ELMONT, N.Y. — Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello appeared to put down quite a challenge in front of two-thirds of his first line in center Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal.
When asked how he thought they were performing this season, the Hall-of-Famer said that they both “have much more to give and I believe they will and I think that’s the good news. I think their abilities and what they can bring… but I think they have more to bring, yes.”
Barzal, who is in his first full season on the wing after moving from center when Horvat was acquired in January, is flirting with a point-per-game pace this season with five goals and 11 assists in 19 games. Horvat’s start to his first full season with the Islanders has been slower. In 18 games entering Saturday night’s clash with the Philadelphia Flyers, he has five goals — a notably slower pace than the one he showed last year when he scored a career-high 38 with the Vancouver Canucks and Islanders.
But when asked by amNewYork to clarify those comments, Lamoriello pumped the brakes to set the record straight.
“Don’t misinterpret my answer to that question. Mat’s been playing very well,” Lamoriello said. “We like to think that players like Bo and Mat, there’s always more to give and we’ll never accept where they’re at that time. And that’s an unfortunate thing, but that’s what happens… That’s not saying that they’re not doing very positive things.
“You see them out there on the power play, you saw them out there in the last 30 seconds [of Friday night’s 5-3 win over the Ottawa Senators]. So they’re doing the right things and Mat scored a big goal last night and has been playing well. But, I’ll never give them the satisfaction that we can’t get more.”
For a line with the talent to be the clear No. 1 unit, they’re being outpaced by the continuously clicking second line of Pierre Engvall, Brock Nelson, and Kyle Palmieri. Even-strength lines that feature a combination of Barzal and Horvat have accounted for eight goals in approximately 205 minutes.
The Engvall, Palmieri, Nelson line has 11 even-strength goals in 187 minutes.
Granted, Barzal and Horvat haven’t had the luxury of a cemented third member of their line. They’ve spent notable time with Simon Holmstrom, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Anders Lee already this season. Not only is the duo still working on their cohesiveness — which has taken clear strides in their first season of contracts that should keep the two on Long Island for the majority of the next decade — but Barzal still has to contend with playing an entirely different position after spending much of the last 15 years at center throughout varying levels of organized hockey.
“I find it a little tougher, to be honest, as a right-handed guy on the right wing,” Barzal told amNewYork last month. “Your stick is always exposed to them. It’s just a little different.”
