Horvat among NHL stars coming up small early in playoffs

By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Hockey Writer

A handful of big-name stars around the NHL have been invisible or close to it during the first week of the playoffs. Bo Horvat was held without a point in the New York Islanders’ series against Carolina before a goal in garbage time of Game 4 when the Hurricanes took a 3-1 lead. Florida captain Aleksander Barkov has been a nonfactor in the Panthers falling behind three games to one against Boston. Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy also has not been himself and the Lightning are down 3-1 to Toronto. Those players don’t have much time to start making an impact before it’s too late.