Mat Barzal, perhaps more than any player in the NHL, functions as a human inkblot test.

You can watch Barzal for games at a time and walk away impressed with how he influences nearly every shift, or wonder why he isn’t getting more out of his obvious talent.

The last couple of weeks, over which Barzal has just three points in six games since scoring an overtime winner in Las Vegas , are as prototypical of that as any.

Barzal has been noticeable in every game, constantly possessing the puck in dangerous areas. He’s even shot it more often, putting six pucks on net against Seattle on Sunday. The numbers haven’t followed, although, as Barzal himself pointed out after Tuesday’s practice, the wins very much have, with the Islanders coming into Wednesday’s Thanksgiving Eve match against the

See Full Page