Getting in line
The Islanders finally have a top line, and it might be because their best player decided he no longer has to do everything himself.
It was a candid moment with Mat Barzal after his team took a 3-2 overtime win against the Wild on Sunday night in Minnesota, a game the Islanders survived one night after coming out as hardluck losers in Detroit.
Barzal’s talent was on full display when he assisted on Brock Nelson’s game-winner in the three-on-three extra frame. But more importantly, grouped with Anders Lee and Jordan Eberle during regulation for the fourth straight game, they created the most scoring opportunities on a team that is starved for offense.
That’s a fact not lost on the 21-year-old reigning Calder Trophy winner, which is why he spent a better part of this season trying to do more than he needed to.
“I think for a little stretch there, I was putting that onus on myself a little too much,” Barzal said after the game, his team getting Monday off while preparing to play host to the Bruins on Tuesday night at the Coliseum.
“That’s just more me doing it to myself, being competitive and wanting to be that guy. I think lately, the last 10 games maybe, I just realize this is a 20-man group. I don’t have to go out and get three or four goals. I don’t have to do everything when I’m on the ice. Let other guys do their job, let everything fall into place. I think the last 10 games or so, I’ve been trying to trust my teammates more and I think it’s working.”
The numbers for Barzal are down from his fantastic rookie campaign, but that has come in lockstep with the team turning to a more defensive, responsible style under first-year coach Barry Trotz. It’s a style just about every player has embraced, easily done with the fact that the win Sunday returned them to even with the Capitals atop the Metropolitan Division standings.
So Barzal having no goals in the past 14 games — despite two assists on Sunday and six assists over the previous six games — is a stat that isn’t as disconcerting as it could be. He has 17 goals and 58 points overall, short of his 85point pace set last year, but it’s easier to deal with considering the team has the most points (91) through 72 games in any season since it stopped winning Stanley Cups in 1983.
Trotz wants Barzal to shoot more, recently saying him constantly looking to pass has almost turned him into “a one-trick pony.” But Barzal has helped in setting up Lee, who has four goals in his past four games and now has a team-leading 27 on the season. Even Eberle got into the mix, scoring his first goal in 18 games when he managed to beat Minnesota’s backup goalie Alex Stalock through the legs in the first period Sunday.
As the Islanders have now settled down and can earnestly start looking forward to the postseason — although they’ll never say such a thing — having a dynamic top line could help a lot in curing their offensive woes. It could also help Barzal play his best, knowing he doesn’t have to do everything when he has the support of those around him.
“It can be very good for us,” Trotz said. “They’re good complements. A couple skill guys. Obviously Barzy has the jets, [Lee] has the strength down low, and that presence. They’ve had lots of chances the last couple games and they’ve been pretty effective.”
It could work, too, if having a top line opened up some secondary scoring, with the club constantly emphasizing its philosophy of needing everyone in the lineup to contribute.
But so much of the production load still comes back to Barzal, who is starting to trust those around him a little more, and, in turn, that has created the Islanders new top line.
“We’ll see as we go along and play games,” Trotz said. “You have a couple good ones, can you have a couple more good ones and build that chemistry?”