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Jordan Eberle had to stop and count.
He wasn’t sure how many playoff series he’d been through with the Islanders, with essentially the same group of players and coaches over three years, battling together and falling short. The number, counting the 2020 qualifying round against the Panthers, is nine.
“You celebrate together,” Eberle said. “And you cry together. That’s a special group to me.”
Eberle, who left Long Island after getting picked in the expansion draft by the Kraken, will make his return Wednesday. He’ll walk into a new arena and face a team that has struggled to recapture the same magic without him, as part of a group that’s looked very much like an expansion team for much of the season.
He has been one of the most productive offensive players for the Kraken, with 12 goals and 13 assists — a point total that would rank second on the Islanders — but the results haven’t been there on a team level. Seattle has a woeful 14-26-4 record ahead of their game on Tuesday at Boston, and sits at the bottom of the Pacific Division.
That would make the game Wednesday against the Islanders, a team hovering around .500 with fading playoff hopes, mostly forgettable. Eberle, though, circled it as soon as he saw the schedule.
This place — if not this building — carries memories for him.
“The best memories are also the worst memories,” Eberle said. “Making it to the conference final both times and losing, especially last year in Game 7, just the run that you have and the energy, the will and the commitment that it takes to get to that point and to come up short two years in a row.
“Those are tough, but they’re also stuff that builds you as a person and as a team. Those will be instantly the memories that I share.”
The Islanders, doubtless, miss the man who shared more than 200 minutes with Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal last season on a top line that fit together and brought production. They’ve struggled to find the right person to complete the trio without him, recently cycling through players before landing back where they started with Josh Bailey.
Eberle said he’ll probably have “a little more jump to my step” on Wednesday, but wants to approach it the same as any other game. He’s open, though, about the fact that it won’t be.
“You’re gonna gain some friendships and that’s the hardest part,” Eberle said. “We’ve been through a lot as a group when I was there, making it to two conference finals and making it to the second round the first year with Barry [Trotz].
“That’s a special group to me, and the fact that I get a chance to play them tomorrow with a different group, I’ve gone through it before with Edmonton. But this group in particular, when you win like that, they always mean a lot more.”
Jiggs McDonald will call the game Wednesday on MSG Plus, filling in for Brendan Burke, who will be calling a national game on TNT.
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