It may have taken a bit but Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom are starting to click, helping the New York Islanders remain in a playoff spot.
It took a while for Bo Horvat to find chemistry with anyone as he awaited the return of his dynamic linemate Mathew Barzal. It wasn't that Horvat and his linemates failed to generate chances, but burying was the main problem.
Rookie Simon Holmstrom had been given chance after chance to stick alongside Horvat, but with the goals not coming, head coach Lane Lambert rotated Horvat's right winger more often than not, even moving Anders Lee off the left side as he tried to find a spark.
But with how well the Brock Nelson line and the 'bottom two" lines had been playing down the stretch, Lambert needed Horvat and Holmstrom, along with Lee, to start clicking and providing offense.
And they have.
Holmstrom and Horvat potted goals in the 6-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, with the rookie's coming off a nifty feed from New York's leading goal-scorer.
Horvat buried a back-door tap-in off a strong feed from Noah Dobson for the Islanders' final tally of the night.
While Horvat has had the chances and did have an empty-netter a few games back, it had been 16 games since Horvat beat an NHL netminder (outside of the shootout).
"It's just a little bit of weight off your shoulders. You're always thinking about it, and you want to contribute offensively to the team and get on the scoresheet as much as you want to win your face-offs, right?" Horvat said. "So I mean, obviously, it was nice to get those, but again, like I said earlier, it's just...it's good to see a great team effort."
As for Horvat's assist to Holmstrom: "You've been making those passes, and they've been going through. They're suddenly going in, and you see Simon bury that one, and to finish that one off definitely felt good."
Following the game, Lambert spoke about Horvat
"I think he's had some pretty darn good chances here in the last few games. I mean, he hit the post tonight on the power play, He had a great chance in Carolina late in the game on the power play, so it's always nice for his mindset to see pucks go in the net," Lambert said.
It was a monumental win over Tampa, but the Islanders still had three games on their schedule, and it seemed and seems like New York will have to take care of their own business to make the postseason, with their wild-card foes continuing to rack up wins.
The Islanders did their job against the Flyers on Saturday night, scoring four in a shutout win.
Although Horvat and Holmstrom failed to score, both connected on plays that led to two goals.
On the Islanders' opening tally of the contest, per a traffic shot from Scott Mayfield, it was a strong shift from the Horvat line that made the goal possible.
Holmstrom used his long reach to keep the puck away from a Flyers' defenseman before feeding Horvat in the slot. The shot failed to hit the net, but the rookie fought for the puck in the corner, winning the battle, before poking the puck up to Mayfield, who was waiting at the blue line.
Holmstrom notched the primary assist on one of the better shifts he's had in quite some time, while Horvat recorded the secondary with the missed shot.
The unlikely duo got on the scoresheet again on the Islanders' third goal of the game.
After a controlled save from netminder Ilya Sorokin, Holmstrom banked a backhand pass off the defensive zone boards right onto the tape of Horvat in transition.
Being outnumbered on the rush, Horvat skid-stopped to create some time before he found Bolduc coming into the zone with speed.
The rookie defenseman unleashed a wicked wrister blocker side on Flyers netminder Carter Hart.
With that assists, Horvat has four points over the last two games, while Holmstrom has three.
Yes, one game was against a banged-up Lightning team on the second of a back-to-back, who started their backup Brian Elliott, while the other was against an abysmal Flyers franchise.
But the goals were scored, and the plays were made by Horvat and Holmstrom, helping the Islanders in two games they had to have.
"I think we were just due," Horvat said following Saturday night's win. "I mean, we've had so many looks over the past however many games, and it wasn't going in for us.
"We've been doing a lot of the good things, and it's finally nice to get rewarded for it."
As for what he's seen from Holmstrom as of late: "I think he's been great. He keeps getting better and better the more he plays and the more opportunities he's been getting. He's a good, smart player, and he continues to keep getting better and better."
The Hockey News asked Lambert after the game what he is seeing from Holmstrom right now.
"I think Holmstrom has shown some confidence, a couple of assists tonight. And he's starting to make some plays. And I thought Lee had one of his better games here tonight," Lambert said. "He showed his leadership tonight. He was on pucks. He was hard, and he was good."
There's no answer as to when Mathew Barzal will return to the team, but it's a sure positive, with two games to go, that Bo Horvat is finding chemistry with someone other than no. 13.