Many heroes don't wear capes. Some wear jerseys, and on Tuesday night, Simon Holmstrom played hero for the New York Islanders to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Many heroes don't wear capes. Some wear jerseys, and on Tuesday night, Simon Holmstrom played hero for the New York Islanders to keep their playoff hopes alive.
ELMONT, NY -- Many heroes don't wear capes. Some wear jerseys.
On Tuesday night, with the New York Islanders in need of a win over the bottom-feeding Chicago Blackhawks, 23-year-old forward Simon Holmstrom came through, scoring at 9:25 of the third period to give his team a 2-1 lead and ultimately the victory:
You can see the emotion of Holmstrom's teammates and how proud they were as the youngster scored the biggest goal of the Islanders' season, keeping his team alive in the playoff race.
Back in the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch the last three games, Roy needed to see Holmstrom play to his potential after failing to do so as of late.
Roy, who isn't afraid to go with his gut, made a judgment call, taking Hudson Fasching out of the lineup, citing that Holmstrom had been practicing hard and earned himself another look with the season on the line.
The gut move paid off.
"We had a good conversation this morning. I want him to earn it. And that's what he did," Roy said postgame. "He scored a big goal for us, and I thought he had a solid game with Pageau and Anders. That's the hockey he's capable of playing, and that's what he did. And that's what he gave us."
It wasn't a perfect game for Holmstrom, who earlier in the affair had a prime chance to get a shot off but double-clutched before seeing the shot get blocked, something that's happened a tad too often this season.
But to Holmstrom's credit, he kept shooting, ending the game with four shots, which tied Bo Horvat for the team lead in the sixty-minute contest and was tied with Mathew Barzal for the team lead in individual Corsi For with eight, led the team with four scoring chances, tying linemate Lee with two high-danger chances, per NaturalStatrick.com.
After the game, Hockey News spoke with Holmstrom to get his thoughts on being back in the lineup and coming up clutch for his team.
"It feels so amazing, especially getting the win as well," Holmstrom told THN. "That's a huge two points for us."
Huge might be an understatement, as with the win and the Washington Capitals' 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, the Islanders now sit a point back of a wild-card spot.
"It's no fun. You want to be out there and help the team, especially in important games like this," Holmstrom said after being out of the lineup for a few games. "So, it was good to be back, and that's a huge win for us."
Holmstrom entered the 2023-24 season wanting to be a more offensive player after scoring just six goals in 50 games in his rookie campaign.
He did bring more offense, entering Tuesday night with 13 goals, but hadn't scored since Feb. 20 and only had eight even-strength goals, doing most of his damage on the penalty kill.
Holmstrom's monumental goal against Chicago snapped a 15-game goal drought and a seven-game point drought.
"We're going to need everybody until the end of the year, no matter what," Roy said. So, we need to make sure that everybody is accountable night after night, and every day, we're on the ice."
After his performance on Tuesday, one would think that Holmstrom will get another chance to make a difference on Thursday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.