WASHINGTON — It took a while for him to appear, but the Islanders are finally getting the player they traded for in January, who was on pace for his first ever 40-goal season and could make the power play functional.
Bo Horvat’s 82-game pace after Thursday’s 3-0 win over the Capitals: 36 goals.
And that with a shooting percentage of 11.7 compared to the anomalous 21.7 percent he had prior to moving from Vancouver to the Islanders last season.
“I don’t think I’ve changed a whole lot over the last year,” Horvat told The Post on Thursday morning at Capital One Arena. “It’s just a matter of them going in. [Mathew Barzal’s] been doing a good job of finding me. Just trying to capitalize on my chances. So far they’ve been going in.”
There are two facts about Horvat’s play with the Islanders last season that feel more important now than they did at the time.
First, he was as confused as anyone about why his scoring touch dried up upon touchdown on Long Island.
Second, as frustrated as he was about it, 22 other players in the Islanders’ locker room were nothing but gracious about the workload Horvat shouldered to help them make the playoffs sans-Barzal.
“Totally underappreciated,” coach Lane Lambert said. “Everybody was worried about Bo Horvat not scoring, but Bo Horvat was playing defense and we were winning hockey games. To me, that’s a selfless situation. You do what you do for the betterment of the team and that’s what he did.”
That is not to downplay the disappointment that came when Horvat found the back of the net just seven times in 30 games with the Islanders last year.
But not only did Horvat feel the chances were always there — the numbers back him up.
On a per-60 minute basis, Horvat was getting more scoring chances and more high-danger chances at five-on-five with the Islanders last season than with the Canucks.
“When they’re not going in, you’d be more worried if you weren’t getting your chances and I was,” Horvat said. “You continue to keep getting your chances. That’s all that matters. Just a matter of bearing down and putting it in.”
The puck starting to go in has helped propel the Islanders to a start that matched their best point total through eight games (4-2-2) since 2015-16.
Even the power play has looked like a real threat, although the 4-for-27 output is not quite where the Islanders want it to be.
“I think we’re starting to get more comfortable with each other,” Horvat said. “I think the more and more we play with each other, the better it’s gonna get. It just takes time. It’s a new power-play group that has just kinda started this year. I think everybody kinda knows their job now.”
Much was made coming into the season of Horvat’s increased comfort off the ice, with his family settled on Long Island following a cross-continent move at the drop of a hat last season.
But Horvat also looks more like himself on the ice, content with the fact he will be an Islander for the next eight seasons.
“When they’re going in, everything’s always a little bit lighter,” Anders Lee told The Post. “It’s great. It’s always a nice boost. You play the game the right way, those stretches will always tend to work themselves out. He’s just come on real strong this season and picked up where he left off.”
Maybe a little better than where he left off. But then again, that is the point Lee was making.
“You can make a huge impact without being on the scoresheet,” Lee said. “And Bo does that every night, whether he gets a point or not. I think that can get overlooked, not just for him, but for other guys on our team.
“At the end of the day, it’s about winning a hockey game and he does everything every night to make sure we have the best chance of doing that. I think a lot of his little things maybe have gotten overlooked.
“At the same time, he’s putting the puck in now. And it’s making a huge difference.”
Read more
