Eyes On Isles
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Islanders: Jordan Eberle’s Struggles Continue

By Matt O'Leary

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - SEPTEMBER 09: Jordan Eberle #7 of the New York Islanders skates with the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period at Rogers Place on September 09, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - SEPTEMBER 09: Jordan Eberle #7 of the New York Islanders skates with the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period at Rogers Place on September 09, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Jordan Eberle has struggled for the New York Islanders in this series and today was no different for him with two more giveaways.

The Islanders top line has lost its magic. The Lee – Barzal – Eberle line that was so good in the Flyers and Capitals series has been dreadful in this series against Tampa Bay. They simply can not keep up with the high powered Lightning offense.

One of those guys in particular, Jordan Eberle, has been especially bad for Barry Trotz’s team. Today, Eberle had just three shots on goal, two giveaways, and was -2. For the third game in a row, he was held without a point.

In Game 3, it was a brutal penalty and more turnovers,  this time out it was the same head-scratching moments that we’ve been so accustomed to in the playoffs.

On the power play, he legit just fell down. Tripped over the red line:

The power play, which Jordan Eberle is a big part of, is 1 for 14 in this series. Outside a very small sample in Philadelphia, they’ve been abysmal on the power play.

Garth Snow traded for Jordan Eberle so he can score goals for this team. He has just four in the playoffs in 20 games, a pace of just 16 over a full 82 game season. I’m sorry if this comes across has harsh, but that’s just not good enough.

Playing with Mat Barzal, he should be netting 25 goals a season. He had 19 in 78 games a year ago and in the regular season, he had 16 in 58 games (pace of 23 over a full 82 game season).

I don’t know what the Islanders do in the short term, for the remainder of the playoffs, but he can’t continue to be Barzal’s winger, it’s just not going to work. I like the Beauvillier – Nelson – Bailey line too much to play with that, and it’s not like the Isles have a ton of cap space to spend.

Pray to God that one of Oliver Wahlstrom or Kieffer Bellows can play top-line minutes right away. They need at least one of them to be a 25+ goal scorer, otherwise, this team is in trouble.

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For now, it looks like we’ll be having to watch Eberle with Lee and Barzal, and for weeks now, it hasn’t been pretty.

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