Capitals Player Reportedly Pranked Mat Barzal with Alarm Clock After Healthy Scratch

A member of the Washington Capitals organization reportedly played a prank on New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal before their game in Washington, D.C., last week Friday.

According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, someone with the Capitals "who is friendly with" Barzal had an alarm clock placed in his locker at Capital One Arena.

That was in reference to Barzal being a healthy scratch for the Isles' previous game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Islanders head coach Patrick Roy told reporters he did not dress Barzal for that contest due to the 28-year-old center being late for a morning skate.

Roy explained his decision and discussed Barzal's reaction, telling reporters, "That's the culture of our team. We made the decision to not play him tonight. Barzy doesn't feel good about it, but you respect the decision. He understands it. He was really good about it."

The Hall of Fame goalie also noted that the same thing happened to him during his playing days with the Colorado Avalanche, saying, "It's not a big deal here. It happens. We know that. No one here is mad at Barzy. It's just the culture we put in place. We're a team. We stick together. Compassion is a very important thing."

Without Barzal in the lineup, the Islanders fell 6-2 to the Canes, but they bounced back with a 3-1 road win over Washington when Barzal returned.

Barzal scored an empty-net goal to seal the win for New York, giving him three goals on the season.

Overall, Barzal has recorded three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 12 games, and he has a plus-6 rating.

The Isles are 2-0-1 since Barzal's return to the lineup, and he chipped in an assist during the team's shootout loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

Originally the No. 16 overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft, Barzal has spent his entire decade-long career with the Islanders.

In his first full NHL season in 2017-18, Barzal won the Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie of the Year by virtue of recording 22 goals and 63 assists for a career-high 85 points.

Barzal was also an All-Star in 2019, 2020 and 2024, finishing each of those campaigns with at least 60 points.

After registering the second-highest point total of his career in 2023-24 with 80, Barzal was limited to only 30 games last season due to both upper- and lower-body injuries.

He has bounced back to play in 12 of the Islanders' 13 games this season with his only missed game being due to disciplinary reasons.

Barzal and the 6-5-2 Islanders will be back in action Friday night when they host the Minnesota Wild.