Holmström and Pageau Earn Player of the Game Awards against Maple Leafs

Down two forwards in the first period, the New York Islanders banded together for a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.

While that meant a slew of candidates for the team’s player of the game awards, the team oar went to Simon Holmström, while the hardest worker helmet went to JG Pageau.

Holmström led the team with two goals, tallying an insurance marker to put the Isles ahead 3-1 at 14:08 of the third period – and icing the game with an empty-netter at the 17:55 mark. The goals were Holmström’s second and third tallies of the season – and his seventh-career two-goal game. Holmström played 20:01 on Saturday, surpassing the 20-minute mark for just the 15^th time in his NHL career.

Pageau picked up an assist on Saturday, dishing the primary helper on Anthony Duclair’s icebreaker. Pageau played 19:31 – a season-high and nearly four minutes more than his next highest TOI – and won 65% of his face-offs on Saturday. Pageau also threw three hits and had a key blocked shot on William Nylander at the end of the second period on an Isles penalty kill.