Goal breakdowns are back this season and this week, the Drive4Five followers voted for Mathew Barzal’s goal against Vegas. Thank you, as always, for voting and be on the lookout for another poll coming soon.

In the third period of the Islanders’ game in Vegas on Oct. 24, New York was clinging to a one-goal lead and Ilya Sorokin was making save after save to keep the Golden Knights off the board. They needed an insurance goal. Head coach Barry Trotz switched up lines before and during this game, leading to the longest-tenured Islander, Josh Bailey, seeing time with a young superstar, Mat Barzal. The latter scoops up the puck in his own zone and tries to dance into Vegas territory but is stuffed just inside the zone. Luckily, Bailey followed up and won a battle to give Barzal an opportunity at the net he didn’t miss. Let’s break it down.

When Barzal leaves his own end, he finds himself in a one-on-three situation with teammates changing and the other two Knights backchecking. Most players would dump the puck in here. Barzal is not most players. Nicolas Hague sees he has help defensively and tries for a big hit. Barzal avoids it but doesn’t bring the puck with him, leaving Hague with it in his own end just about a foot from the blue line. From a Vegas perspective, that puck has to get out every time. Barzal overskated the puck and was deep in the zone and Hague had two teammates curling near the blue line to support a breakout. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t control the puck cleanly, giving Bailey an extra second to get into the play and close off the wall.

Nicolas Roy sat on the boards just outside the blue line to be an outlet pass and Keegan Kolesar curled nearby towards the middle. In a perfect world for Vegas, Hague would have chipped the puck to Roy who would have gone straight up to Kolesar who had speed towards the Islanders’ end. Alex Pietrangelo, a defenseman, also got caught moving up ice.

To disrupt this play, Bailey recognizes that Hague is looking to go up the wall and just gets his stick in the passing lane. Then, he continues with his body and gets inside position on Hague. After taking a quick look, Bailey bounces the puck off the boards while facing the middle of the ice and gets it through to Barzal who is curling back into the zone.

Now, Barzal has speed and the puck to cut towards the net. Since Pietrangelo got caught moving up ice, the only man back for the Knights is forward Peyton Krebs. Had a defenseman like Pietrangelo been back, Barzal may not have gotten the chance to shoot.

Finally, it’s a perfect shot in a small space above Robin Lehner’s shoulder. Not many players can hit that spot while stationary, much less skating with pressure.

The Islanders’ lines have been thrown in the blender more than once this season and we may continue to see Barzal and Bailey work together. They’ll have another chance for some magic on Oct. 30 in Nashville.

John Smark