Barzal wild goal keys Isles rout

There’s a new NHL Goal of the Year contender, courtesy of the Islanders’ Mathew Barzal in the second period Saturday.

As the puck bounced off the boards at center ice, Barzal sped in and tracked it down just in front of the opposing blue line, curved his body to fight off Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and created open space in front of the net. The best was still to come. Barzal slowed, put the puck back through his legs and shot it from behind his back. Goalie Carter Hutton was out of position, watching Barzal’s body rather than his stick or the puck. It was the highlight of the Islanders’ 5-2 win over the reeling Sabres at Nassau Coliseum.

“Once I knew I had body position, I took it to the net,’’ Barzal said. ”I felt like Hutton was down. It was a lot of instinct, just being in the moment and reacting. I’d probably put it in my top two or three.”

Ristolainen had the angle to cut off Barzal, but wound up tumbling onto his boot and nearly crashing into the boards as he lost the battle.

Barzal has three goals and four assists in the last six games. He leads the Islanders with 22 points.

“Barzy scoring that goal the way he did, that lit a little bit of a fire for us,’’ Anders Lee said. “We had a flurry after that and kept it going.”

Semyon Varlamov made 20 saves as the Islanders improved to 9-0-2 at the Coliseum this season and 14-6-4 overall. Cal Clutterbuck, Brock Nelson and Lee also scored.

The Islanders beat Buffalo for the fifth straight time this season, outscoring them 19-7 in those five meetings. The teams will meet again Sunday.