Girls Youth Hockey The New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/] lost in their usual fashion on Friday night. They blew a 4-2 third-period lead before falling 5-4 in overtime. While the sky is falling around Long Island, there were some positives that we would be remiss to overlook. SIMON HOLMSTROM RISES TO THE OCCASION Forward Simon Holmstrom was given the first chance to play on the team's top line when Anthony Duclair went down but struggled alongside Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal. Flash-forward to Friday, a late scratch of top-line right winger Jean-Gabriel Pageau forced head coach Patrick Roy to make a quick lineup maneuver. He decided to throw Holmstrom up on the top line. Holmstrom rose to the occasion and played one of the better games of his young NHL career. In 19:10 TOI, Holmstrom scored twice for his first multi-goal game of his career, on six shots, with two blocks. His first goal was an absolute beauty, sniping Capitals netminder Logan Thompson from the right dot at 3:36 of the first: Then, at 18:09 of the second, Holmstrom scored yet again, this time with a beautiful deflection for his fifth goal of the season:H Holmstrom has looked more and more confident since being demoted from the top six, and it's a tremendously good sign to see that confidence remains despite being given tough tasks moments before the puck drops. ISAIAH GEORGE RACKING UP POINTS After going pointless through his first nine career NHL games, 20-year-old defenseman Isaiah George is finding his way on the scoresheet. He has an assist (all secondary) in each of the last three games, and according to MSGSN statistician Eric Hornick, he is the first Islanders defenseman since Bryan Berard to accomplish that streak before his 21st birthday. George's assist on Friday came on Anders Lee's goal at 1:15 of the second: While George has never been an offensive defenseman, seeing him have the confidence to make plays is why he's stuck on the NHL roster. One of George's bigger standouts is his poise in all three zones, and it's rather important to see him have poise at the point in the offensive zone. In 12 games, George has three assists, averaging 19:23 minutes per game. It’s important to note that George played most of his minutes on Friday night alongside Noah Dobson. The Islanders battle the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at 7:30 PM ET.
