Just 12 games into the season, New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal is being carefully inspected for any signs of a sophomore slump.
Following Thursday’s 3-2 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Neil Best of Newsday writes about how the newly anointed face of the franchise for the Islanders may be seeing a decline from last year’s explosiveness.
He writes: “Barzal has but one goal (and 11 assists) in 12 games, with a team-worst plus/minus of minus-7”. Let’s break that down into its three parts.
Firstly, it’s clear that having nearly an assist per game is a positive for the New York Islanders and Mat Barzal.