Isles Day-to-Day: Beauvillier, Barzal and Eberle Reunite

In an effort to unlock more offense from his top-six, Barry Trotz may take a page from the Islanders 2017-18 playbook.
Trotz reunited Anthony Beauvillier, Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle at Friday's practice, a trio that was highly effective for the Islanders last season. The coach didn't fully commit to keeping them together for Saturday's matinee against Philadelphia, but it seems likely they'll get a chance to play together for the first time this season.

"Just trying to free things up and take a look at a couple of different lines and it's a possibility that we could go there," Trotz said.

The chemistry on the line was evident last season. Barzal assisted on 18 of Eberle's 25 goals, while Beauvillier scored 17 of his 21 goals after joining the line for the second half of the season. Barzal was electric all season, leading the Isles with 85 points en route to the Calder.
"We've had a bit of a tougher time finding 5 on 5 chances and finding the back of the net," Barzal said. "To have us back and have that familiarity a bit, hopefully we can hop into the game and find that chemistry right away."
Trotz reunited Eberle and Barzal last Thursday in LA and has kept the duo together for the past three games with Andrew Ladd on the left wing. Eberle scored his first goal of the season on Wednesday, a power-play mark on a setup from Barzal. Trotz said their previous success was the impetus for putting them back together after initially trying Eberle out with Anders Lee and Brock Nelson.

"We obviously had some chemistry going last year," Eberle said of he and Barzal. "We like playing with each other and seem to know where each other are and think the game similar. Now it's a matter of getting Barry to trust us to put us out there against teams defending in our own end."
The question remains whether Beauvillier will return to the line when the puck drops at Wells Fargo Center. Beauvillier is still looking for his first points of the season and has bounced between the second and third lines.
"I want to give Beau an opportunity," Trotz said. "He's been up and down the lineup and has gotten off to a bit of a tough start here."

Beauvillier initially started the season with Barzal and Josh Bailey, a line that clicked in preseason, but the offense didn't translate to the start of the regular season at five-on-five. The hope is reuniting this line gets the ball rolling for the 21-year-old - should they get the chance to play together in Philly.
"Beau's numbers may not be great right now, but he's playing hard and we're going to try to get him on the board and get him going," Barzal said." Those guys are good players and it's fun being out there a little bit."