Islanders' Simon Holmstrom has been a bright spot in a disappointing season

Positives have been in short supply for the Islanders of late as bad finishes repeatedly overshadow anything good the team accomplishes.

Simon Holmstrom feels that as much as any player as the Islanders entered Saturday night’s match against the Sabres at UBS Arena hoping to reverse a 1-4-2 slide, having been unable to protect a third-period lead in five of those games.

The 23-year-old Swede, drafted 23rd overall in 2019, had one of his best NHL games in Friday afternoon’s 5-4 overtime loss in Washington. Holmstrom responded to a late assignment to Bo Horvat’s top line after Jean-Gabriel Pageau (lower body) was a late scratch, posting the first two-goal performance of his career, which is now 150 games old.

Along with captain Anders Lee, the trio generated three goals and four assists and was not on ice for any goals against (Holmstrom, one of the Islanders’ key penalty killers, was out for Tom Wilson’s first-period power-play goal).

Holmstrom had five goals in the Islanders’ first 24 games, all coming in the previous 12 matches.

“For sure,” Holmstrom said after Friday’s defeat about preferring to have his first multi-goal outing come in a victory. “I thought we played a pretty solid game. But, again, we dropped it in the third and that’s something we’ve really got to figure out.”

The Islanders have patiently waited for Holmstrom to develop into the player they hoped they were getting with that first-round pick. He skates well and has good defensive acumen. Teammates also rave about his wrist shot and both they and his coaches have urged him to shoot more.

In that category, Holmstrom has admittedly not been aggressive enough in the past.

But perhaps this season, and specifically Friday’s game against the Capitals, can be a turning point in Holmstrom’s young career. He took a career-high six shots on Friday and looked extremely confident doing so.

He opened the scoring at 3:36 of the first period with a rising wrist shot to the short side, over goalie Logan Thompson’s blocker. He pushed the Islanders’ lead to 4-2 at 18:09 of the second period with a deft deflection of defenseman Dennis Cholowski’s point shot.

Coach Patrick Roy does like Holmstrom’s work around the net enough to use him in the bumper position — between the circles — on the second power-play unit.

“Outstanding,” Roy said of Holmstrom’s play with Horvat and Lee on Friday. “He played really well. That line was really, really good. I was very impressed with the way he played. He was solid on the walls. He played well offensively. I loved his game, big time.”

“I thought we played a great game,” said Holmstrom, who entered Saturday with 12 points in 24 games and a chance to better the career highs he set last season with 15 goals and 10 assists for 25 points. “We scored some goals and I thought we played real solid defensively as well.”

Holmstrom has been sporadically used as a top-six wing but, mostly, has settled into a third-line role this season.

If he can consistently play like he did against the Capitals, it obviously gives the Islanders more options, even as top-liners Anthony Duclair (lower body) and Mathew Barzal (upper body) eventually return to the lineup.

But if the Islanders continue to struggle and fail to show they can contend for a playoff spot, perhaps Holmstrom also gives president/general manager Lou Lamoriello a valuable asset to try and trade if it’s determined a roster overhaul is needed.

Holmstrom is on a one-year, $850,000 deal and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

Notes & quotes: Roy said Pageau remained unavailable is day to day so he opted to go with just 11 forwards — making Pierre Engvall a healthy scratch — and seven defensemen. Roy said he has been unhappy with Engvall playing too much on the outside in the offensive zone. “When he’s played his best, it’s when he goes to the net front,” Roy said. “When you start to play on the outside, I’m not as crazy about him when he does that. Sometimes just watching a game, hopefully that will send a message.” Using seven defensemen also protected Scott Mayfield — who was hit in the face with a shot on Friday — in case he had issues once the game started.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.