Islanders' Mathew Barzal a late scratch with injury 

CALGARY, Alberta — Mathew Barzal was a late scratch with a lower-body injury as the Islanders concluded a four-game road trip against the Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday night.

The Islanders listed him as day-to-day after Barzal participated in pregame warmups.

The injury comes at an incredibly inopportune time with Barzal playing his best hockey of the season. He has a career-high five-game goal streak with six goals and two assists in that span.

Very impressive. But not on the scale of Connor Bedard, Barzal’s buddy from back home in the Vancouver region. Bedard was the star of Team Canada’s gold-medal performance at the just-concluded IIHF World Junior Championships in the Canadian Maritimes.

“It’s been really cool to actually see his progression,” Barzal said before his injury was announced. “He seems to get better every year I go back home. It’s going to be fun to see him in the [NHL] next year.”

Barzal extended his goal streak early in the second period of the Islanders’ dismal 4-2 loss to the Oilers on Thursday night.

Around the same time, Bedard was being named MVP of the World Juniors after Canada topped Czechia, 3-2, in overtime in the gold-medal game. The 17-year-old, the projected No. 1 pick in this summer’s NHL Draft, set a Team Canada record with 23 points in his seven games (nine goals and 14 assists).

Barzal, from Coquitlam, British Columbia, first met Bedard of North Vancouver when the latter was a pre-teen playing summer hockey against much older competition.

“He would have been 12 and kind of like wearing a cage and his skates looked a little too big,” said Barzal, 25. “We came back the next summer and he was beating NHL goalies with shots. It was like, ‘The kid is the real deal.’

“He’s a kid that’s easy to root for. He’s down to earth. We have good banter. He’s a special player and he’s a great kid. I think we’re going to be buddies for a long time.”

Barzal said he stayed in touch with Bedard during his spectacular run through the World Juniors. “I texted him,” he said. “It’s special. I haven’t really seen anything like it before. I’m looking forward just to see his career unfold. It’s going to be awesome.”

Barzal was an alternate captain for Team Canada as it earned the silver medal at the 2017 World Junior Championships.

Of course, he was far from the only Canadian in the NHL who paid close attention to the World Juniors.

Jordan Eberle, a former Islander now in his second season with the Seattle Kraken, also has a connection with Bedard and posted a video greeting through social media during the tournament.

Eberle is from Regina, Saskatchewan and played his junior hockey with his hometown Pats in the Western Hockey League. Bedard is midway through his second season with the Regina Pats.

“Just want to congratulate you,” Eberle said in his video to Bedard. “You’re an unbelievable player to watch. I’ve been following your career since you got drafted to my hometown and playing for the Pats.”

Eberle was Barzal’s linemate for the majority of Barzal’s first four seasons in the NHL until the Islanders left Eberle exposed for the Kraken’s expansion draft. The Islanders have since been searching for a right wing who is as effective skating with Barzal.

Oliver Wahlstrom suffered a lower-body injury one shift into the first game of Barzal’s goal streak on Dec. 27. Casey Cizikas, usually the fourth-line center, and Hudson Fasching, a call-up from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, have been taking turns with Barzal and Josh Bailey since then.

Said Cizikas, “The way he’s dominating the play with the puck, the way he’s controlling it, he’s making the other team as uncomfortable as I’ve seen in a long time.”

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.