You can call him Barzy, Gary, and now you can call him a thief. New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal has the second-most takeaways in the NHL. With 28 takeaways on the season, only Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone has more (32).
In his previous two seasons, Barzal has 65 and 66 takeaways. With 28 in 22 games, he's on pace to hit 104 takeaways by the end of the season. Stripping players of pucks or intercepting passes is something he likes doing and it shows.
Earlier this week, Newsday's Andrew Gross wrote about how Mathew Barzal is a student of the game.