Mathew Barzal's road back: His Islanders' teammates know the mental vs. physical battle

The conversation with Bo Horvat about the mental challenge of recovering from an injury preceded his potential head issue. At the time, Horvat was discussing Mathew Barzal’s eventual return to the lineup.

But there’s a confluence now.

Horvat took an illegal check to the head from Chicago’s Frank Nazar late in the Islanders’ 4-1 win at UBS Arena on Thursday night. That was the first day Barzal skated since missing all of training camp with inflammation of the left knee stemming from a kneecap injury he sustained in February 2025. On Friday, Barzal skated again on his own and coach Pete DeBoer said prior to the team’s optional practice at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow that Horvat, who went through concussion protocol after the match, was still being evaluated.

There’s a good chance neither plays on Saturday night when the Islanders host the Lightning. The NHL scheduled a telephone hearing with Nazar regarding the hit and match penalty he received, with supplementary discipline likely.

“I think a lot of it is mental,” Horvat told Newsday on Tuesday. “Obviously, there are some physical things. But to finally get out there and realize it’s going to be OK or, you know, it’s not, mentally, you don’t know until you’re in it. As soon as that happens, you either jump right back into it or pull yourself out.

“Especially timelines,” said the Islanders captain, who scored four goals, including three on the power play, in the first four matches. “If you’re given a timeline and it’s not responding the right way or it’s not reacting the way you want it to, it gets frustrating. We’re all wired to play through things, too. So, it’s like, if it doesn’t hurt that bad, it shouldn’t be that bad.”

DeBoer said the team was not ready to put any timeline on Barzal’s return.

The elite-skating Barzal played 81 games last season — missing one match for disciplinary reasons — and led the Islanders with 72 points and 53 assists after undergoing surgery on his left knee.

But former Islander captain Anders Lee, who had his 2020-21 season ended by an ACL injury, said it was a struggle for Barzal last season.

“I know he’s feeling better,” Lee, who signed with the Utah Mammoth, told Newsday. “[Last season], he didn’t feel good at all. He grinded through it and still had a heck of a year. He still produced and he was still great for us. But I think at some point, too, you get to a point where you do need to also get it right and get it healthy, too. So I think that’s where he’s at. So I’m happy that he has the support from the team and the confidence in himself to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to do this the right way.’”

Kyle Palmieri, Horvat’s right wing on the top line, went through his own ACL recovery,  missing the rest of last season after getting injured on Nov. 28. So he’s also keenly aware of the efforts and struggles Barzal has gone through to return to the lineup, let alone simply  trust the knee again after a major injury.

“Anyone who’s been through it can tell you it’s, I don’t know if career-altering is the word, but it puts you in a position where things are very different,” Palmieri told Newsday. “When you look at it from a whole and the [rehab] process, I really did do my best to enjoy it and that journey, for me, gave me the ability to work on other things trying to become a better athlete off the ice. You spend three, four, five months without being able to skate.

“As far as the mental-physical ratio, you’re kind of learning on the go. Things like battles and contact, you can’t replicate in a weight room or summer skates. It’s building trust. I don’t think you want to go into it thinking everything is going to just be completely normal and you won’t feel anything. That process doesn’t end with the doctors clearing you. It’s a continual process.”

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.