Simon Holmstrom gets another Islanders chance after Anthony Duclair’s injury crusher

It was a year ago, almost to the day, that Lane Lambert pulled the plug on an early season experiment that saw Simon Holmstrom skate on the top line with Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal.

Lambert went back to that configuration a month later, but again, it didn’t last — and neither did much else last season, which is why the Islanders signed Anthony Duclair to begin with.

Now that Duclair is hurt, for a period that has only been described as “long term” by the team (which had yet to put Duclair on long-term injured reserve before Tuesday’s game against the Red Wings), the Islanders are back in the same situation — and it is again Holmstrom who will get the first shot at a role alongside Barzal and Horvat.

“I think we need someone with some good speed to play with Bo and Barzy,” Patrick Roy said Tuesday morning. “And we need someone that’s capable of making plays. So I feel like whoever I would put there, I would feel comfortable, but I think Simon would be a player that could feel [good in] that spot. Curious to see how he’s gonna do.”

Holmstrom has shown growth early this season on the third line — a unit whose performance Roy had been thrilled with before Duclair went down.

But much of that was in areas suited to a bottom-six role. Holmstrom was playing more physical hockey, looking defensively sound and displaying good chemistry with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anders Lee.