Islanders' Mathew Barzal ejected from late collapse against Blue Jackets
COLUMBUS, OHIO - DECEMBER 28: Linesman Andrew Smith #51 skates Mathew Barzal #13 of the New York Islanders to the penalty box after being called for slashing on Mason Marchment #17 of the Columbus Blue Jackets during the second period at Nationwide Arena on December 28, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images) Credit: Getty Images/Jason Mowry
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Islanders, on tired legs and without top-six center Mathew Barzal for most of the last two periods — and possibly facing NHL supplemental discipline — finally caved.
Yet while they were unhappy that the Blue Jackets rallied for two goals in 74 seconds late in the third period and added an empty-netter for a 4-2 win on Sunday at Nationwide Arena, the Islanders defiantly defended Barzal’s two-handed baseball swing of his hockey stick across the legs of Mason Marchment as retaliation for the agitator’s neutral-zone takedown of No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer.
“We thought it was a knee on Schaef,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We’re never going to blame a teammate going to try and defend a teammate.”
The Islanders (21-14-4), who had a two-game winning streak snapped as they opened a two-game road trip, might be without Barzal for the short term if the NHL punishes him further than the game misconduct and five-minute major for slashing he drew. Marchment also had drawn a roughing penalty in the first period for slamming Schaefer into the boards.
“I just tried to jump out of the way and he caught me,” Schaefer said of Marchment’s trip. “[Barzal] is a great guy. He’s a great leader, too. So thanks for doing that right there. It just shows an older guy helping me out there.”
“A couple of borderline plays,” fourth-liner Kyle MacLean said. “After the five-minute penalty is called, it settled down a little bit. Schaef is Schaef, you’ve got to stand up for him. Honestly, there’s ways to go about things, but it’s good to see Barzy do something. We’ve got his back there.”
The Islanders killed off Barzal’s major with the Blue Jackets skating four-on-three and five-on-four. Overall, the Islanders’ penalty kill was 4-for-4, allowing only four shots.
But defenseman Ivan Provorov’s shot deflected past David Rittich (30 saves) to tie it at 2-2 at 15:27 of the third period and Kirill Marchenko scored his second goal at 16:41. Cole Sillinger’s empty-netter at 18:54 clinched it.
It spoiled another strong outing for Rittich, who made 27 saves in Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Rangers at UBS Arena with Ilya Sorokin (lower body) still on injured reserve. Sorokin is traveling with the Islanders and is expected to skate on Monday with a chance of starting in Chicago on Tuesday night.
“We just got hemmed in too much,” Anders Lee said. “It happened fast, but we didn’t have the third period that we wanted to have or need to have tonight. We had a tough time getting away from defensive-zone shifts. We just didn’t turn the tide or the momentum of the ice. We couldn’t push it out and start going on our own. A lot of our shifts were surviving and trying to get a change after spending 30, 40 seconds in our zone.”
Bo Horvat’s team-leading 20th goal gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 13:24 of the second period.
The Islanders, with a second faceoff in 23 hours, started sluggishly. The Blue Jackets took 11 of the game’s first 13 shots and grabbed a 1-0 lead at 8:09 of the first period as Marchenko got behind defensemen Tony DeAngelo and Adam Pelech to beat Rittich with a wrister.
Rookie Max Shabanov, with his first point in seven games and first goal in 17 games, tied it at 17:16 of the first period as the rebound of Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s shot off a rush deflected in off his leg. The goal withstood a review for a kicking motion.
Jet Greaves made 24 saves for the Blue Jackets (16-15-6), playing their first game in six days.
Notes & quotes: Rookie center Cal Ritchie was a healthy scratch for the first time since his recall from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport on Oct. 31. Anthony Duclair drew back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Saturday . . . Defenseman Ethan Bear, 28, who has played 275 NHL games for four teams, was placed on waivers and will be assigned to Bridgeport if he clears on Monday. He has not played since injuring his wrist blocking a shot on Sept. 26 during a preseason game . . . Defenseman Ryan Pulock blocked eight shots.
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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