islanders with 48 PIM in 55 games. He had averaged 0.873 PIM per game, and when a team’s strongest offensive weapon is in the box often, that is never an ideal scenario, especially when offense is not the team’s strongsuit.

In 19 playoff games during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Barzal recorded 19 penalty minutes. 15 of those 19 minutes came in at the 20:00 mark of Game 5 of the SemiFinals against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Mathew Barzal received a major penalty for cross-checking Jan Rutta along with a 10-minute misconduct.

Although Barzal did not face any supplementary discipline, he put his ability to play in Game 6, a game that the Islanders needed to win or were on their way home, in the hands of George Parros and NHL Player Safety.

In Game 6, where Anthony Beauvillier sent the Nassau Coliseum crowd into a frenzy with his overtime winner, Barzal had two primary assists.

In 2021-22, Barzal’s discipline needed to improve.

In his NHL debut back on Oct. 15, 2016, Barzal took three penalties, one coming from inside the penalty box as he played the puck before his skates hit the ice after he served his two minutes.

Since becoming an everyday player at the NHL level in 2017, Barzal has 182 penalty minutes in 330 career games (0.55 PIM/GP), taking 84.

On the flip side of that statistic, Mathew Barzal has drawn 132 penalties over his career, 68 more than anyone else on the New York Islanders since 2017-18. He not only creates scoring chances for his team but also creates power-play opportunities, another reason why the Islanders need him on the ice and not in the box.

It’s hard to gauge how many of Barzal’s career penalty minutes have come off personal turnovers, but that often seemed to be the case. Barzal would try to do too much, lose the puck or make an errant pass, and either in frustration or desperation, took a penalty.

Since 2017, Mathew Barzal has 406 giveaways in 330 games. The next closest on the Islanders is Josh Bailey, who in 320 games has 257 giveaways.

So what’s changed this season?

The most important change in Mathew Barzal’s game has been his maturity. Yes, he will look over to the referee if he thinks he deserved a call, but there is minimal complaining, unlike years past.

A lot has to do with Barzal and just another year of NHL hockey under his belt. New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz also has a lot to do with it. Now, conversations between the two will never become public knowledge, but there were times last season when Mathew Barzal’s shifts were limited either due to discipline or just bad showings on the ice.

One would think that this season would have frustration levels through the ceiling, especially for a player in Barzal who has had a good season leading the Islanders in assists (22) and points (34). And, of course, everyone is frustrated given the Islanders position in the standings.

In years past, Barzal’s frustration was a story. But very rarely, if at all, has that been the case this season.

Barzal still turns the puck over, with 53 giveaways, 1.23 per game. But giveaways are always going to be a part of Barzal’s game. He’s a puck possessor, and his creative style sometimes leads to puck management issues.

But as long as he can shake a mistake off and get back on defense and make plays without the puck, rather than take a penalty, the turnovers will not be a significant issue as his career continues.