Christian Arnold
For Mat Barzal, the fix for the New York Islanders top line is quite simple when it comes down to it.
“I just think it’s a matter of putting the puck in the back of the net,” The Islanders’ star forward said on Monday. “And creating high danger scoring chances. I don’t think we’ve had enough of those. Last night and in the last few games I think our procession in the O-zone has been pretty solid. … I think we’ve had the puck on our stick in the O-zone, but it just comes down to putting the puck in the back of the net.”
That’s easier said than done these days for Mat Barzal, Jordan Eberle and Anders Lee. The trio has only produced a combined six points through their series with the Tampa Bay Lightning and only one of which has been a goal.
That was Jordan’s Eberle’s power-play goal in Game 1. Since then, goals and points have been hard to come by as the Islanders face elimination after falling to a 3-1 series deficit on Sunday.
The Islanders’ struggles against Tampa Bay have only put the spotlight on Lee, Eberle and Barzal even more than it usually is.
“They put a lot of pressure on themselves,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “The fans will put pressure on them. (The media) will put pressure on them. It’s something that you have to deal with. One of the things you have to understand is you have to sometimes just outplay whoever you’re out against. You don’t have to outscore them, you just have to outplay them.
“Sometimes when you think you have to outscore them you get yourself on the wrong side and you end up cheating.”
The focus will remain on the trio once the puck drops on Game 5 on Tuesday night. The Islanders are a loss away from being sent home from the Edmonton bubble.
The first line scoring drought has raised the question of whether Trotz would consider making changes to the lineup. The Islanders bench boss said that the option was on the table.
‘We don’t want to just blow everything up,” Trotz said. “I don’t think that shows a lot of trust in what we’ve done. We’ve got this far. There’s only four teams left and it didn’t happen by us throwing spaghetti on the wall and try to make up stuff. We have to do what we do and try to do it better than our opposition with a few tweaks here and there.”
Lee had been finding success in the previous rounds as had Barzal. Lee had three goals against Washington in the First Round and added another four against Philadelphia.
Mat Barzal recorded six points (two goals, four assists) last round against Philly and three goals and six points against Washington.
“We’d love to be producing more than we have,” Lee said. “We understand that it’s a big part of our team’s lineup, is that everyone has to chip in in some form or fashion. I think our line had been producing and has been little dry of late. Just finding those opportunities. I don’t think they’re coming on as frequently as we’d like as a line.”
