Mathew Barzal-Nikita Kucherov dynamic could make difference in Islanders’ Game 7 at Lightning

The Islanders’ best player, Mathew Barzal, is playing his best hockey entering Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semifinals Friday night at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

The Lightning’s best player, Nikita Kucherov, is injured and might not even be in the lineup for the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

“No update,” Tampa coach Jon Cooper said Thursday of his top-line wing. “If that scenario came about, we have to count on the guy we bring into the lineup.”

Cooper’s team is more than just Kucherov, and Barzal is still only 24 years old, trying to lead the Isles to their first Cup Final appearance since 1984.

But if the Islanders’ 3-2 Game 6 overtime win at Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday was any indication, Barzal’s assertive presence combined with Kucherov’s absence undoubtedly can change a game and maybe the entire series.

“I thought that was Mat’s best game of the series,” Isles coach Barry Trotz said after the Game 6 win. “He was using his skill set. He was making good decisions. And he was using all 200 feet of the ice, which was big. He was a factor.”

The Islanders sound like a team completely unfazed by the pressure of Friday’s do-or-die stage.

“We’ve always kind of shown up, and we’ll continue to show up,” fourth-line wing Cal Clutterbuck said Thursday. “It’s kind of what we are, ya know? It’s just who we are.”

Barzal, the Isles’ top center, was the epitome of that resilient mentality in the second half of Game 6.

He was coming off a Game 5 ejection and a $5,000 fine for cross-checking Lightning defenseman Jan Rutta, a loss of composure that linemate Jordan Eberle called “out of character” following that embarrassing 8-0 defeat.

Then Barzal’s top line was victimized on Brayden Point’s first-period goal in Game 6. That flipped a switch, and down 2-0, Barzal assisted on both Islanders regulation goals by Eberle and Scott Mayfield to force overtime.

“We were on for the first goal and I think as a line we wanted to get it back,” Barzal said after Game 6. “Obviously that first goal by Ebs is so big, giving us a chance. Just a good game by our line but more importantly our team and just a huge win.”

Barzal did whiff on a tap-in in Wednesday’s first period, too, so his game still can get better. But it wasn’t just his assists that made a difference in Game 6. It was also the amount of time Barzal, the Islanders’ best passer and facilitator, spent with the puck on his stick.

The Isles didn’t score on the first shift of the third period down, 2-1, but Barzal was wheeling with the puck and buzzing in the offensive zone, and the Lightning immediately were on their heels.

Barzal played down the idea that he somehow raised the team’s intensity with that shift because clearly he felt it would be an insult to their effort.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it set the tone,” Barzal said. “It was nice to get possession and get a couple good looks and maybe ease into the third period down one.”

But that possession was a perfect example of why Kucherov’s absence would be so critical, especially with Barzal playing at such a high rate.

Kucherov has been this postseason’s most lethal player with the puck on his stick, boasting a league-high 27 playoff points, including a stunning 17 on Tampa’s power play.

The Lightning are at their best when their best player has the puck. So are the Isles. It sounds obvious, but Tampa’s possible loss of the former Hart Trophy winner could bury them if Barzal keeps this pace up.

Kucherov left Game 6 2:22 into the first period after only one 46-second shift. He took a nasty cross-check in the back from Mayfield, then was in clear discomfort after putting his right shoulder into Barzal on a routine check.

“With Kucherov obviously a lot of stuff runs through him and he’s so good with deception,” Trotz said Thursday. “Any time you take one guy off a power play it changes the dynamic. It has to go through different people sometimes. Kucherov has [13] power-play assists so he distributes the puck better than anybody in the playoffs this year. So from that standpoint there will be a bit of a difference.”

The Lightning still appear to have a significant size advantage on the ice that frequently keeps the Isles’ forecheck on the outside and limits scoring chances. Plus Tampa has the red-hot Point who is just one goal away from tying Reggie Leach’s playoff record of 10 straight games with at least one goal (Philadelphia Flyers, 1976). And Point also could join Buffalo’s Pat LaFontaine (1992 vs. Bruins) as the only players to score a goal in all seven games of a series.

But Trotz has been to the mountain top in 2018 with the Washington Capitals and he sees championship qualities in his Isles. So he doesn’t think much needs to be said, and he has no doubt how his team will come out on Friday night.

“You get to a Game 7, you know what’s at stake,” Trotz said. “You play all year to get to this point. You get one opportunity. So just stay in the moment. Enjoy it, embrace it and don’t get small. Don’t get wound up. Stay in the moment. Stay calm, and give your best effort.”