Lou Lamoriello wasn’t calling out Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, just stating what he felt were facts. And before the Islanders’ president/general manager told the media on Nov. 25 that both top-liners had “much more to give,” Lamoriello made sure he spoke directly to the players first.
The Islanders are 8-2-4 since — part of a larger 11-2-6 run that has vaulted them to second place in the Metropolitan Division — and the point-per-game pace of Horvat and Barzal is a huge reason why.
Their level of elite play is absolutely necessary for the Islanders to be a dangerous team when they resume their season on Wednesday against the Penguins at UBS Arena after the Christmas break. Or come playoff time.
So give Lamoriello a primary assist for pushing them.
“He told us flat-out,” Horvat told Newsday. “He said, ‘I don’t think you guys are playing bad. I think you guys can be even better.’ I respect that. I’d rather him tell us directly than find out through the media and not know how he’s feeling about our game.
“When you hear that, you want to raise your game to another level. I don’t take it personally. You know where he stands and you know he’s going to push you hard to be better. I just use it as fuel more than anything.”
Horvat, in the first season of an eight-year, $68 million deal, has nine goals and 10 assists in 14 games to coincide with Lamoriello’s pep talk, including a career-high 11-game point streak. Overall, he has 14 goals and 19 assists in 32 games and is on pace for 36 goals, which would be one shy of the career high he set last season split between the Canucks and the Islanders.
Barzal, in the first season of an eight-year, $73.2 million extension, has five goals and 14 assists in his last 13 games. He has 10 goals and 25 assists in 32 games and is on pace for a career-high 90 points.
Horvat’s acquisition on Jan. 30 forced Barzal’s switch from his natural position of center to right wing. Barzal’s gradual acceptance…
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