Islanders beat Utah Hockey Club on Mathew Barzal's goal with 1:25 left in third period
Islanders center Mathew Barzal moves the puck against Utah Hockey Club defenseman Olli Maatta during the third period of an NHL game Saturday in Salt Lake City. Credit: AP/Melissa Majchrzak
SALT LAKE CITY — Mathew Barzal celebrated scoring the deciding goal with his parents having flown in for the game. Several minutes later, goalie Marcus Hogberg celebrated his first NHL win since April 28, 2021, in a spot start with Ilya Sorokin unavailable because of illness. And the Islanders celebrated their first three-game winning streak of the season.
In an inconsistent season that already has hit too many lows, the Islanders finally are having some feel-good moments.
“Those are three good teams, three tough buildings,” Barzal said. “You couldn’t ask for a better road trip.”
The Islanders rallied on third-period goals by Barzal and Brock Nelson for a 2-1 win over the Utah Hockey Club in their first visit to the Delta Center to face the relocated Arizona Coyotes. They swept a three-game road trip that also included a 5-4 overtime win over the Bruins and a 4-0 victory over NHL-leading Vegas.
The Islanders (17-18-7) will open a seven-game homestand, their longest of the season, on Tuesday night against the Senators.
“We’ve played a lot of good hockey and didn’t get the results we wanted,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “It feels like it’s starting to turn around and it’s going our way right now.”
Barzal capped the Islanders’ strong third period by scoring from the right circle at 18:35 of the third period after the puck popped out to him off a scramble at the crease. Barzal, who also assisted on Nelson’s one-timer set up by Anders Lee’s cross-ice feed at 3:36 of the third period, has a five-game point streak.
He told Newsday after Saturday’s morning skate that he has started to feel “almost normal” as he played his 11th game since returning from a 21-game absence because of an upper-body injury. He had three shots against Utah and his line with Nelson (four shots) and Lee (a game-high six shots) applied constant pressure.
“I was really frustrated after the first and second,” Barzal said. “I missed two two-on-ones and I kind of let it affect me and then just reset going into the third and played a great third.”
Hogberg made 21 saves and Connor Ingram stopped 30 shots for Utah (18-17-7). Ingram made 21 saves in Utah’s 5-4 win at UBS Arena on Oct. 10 in the Islanders’ season opener but had not played since Nov. 18 because of an upper-body injury.
Hogberg, who spent the previous three seasons playing in his native Sweden, made 38 saves in a 3-2 loss in Pittsburgh on Dec. 29 in his first start for the Islanders.
Just like that game, Hogberg played well enough to keep the Islanders close.
“I was happy,” he said. “It was a tight game. I think we did a great push in the third period.”
“He’s playing very simple,” said coach Patrick Roy, a Hall of Fame goalie. “He’s fighting. He’s in the middle of the net. He covers his angles very well and moves well. The fact that he’s square and in good position, he’s a big man, I think he makes it tough for the other team to score on him.”
Utah took a 1-0 lead at 1:13 of the second period, shortly after killing off the Islanders’ second power play, as Nick Schmaltz deflected defenseman Michael Kesselring’s shot.
The Islanders were outshot 11-5 in the second period after outshooting Utah 14-5 in the first period. Hogberg was helped out by defenseman Adam Pelech diving to use his stick to block Clayton Keller’s breakaway at 13:44. Keller also hit the right post on a one-timer from the slot at 11:08 of the second period.
Notes & quotes: Defenseman Alexander Romanov (upper body/day-to-day) was unavailable, with Grant Hutton dressing for the first time since Dec. 10 but logging only 5:07 of ice time . . . The Islanders were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill, with Lee going off for goalie interference at 13:32 of the third period . . . Nelson has scored in two straight games after snapping a 17-game goal drought . . . Goalie Jakub Skarek was brought up from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport on emergency recall to back up Hogberg . . . Kyle Palmieri said he enjoyed the Islanders’ first visit to Salt Lake City, which is surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Said Palmieri, “The mountains are a pretty special sight.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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