{"id":404635,"date":"2026-01-13T04:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T04:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/404635\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T04:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T04:52:13","slug":"simon-holmstrom-on-an-islanders-tear-after-reunion-with-jean-gabriel-pageau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/404635\/","title":{"rendered":"Simon Holmstrom on an Islanders tear after reunion with Jean-Gabriel Pageau"},"content":{"rendered":"

WINNIPEG, Manitoba \u2014 It would be unfair to attach Simon Holmstrom\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

As for the five points he has had in the past three games, including a starring three-point night in the Islanders\u2019 4-3 win over the Wild<\/a> on Saturday, though? Well, being reunited with Pageau certainly hasn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he definitely makes the player he\u2019s playing with better,\u201d Pageau said after the Islanders practiced Monday. \u201cThat\u2019s how I see him. We\u2019re 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\u2019re not, just chatting it up to make it easier after. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any more to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau (44) celebrates his goal against the Minnesota Wild with right wing Simon Holmstrom (10) during the second period at UBS Arena. Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Being on a line with Pageau, also Holmstrom\u2019s penalty-killing partner, has always seemed to help the Swede\u2019s game. But his torrid last month \u2014 13 points in 14 games, plus an absurd 84.19 goals for percentage at 5-on-5, per Evolving Hockey \u2014 comes down to much more than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like now he really took another step,\u201d Pageau said. \u201cJust the way he skates with the puck, his confidence. The way he shoots the puck, makes some really good defensive plays, blocks shots. He\u2019s kinda doing it all. I feel like he takes a step forward every day. It\u2019s rare that you see him not do anything in a game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Patrick Roy said he\u2019s been seeing more consistency and assertiveness in Holmstrom\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really loved the way he holds onto the puck, how he\u2019s coming back, the positioning in the D-Zone,\u201d Roy said. \u201cOffensively, I can tell that he started shooting the puck with more confidence. I guess this is a big deal for any player.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Islanders right wing Simon Holmstrom (10) skates with the puck against New York Islanders in the second period at Grand Casino Arena. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Kyle MacLean will come back into the lineup Tuesday for Max Tsyplakov and play on the fourth line with Casey Cizikas and Marc Gatcomb.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like they have an identity,\u201d Roy said. \u201cI thought Sippy did OK last game. \u2026 I think what we\u2019re trying to do is having everybody be involved. We\u2019re playing so well, having everybody be a part of it, I think, is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ilya Sorokin will start in goal against the Jets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINNIPEG, Manitoba \u2014 It would be unfair to attach Simon Holmstrom\u2019s surge in production over the past month…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5110],"tags":[5,122,8563,3328,159,5190,5189,4,4652,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-404635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-islanders","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-islanders","10":"tag-jean-gabriel-pageau","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-islanders","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkislanders","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-simon-holmstrom","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115886001056828134","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}