For most of his NHL career, Simon Holmstrom’s success has been tied at the hip to Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
For whatever reason, the winger seems to have an innate chemistry with Pageau as his center — something the Islanders have been happy to indulge, but a fact that’s sometimes prevented Holmstrom from moving up in the lineup, and which has sometimes stopped coach Patrick Roy from tinkering with his lineup the way he might like.
That’s why moving Holmstrom up to play on Brayden Schenn’s line raised an eyebrow ahead of Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Flames.
And that’s why it’s extra meaningful for Holmstrom to have scored twice in a strong all-around performance with Schenn on his left side instead of Pageau.
“Just from watching him the past couple games, obviously he’s very talented at both ends of the ice. Honestly, I had no idea what type of player he was when I walked in here,” Schenn told The Post. “He surprised me a lot. Very talented, very skilled with the puck, very good both ends of the ice and he can skate. Definitely a 200-foot player and fun to play with.”
Schenn, who already bought Holmstrom a Rolex watch as payment for taking the No. 10 — Holmstrom switched to 92 — got him another gift Saturday with a feed off the rush for his first goal.
His second, ironically, came from Pageau when the Islanders were shorthanded late in the first — Roy didn’t split the pair on the penalty kill — but there was plenty to be encouraged about with the Schenn-Holmstrom duo, whose line was completed by Anthony Duclair, at 5-on-5 as well.
“Anthony Duclair had a good game, I love the way he played in his own zone,” Roy said. “… Simon had a nice play with Schenner.”
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Realistically, Roy will probably end up going back to Pageau and Holmstrom at some point before the playoffs, if only because the safe bet all year has been that the lines will change, and because the duo is so reliable.
Knowing he doesn’t need to be wedded to that option, though, could be key going into the playoffs.
“It definitely helps to build chemistry with the guys you’re playing with,” Holmstrom said. “I think everyone here, we have such a tight group, we can all play together. So I don’t think it makes that big of a difference [to move things around], but takes some time to develop chemistry as well.”
Saturday was David Rittich’s first career win against the Flames, the team he spent the first five seasons of his career with.
“About time,” Rittich said. “I know my record against them since I left Calgary, it’s not great. It was terrible. So I’m glad I finally got a win against them.”
