Barzal gets hat trick, Islanders score eight in win against Capitals

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Mathew Barzal scored a hat trick and had five points for the New York Islanders in an 8-4 win against the Washington Capitals at Nassau Coliseum on Thursday.

"[Barzal] moved the puck, got it back, he got open, went to the hard areas, drove the net, and got to the slot," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "He didn't try to do it by himself. He trusted his teammates, but he was skating, and he had lots of juice tonight."
Jordan Eberle scored two goals with an assist, and Josh Bailey had a goal and two assists for the Islanders (23-10-4), who defeated the Capitals for the first time in four games this season. Semyon Varlamov made 18 saves.
"When guys are playing to their strengths, that's when the line (Barzal, Eberle, Leo Komarov) goes," Barzal said. "Leo is doing his thing in the corner, getting us the puck. 'Ebs' was making his little plays, getting open, and I was skating. When we're doing those things, it can be a good line."
John Carlson scored two goals, and Daniel Sprong had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (23-9-4).
"I do think we did things that shot ourselves in the foot with regard to puck movement and coverage," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "We just lost a game; we gave up eight goals. You look to fix that and be better the next night."

Ilya Samsonov started in goal but left 30 seconds into the first period after colliding with teammate T.J. Oshie behind the net. Vitek Vanecek made seven saves on nine shots before Samsonov returned at 16:56 of the first and finished with 18 saves on 24 shots.
"He got pulled out from a spotter in concussion protocol," Laviolette said of Samsonov. "He had to go and get checked out. He was cleared, felt good and it was his game, so he was going back in when he was ready."

The teams combined for 10 goals in the first two periods.
Carlson gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 1:01 of the first. Eberle made it 1-1 at 5:02, and Barzal gave New York a 2-1 lead when he skated the length of the ice and scored on a wrist shot at 16:09.
"I picked it up deep and knew two of their guys were in battles with our defensemen, so I just had a little bit of a step and was just trying to be aggressive," Barzal said. "I felt like I had some ice that I took advantage of. That's it."
Brock Nelson made it 3-1 1:23 later from the slot at 17:32. Sprong pulled the Capitals within 3-2 at 17:54, but Barzal made it 4-2 on a spin-o-rama from the left circle at 18:53.
"He's a special talent, no question about it," Bailey said. "It's great to see him get rewarded. The last few games he's been really buzzing out there and he earned it tonight."
Casey Cizikas gave the Islanders a 5-2 lead from the slot at 3:03 of the second period. Oshie cut it to 5-3 at 6:47 when the puck deflected off his right skate in the slot.
"A lot of us just weren't sharp and we gave them Grade A scoring chances and they capitalized on most of them," Oshie said.

Eberle gave the Islanders a 6-3 lead at 8:08 of the second period, and Carlson made it 6-4 at 19:01.
Bailey scored on a wrist shot from the left circle for a 7-4 lead at 3:13 of the third period. Barzal completed the hat trick when he swatted the puck out of midair with 1:06 remaining for the 8-4 final.
"We're obviously pretty familiar with them and they're familiar with us," Eberle said. "If you want to go all the way, this is a team that you have to go through, so it's good to stand your ground on your home ice."
NOTES: Islanders defenseman
Noah Dobson
was plus-1 in 13:45 of ice time in his first game since March 13; he missed eight and was removed from NHL COVID-19 protocol March 25. … Barzal finished with a plus-5 rating. It was his fourth five-point game in the NHL and his first since Jan. 13, 2018 at the New York Rangers (two goals, three assists). He has three NHL hat tricks. … Eberle and Komarov were each plus-4. … Carlson has 114 NHL goals and passed
Mike Green
and
Calle Johansson
(113) for the third-most by a defenseman in Capitals history.
Kevin Hatcher
is their leader with 149 goals.

NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report
Video: Barzal earns 3rd NHL hat trick in Islanders' 8-4 win