The talk of the New York Islanders needing an enforcer is growing tiresome. That era of the NHL is in the past, and a roster spot cannot be reserved for a no-skill goon in an age where all 12 forward spots must be able to carry at least a semblance of offensive clout.
Tom Wilsons, or enforcers who can also score 30 goals a season, are at a premium, too. Teams do not find that blend just lying around for the taking.
So, as opposing players continue to take their runs at star rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer, the Islanders are taking the policing of the game into their own hands.
Mason Marchment of the Columbus Blue Jackets was the latest to go after Schaefer on Sunday evening in Ohio. The veteran forward, who has made a career of toeing the line between legal and dirty play, followed a two-hand shiver to Schaefer’s face by throwing a dangerous knee-on-knee hit at the 18-year-old — contact that often spells serious injury.
Schaefer turned out to be OK, but forward Mathew Barzal, who is as far from rough and tumble as you’ll find in the NHL, stood up for his young teammate by delivering a two-handed chop of a slash across the feet of Marchment.
The Columbus forward went down like a sack of potatoes and stayed there turtled on the ice while his teammates jumped Barzal, who, in turn, was slapped with a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct.
Marchment himself said that sticking his knee out in the middle of the ice was “probably not smart by me.”
Barzal’s ejection shorthanded the Islanders for the rest of the night, and they ultimately blew a 2-1 lead by yielding three third-period goals. But Barzal had the full backing of his team for what he did.
“We thought it was a knee-on-knee,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said after the game. “We’re never going to blame a teammate going and trying to defend a teammate… I like the response by Barzy.”
This is how it has been throughout the first half of Schaefer’s NHL career, which is the expected byproduct that comes with the territory of being an elite top pick.
“There’s going to be guys that come after you,” Schaefer told amNewYork in November. “There’s gonna be game plans, there’s gonna be a lot of things. Every night is going to be a battle, no matter what.”
But what might be the most surprising development of all this is just how uniform the Islanders’ retaliation has been. It is not just captain Anders Lee, who has occasionally dropped the gloves in his career, or one of the more blue-collar defensemen like Scott Mayfield. It’s small wingers like Anthony Duclair throwing his body on top of Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov after he took multiple runs at Schaefer and then doing so again with Vegas Golden Knights defender Brayden McNabb after a dangerous boarding penalty.
“We have each other’s backs in this locker room,” Duclair said. “We’re all brothers in here. We’re going to do whatever it takes to protect each other.”
It’s not the most traditional way of doing so, but it clearly has made an already close-knit locker room that much tighter — and it’s a necessity considering the NHL’s Department of Player Safety continues its refusal of protecting star players from moments such as this.
For more on Mathew Barzal and the Islanders, visit AMNY.com
