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SEATTLE — The question of when Mat Barzal will return from an upper-body injury is still open for now. The question of who he will play with upon doing so might be, as well.
That is because the reconstituted top line with Bo Horvat centering Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau has produced some real results — enough that the Islanders could at least consider keeping the trio together longer term.
It would mean breaking up the Horvat-Barzal combo that has been ubiquitous since Horvat was traded to the Islanders at the 2023 All-Star break, but recall Barzal was off to a slow start before getting hurt with just five points in 10 games.
Coach Patrick Roy, at least, did not treat a return to the opening-night lines as an automatic when asked after Friday’s practice at Climate Pledge Arena.
“It’s a very good question,” he said, which meant that there would be no answer forthcoming.
Per Evolving Hockey’s numbers, which are adjusted for score and venue, the Lee-Horvat-Pageau trio has accounted for a 56.23 percent shot share and 52.4 percent expected goals share while outscoring theopposition, 6-3.
The opening-night trio of Barzal, Horvat and Anthony Duclair only played five games together before Duclair went down with a suspected groin injury, with Barzal soon to follow, and put up strong possession numbers — 51.81 percent shot share and 64.73 percent expected goals share — while generally struggling to put the puck in the net.
Horvat, who has produced seven points in six games since Barzal got hurt, has appeared to find some benefit in playing with Lee and Pageau, who he described Friday as predictable teammates.
“I think that’s the best word for it. Obviously, Barzy likes to have the puck and cut back, kinda control the play that way,” Horvat told The Post. “Just playing that give-and-go game, finding each other down low and keeping it simple. Pager’s gonna cover me if I’m not down low. We’re just gonna kinda go up and down the wings and keep our games as simple as possible. I think that’s what’s been working for us is the predictability of each other out there.”
That has worked to great effect, with Thursday’s domineering win over the Canucks the best example yet of the trio grinding away and cycling the puck at will.
“I think we’re making the play that’s in front of us and supporting one another on the ice with close support, a lot of talk,” Lee told The Post. “After a while, it starts to become secondhand, second nature, whatever you want to call it. And we have a really good tendency of knowing where each other is, but also when one of your linemates get the puck, what they like to do with it. So you can read off that.”
Barzal, one of the league’s best puck handlers and most dynamic skaters, is a lot of things. Predictable is not one of them.
This is a question for down the line — Barzal went home early from a road trip just over two weeks ago and it is a 4-6 week timeline for his return, so there is plenty of time left for these line combinations to grow stale — and separating Horvat from Barzal comes with a lot of permutations and questions.
That might not be worth doing, even if the current top line stays just as hot as it is now.
Right now, though, the Islanders are entering Saturday’s match against the Kraken on a five-game points streak and coming off their best game of the season. Which means that right now, it is something to consider.
