MONTREAL — Jean-Gabriel Pageau returned to the Islanders' lineup on Tuesday, but Simon Holmstrom has managed to remove Wally Pip Pageau from his top-line role for the time being.
Two goals in two consecutive games would accomplish that for a player who had never done anything like that in the NHL.
As the Islanders lost 2-1 in overtime to the Canadiens on Nick Suzuki's game-winning goal, Holmstrom stayed on defense with Anders Lee and Bo Horvat, while Papaw was joined by Kyle MacLean and Oliver Wall. The center was placed on the newly established third line with Strom on both sides.
Coach Pageau, who missed the past two games due to a lower-body injury, said there is no concern that it will happen again.
“So I sat out a few games to make sure the situation didn't get worse,” Pageau said before skating in 14 minutes, 28 seconds. “Sometimes it's almost mental. If my brain was saying, 'No more,' it would have been even worse. And now I feel good. It's not in my head. I'm not worried about that. ”
Tuesday's game against the Canadiens will be the first time McLean and Pageau will play together on the line, and the first time Pageau will be part of Wahlstrom since February 24 of last season.
It was also an opportunity for McLean and Wahlstrom to be used in slightly different roles, having played mostly on the fourth line this season and struggled to contribute offensively.
“He's a really smart player,” McClain told The Pageau. “He does a lot of little things really well. There's a lot of details. He's got a really good stick. He's good with the puck, so just playing with him and reading his reads, he's got a lot of details.” is reading ours, and if it works, it will create some opportunities and be effective.”
After seeing his lowest ice time since the 2022-23 season on Saturday and getting off to a slow start in the 3-0 win over Buffalo, Noah Dobson is back to his normal playing time of 24 minutes, 40 seconds.
If Holmstrom continues to mesh with Lee and Horvat, Manager Patrick Roy said Monday that Pageau could play with Matt Barzal and Anthony Duclair once the injured players return.
Grant Hutton returned to the lineup as the third defensive pair, with Dennis Cholowski a healthy scratch.
After missing Monday's practice with a lower-body injury, Semyon Varlamov traveled to Montreal to support Ilya Sorokin in net.
