It’s not hard to tell that Mathew Barzal is a little tired of talking about his injury. You can’t blame him for that. It has been the primary topic surrounding Barzal since he collided with Craig S…
You can’t blame him for that.
Nor did it help that the answer turned out to be “Yes.” Barzal scored twice in the six-game playoff loss to Carolina, but didn’t seem to be fully recovered. The Islanders were forced to wait until now for Barzal to return to his usual level of play. They can’t control injuries, but a healthy Barzal playing next to a healthy Bo Horvat on the first line is the sort of recipe the Islanders have wanted to create since Barzal won the Calder Trophy with 85 points in 2017-18.
The Islanders haven’t worked in lines often so far during camp, but when they have, Arnaud Durandeau has been on the left of the Horvat-Barzal pair.