Coming into their matchup against the Florida Panthers last week, Mat Barzal and the Islanders’ power play had gone one-for-three on their road trip. They made it two-for-four on their first man advantage of the night, courtesy of Devon Toews. Holding a 1-0 lead in the second period, Mat Barzal drew a holding penalty on Vincent Trocheck with some good work in the Cats’ end.
After the Panthers cleared the zone to begin the Islanders power play, Jordan Eberle brought the puck back in and began a play that included a turnover, a one-touch pass, and a one-timer. Let’s break it down.

We start with Eberle who, after being checked in the nearside corner, attempts to wrap the puck behind the net to the defense at the far point. Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar cuts off the wrap in the trapezoid on the other side of the net and looks to make a play. Josh Bailey forces Weegar’s hand and his clearing attempt is knocked down by Anders Lee. Eberle, meanwhile, slides into the slot while Barzal sets up in the left circle. As Lee sends the puck back deep, Bailey beats Weegar back toward the front of the net, allowing him to make a play. At this point, it’s a three-on-one down low as the three other Florida penalty killers are all above the tops of the circles. Bailey taps the puck to Eberle in the slot who one-touches it over to Barzal for the one-timer, and Sergei Bobrovsky has no chance to stop the Barzal shot.
This play starts off of the Weegar turnover who had he cleared the puck off the glass, could have sent the Islanders power play to regroup for the second time in thirty seconds. Instead, the decision to send the puck up the middle allowed Anders Lee to keep it alive. The hard work from Bailey and heads up play by Eberle to tap the puck across to Barzal were crucial to the wide-open shot. Sergei Bobrovsky, thinking Eberle was going to shoot, committed to him, staying on that side of the goal. The Panthers flew the zone when Weegar made the clearing attempt, so they couldn’t get back in time. The result was an empty net for Barzal who made no mistake.
The power play is an important part of hockey and if the Islanders can take advantage of it the way they did in Sunrise on Dec. 12, they’ll be in good shape.

John Smark