WATCH: NY Islanders Mathew Barzal takes the stage and shows off guitar skills

Three years ago, just as the 2019-20 season was set to resume in the Toronto bubble, New York Islanders star Mathew Barzal stepped off the team bus and was photographed wearing a finely tailored suit, a face mask, and holding a guitar case. 

Barzal picked up the guitar as a hobby in the middle of the season from former teammate and avid guitar player Jordan Eberle. When the regular season was halted, Barzal eventually flew back home to stay with his family in Vancouver and, in between beating his dad in ping-pong, started practicing more regularly.

“Until about two months ago, I hadn't even picked up a guitar or strum a chord," Barzal said in 2020. "I'm super fresh into it. I'm more just learning the chords right now. I want to get the basics right now before I dive into a couple of songs. I've learned a few light songs, and I'm getting better."

We now know that kept with it. 

On Saturday, Barzal posted a video of himself taking the stage with a band and supplying the opening guitar licks of Tom Petty’s Mary Jane's Last Dance. Wearing all black with white sneakers, he didn’t look as confident as he does when skating through the neutral zone but remained poised enough to deliver the opening chords flawlessly. 

While the Isles were making their deep playoff run, Barzal, Eberle, and captain Anders Lee penned a tongue-in-cheek song about how the players viewed their defensive first style of play under Barry Trotz with a line," it ain’t it a lot of fun, but it gets the job done." It's to be seen whether Barzy is ready to start writing and playing original tunes.

"I seriously respect people that can play the guitar," Barzal noted back in that 2020 interview. "You don't just pick up the guitar and become good. It's something you really have to work at, and people that are good, you can tell that they've worked at it."

And now Barzal can include himself as one of those people.