CHICAGO — It’s not usually Mathew Barzal’s role to police things.
Going after Blue Jackets winger Mason Marchment with a two-handed slash after his trip of Matthew Schaefer in the Islanders’ loss on Sunday, though, was a “split-second decision” — and one Barzal doesn’t regret one bit.
“Schaef’s our guy. He’s 18 years old,” Barzal said before the Islanders beat the Blackhawks 3-2 in a shootout on Tuesday. “Guy wants to run around and go after an 18-year-old, that’s just not going to fly in this dressing room. We made that clear as a group.
“He’s going to be one of the best players in the league at some point. We want to show him that he’s our guy. We’re going to take care of him. I think the reaction from the group, it was nice to hear [coach] Patrick [Roy’s] comments after the game. We talked, talked to the boys. Like Patrick said, I think anytime a guy sticks up for a player, especially a younger guy like that, it goes a long way in this room. It was my turn, I guess.”
Barzal was fined $5,000 but avoided a suspension over the play. He said he knew missing Tuesday’s game was a possibility but noted that Marchment wasn’t hurt and played the rest of the game.
Linesman Andrew Smith skates Mathew Barzal of the Islanders to the penalty box after being called for slashing on Mason Marchment during their loss to the Blue Jackets on Dec. 28, 2025. Getty Images“Didn’t go after a knee or wrist or anything. At the end of the day we’re a team,” Barzal said. “We want to be Team Tough. I was the first guy there.”
The Islanders put their forward lines in a blender on Tuesday.
Barzal was on Bo Horvat’s wing on the top line alongside Emil Heineman.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau centered Anders Lee and Jonathan Drouin. Cal Ritchie came back into the lineup in between Max Shabanov and Simon Holmstrom.
“I think we’ve played together a lot and we’ve had some great chemistry,” said Barzal, who’s played on the wing just three times this season. “With Bo and Heineman, they’re both such good shooters, I’m just trying to get them the puck in good spots. Try to create for those guys.”
The fourth line was also changed for the first time since Dec. 4 with Kyle MacLean coming out as a healthy scratch and Anthony Duclair skating on the left of Casey Cizikas and Marc Gatcomb.
None of it had the intended effect on a night where the Islanders were uniformly unhappy with how they played.
“They were just OK,” Roy said of the top line. “I’m going to have to rewatch the game to see what we’re going to do for the next game, if we’re going to keep Bo and Barzy together.”
Ilya Sorokin was not ready to return from a lower-body injury on Tuesday, meaning the Islanders turned to David Rittich (17 saves) for a fifth straight game. Sorokin did not participate in morning skate on Tuesday.
Schaefer became the youngest player in NHL history to record 25 points in a season with his secondary assist on Horvat’s first-period goal.
Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech both played their 600th NHL game on Tuesday.
