Simon Holmstrom, Casey Cizikas, Jean-Gabriel Pageau have been a high-quality line in Islanders' playoff drive

Simon Holmstrom had to think for a moment.

Standing in the Islanders’ dressing room Thursday morning, he was asked what label he would assign to his line with Casey Cizikas and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

Are they a scoring line? A checking line? An energy line?

“That’s a great question,” the right wing said. A moment or two later, he began to answer.

“I think Pager and Casey and me, I think we bring a little of everything to the table and I think we’ve been doing a good job,” Holmstrom said after an up-tempo practice at Northwell Health Ice Center. “I think our job is to go out there and put some pressure on [opposing teams] and play heavy and lay out some hits as well. So I think it’s something in between.”

While there is not a one-size-fits-all characterization for the trio, what has been made abundantly clear of late is that they have been a key to the team’s playoff push.

The Islanders (25-21-7, 57 points) have won 11 of the 15 games played in 2025. They now embark on back-to-back games against two of the league’s best teams in Winnipeg and Minnesota before dispersing for the league’s two-week pause for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

They are five points behind Ottawa for the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and four behind Detroit for the second one.

And the line that coach Patrick Roy said was put together out of necessity earlier in the season because of a spate of injuries consistently has generated offense while matched up against some of the NHL’s preeminent forwards.

In the 94:30 spanning 44 games they have played as a unit, the trio have generated more than 60% of the shots and quality scoring chances when on the ice, according to analytical database NaturalStatTrick.com.

“I am very comfortable when they’re on the ice,” Roy said. “When we played Colorado, for example, [Nathan] MacKinnon played over 20 minutes or 25 minutes. Same thing with [Nikita] Kucherov when we played Tampa. It’s a lot for one line. So knowing that line could do the job, it really helps a lot.”

Roy was referring to the Islanders’ 5-2 win over the Avalanche on Jan. 28 at UBS Arena and their 3-2 overtime win over the Lightning four nights later.

Against the Avalanche, the line accounted for two goals and four assists. MacKinnon finished with an assist, seven shots on goal and 12 shot attempts in 23:53.

Holmstrom was credited with a secondary assist on Tony DeAngelo’s overtime game-winner against Tampa Bay. Kucherov recorded a goal, three shots and 12 shot attempts in 23:59.

So yes, they served vital roles — on both sides of the puck — in those wins.

“Pager and Homer are a little more offensive-minded than I am,” Casey Cizikas said. “When it comes to the defensive side of the puck, we think alike.”

That’s been noticed by their teammates.

“They’re bringing energy and possession,” Anders Lee said. “They’re creating a lot because those three, they’re dogs.”

Which might be the label that best suits Cizikas, Pageau and Holmstrom.

Notes & quotes: Roy announced that Ilya Sorokin will start both games of the back-to-back and that Hudson Fasching (upper body) will travel with the team. Scott Mayfield (lower body) will not make the trip.