PHILADELPHIA — Having to hear these difficult statements is the plight of the superstar. This is what Mat Barzal is going to deal with for as long as he retains that description, especially in this town.

The Islanders’ 21-year-old wunderkind hasn’t been good enough.

As the games for the Islanders start to really matter for the first time in a while, Barzal has reverted back to playing reckless and immature. Of course, the horrid two-game losing streak with a combined score of 9-0 that the team brings down for Saturday’s matinee against the Flyers is hardly all his fault. But if he wants to be the face of the franchise, if he wants to have one of those careers built on stepping up in big games and, above all, winning, then he has to be better.

Everybody is allowed a lull, especially players with 158 games of NHL experience. Every kid who has just reached the legal drinking age is allowed to have mental lapses.

But Barzal is on a different plane, one built by his own elite-level talent and the expectations that come with that. He wants to be great, and he’s well on his way to getting there. The guidance of first-year coach Barry Trotz should accelerate that process.

Yet in Montreal on Thursday, Barzal tried to make hope plays around Shea Weber, and often ended up turning the puck over — just like he did in the second period before he loafed back on defense and watched as Jonathan Drouin scored an unbothered goal to make it 3-0. Tuesday on Long Island, Barzal couldn’t crack Patrice Bergeron, unable to create enough room to register a shot on goal in almost 20 minutes of ice time while his team lost 5-0.

Of course, this is elite competition. The best of the best. It’s a group that Barzal wants to join, but one where he doesn’t belong just yet.

It brings us back to one of the bedrock statements made about Barzal’s sophomore campaign, coming from Trotz right after Barzal was terrific in matching up against villainous former captain John Tavares during that epic night on Feb. 28 at the Coliseum: “What I want Mathew to be able to do is, night in and night out, ‘OK, here’s the top guy from the other team. Do you want go against him? Go against him.’ That’s where you want to get those top players to be.”

The other statement that has defined Barzal’s growth as a player came from him in January, just before the reigning Calder Trophy winner left for San Jose to be the team’s lone representative at the All-Star Game: “I just want to get to the playoffs. You can have all those individual [awards], but at the end of the day, I don’t want to be a guy that goes to play 15 years and makes the playoffs three times, you know? I want to be in there consistently.”

Ah, the playoffs. Barzal knows that is where legacies are made — good and bad, fair and unfair.

The Islanders wouldn’t be in the position they are, still ostensibly fighting the Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division with eight games to play, if it wasn’t for Barzal. Specifically, Barzal buying into Trotz’s system has been a galvanizing force.

When Tavares left, Anders Lee was named the captain. But it was Barzal who took the spotlight.

“Last year, a lot of the focus was on John as the No. 1 center, and Barzy got secondary duty. No one really paid attention [to him] other than he could fly around and skate,” Trotz said. “Now, he’s elevated and he’s more of a target. One of the things that people don’t understand in this game, the true superstars that are consistent, night in and night out, they are the guys that are willing to fight for their inches, because they’re up against the best every night.”

It’s only going to get tougher from here on out, not just for Barzal, but for the Islanders as a whole. Their strength all season has been in the collective effort, which has dipped recently in lockstep with Barzal’s individual meandering.

For them to get back on track, it can start with Barzal. He is young, and that’s a lot of pressure. But if he truly is going to be a superstar, this is a good time to show it.