Eventually the offense was going to come for Mathew Barzal, who looked like his dangerous self on Friday. Barzal scored his first goal of the series in the third period, snapping a wrister past Bobrovsky on a third period breakaway. Barzal also finished the game with an asisst on Beauvillier's second goal and had a handful of other chances, including a rebound off Bobrovsky's helmet in the first, and a nice dish to Derick Brassard.
"We've had some chances our line, but unfortunately we didn't get any buries the last game, so tonight we knew we had to step it up a gear and contribute offensively," Barzal said. "We hadn't been scored on all series, but at the end of the day, we're out there to create offense and it was nice tonight to get a couple."
Barzal is right, his line hadn't been scored on during the series - Florida managed three five-on-five goals - which was a testament to Trotz' defense-first mentality. Barzal called the Isles stingy defensive play - seven goals allowed in four games - the "expectation" which was music to his coach's ears.
"Mathew has continually made steps forward in his overall game," Trotz said. "He's realizing that to be a real top player in these playoffs - and he's had a good playoffs for us - he understands the importance of focusihg on the moment, which he has, getting his compete level really high and using his assets and puck management skills to do what he does and be effective. Today he kicked it up."