WINNIPEG, Manitoba — It would be unfair to attach Simon Holmstrom’s surge in production over the past month to playing alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and not particularly factual either given that the two have played just six of the past 14 games on the same line for the Islanders.
As for the five points he has had in the past three games, including a starring three-point night in the Islanders’ 4-3 win over the Wild on Saturday, though? Well, being reunited with Pageau certainly hasn’t hurt.
“I think he definitely makes the player he’s playing with better,” Pageau said after the Islanders practiced Monday. “That’s how I see him. We’re close off the ice also. We chat a lot after almost every shift: Where could we have been, what we could have done better and we seem to be on the same page. Or if we’re not, just chatting it up to make it easier after. I don’t think there’s any more to it.”
Being on a line with Pageau, also Holmstrom’s penalty-killing partner, has always seemed to help the Swede’s game. But his torrid last month — 13 points in 14 games, plus an absurd 84.19 goals for percentage at 5-on-5, per Evolving Hockey — comes down to much more than that.
“I feel like now he really took another step,” Pageau said. “Just the way he skates with the puck, his confidence. The way he shoots the puck, makes some really good defensive plays, blocks shots. He’s kinda doing it all. I feel like he takes a step forward every day. It’s rare that you see him not do anything in a game.”
Coach Patrick Roy said he’s been seeing more consistency and assertiveness in Holmstrom’s game.
“I really loved the way he holds onto the puck, how he’s coming back, the positioning in the D-Zone,” Roy said. “Offensively, I can tell that he started shooting the puck with more confidence. I guess this is a big deal for any player.”
Kyle MacLean will come back into the lineup Tuesday for Max Tsyplakov and play on the fourth line with Casey Cizikas and Marc Gatcomb.
“I feel like they have an identity,” Roy said. “I thought Sippy did OK last game. … I think what we’re trying to do is having everybody be involved. We’re playing so well, having everybody be a part of it, I think, is important.”
Ilya Sorokin will start in goal against the Jets.
