Simon Holmstrom ‘ripping it’ in second stint on Islanders’ top line
Simon Holmstrom’s first stint on the Islanders’ top line was a flop.
Try two, however, has produced not one but two consecutive two-goal games from Holmstrom — a feat he had never accomplished in his NHL career before Friday.
The Islanders were forced into this as a matter of circumstance when Jean-Gabriel Pageau was made a late scratch Friday with a lower-body injury.
But surely they cannot mess with a formula that now appears to be working, particularly after Saturday’s 3-0 win at Buffalo gave the Islanders a chance to snap out of a two-week malaise.
“He’s ripping it,” said Anders Lee, who is playing alongside Holmstrom and Bo Horvat. “I think the other thing that’s been huge for us with him, he’s such a smart player. He fits seamlessly in, he knows exactly what we’re looking to do out there. He’s winning a lot of battles in the offensive zone and the d-zone, but he’s got such a great stick that keeps that puck alive on the forecheck.”
More than that, a scoring instinct that, for most of Holmstrom’s short career has been talked about far more than it has been seen, has revealed itself.
On Friday, it was letting loose a wrist shot that beat Logan Thompson clean and then tipping in a point shot from Dennis Cholowski.
On Saturday, it was finishing Lee’s feed on a two-on-one rush before winning the puck at five-on-six and scoring into an empty net — the sort of play the Islanders constantly struggle to make at the game’s decisive moments.
With 12 points, Holmstrom is nearly halfway to the 25 he had last season in less than a third of the number of games.
And he is still contributing the same smart defense that the Islanders loved during his first two seasons.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence,” coach Patrick Roy said. “I was happy to see him score that empty-netter because he had a strong night. That line possesses the puck. They were good offensively, they were good on the forecheck, they were playing well defensively. I thought that line played a solid game and that’s what we needed.”
Pierre Engvall was made a healthy scratch as the Islanders went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the first time this season, with Roy saying he wanted to send a message to Engvall, who had played too much on the outside Friday.
Pageau missed a second straight game and is still day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Matt Martin’s seven hits were his most in a game since Feb. 8 of last season in a win over Tampa.
