When I sat down with Mat Barzal last week in Ottawa to ask about how his game has evolved this season, it struck me how he went out of his way to mention not just Matthew Schaefer and Bo Horvat as helping to enable that, but also Tony DeAngelo.
A story early in the season was how the Islanders were trying to get Barzal and Schaefer on the ice together as much as possible, and indeed, Barzal has played more five-on-five minutes with Schaefer than anyone else this season. DeAngelo, though, is not far behind, with the two sharing 38 percent of minutes compared to 42.7 percent for Barzal and Schaefer.
“We have Tony D, who is as good of an offensive mind as any D-man in the league. Schaef is Schaef, who can create anything on a dime,” Barzal said. “Even adding two pieces like that can really just help my game, especially because I use the D so much. I think rounding out our D offensively has really helped me.”
I bring this up here not to rehash anything about Barzal, but to note just how crucial it is for the Islanders that DeAngelo, who left Tuesday’s loss to the Blackhawks due to a lower-body injury in the first period, miss as little time as possible.
