Bo Horvat’s lack of scoring towards the tip of the regular season was fairly easy to overlook.
The Islanders’ star acquisition was carrying a big two-way load with Mathew Barzal out and, bottom line, it’s easy to show something like that right into a footnote when the team is winning.
But now within the playoffs, Barzal is back and it has done nothing to assist Horvat break out of an prolonged scoring slump because the Islanders’ first line has struggled to make an imprint on their series against the Hurricanes.
Horvat finally got on the board late in Sunday’s 5-2 loss with a shorthanded goal.
But one goal with just over two minutes to go in a blowout loss isn’t enough, and Horvat knows it.
“I feel I might be higher, to be honest with you,” he said following the loss, which put the Islanders down 3-1 within the series. “I feel I’m doing plenty of good things away from the puck and winning my faceoffs, doing that form of stuff, but at the tip of the day, I gotta find ways to attain big goals and get on the scoresheet.
“Not in a 5-1 game or 5-2 game. I gotta find ways to make it meaningful. I gotta be higher.”
Without the built-in advantage of last change — aka the flexibility to match up Jordan Staal’s checking line against Horvat, Barzal and Anders Lee — the Hurricanes didn’t have all that much trouble stopping the Isles’ first line from attending to their game over two matches in Elmont.
At five-on-five, Barzal’s Game 2 laser is the one goal the primary line has scored all playoffs and, Horvat’s late tally aside, the trio was a no-show on Sunday, leading to teach Lane Lambert switching Barzal to Zach Parise’s spot on the third line late in the sport.
“We’ve been doing plenty of good things, but I feel it’s been plenty of perimeter stuff,” Horvat said. “I feel we will get to the blue paint a little bit bit more. Perhaps not be as fancy and check out to get some pucks and bodies to the online.
“I just don’t think we’re creating enough havoc on the market sometimes. We gotta find ways to remain out of the [penalty] box, too, to realize that momentum and get our line on the market more consistently at five-on-five. Once we do, we’re getting our probabilities. It’s only a matter of staying more consistent.”
Now they’ll must do it with Carolina dictating the matchups and with their backs against the wall.
Nobody doubts the talent atop the Islanders’ lineup, but just as equally, nobody could credibly argue that they’ve gotten enough from their horses.
“Put it this fashion, it’s not only [Horvat],” coach Lane Lambert said. “It’s the unit. It’s like all other line. Lines need to work together, they need to be tight and have tight support.”
