EDMONTON, Alberta — Two and a half weeks in the middle of an 82-game season often feels like an eternity, with the narrative having already changed one way and then another in less than 10 games.

For example, let’s go back and wonder if Simon Holmstrom could take over and put Anthony Duclair on the top line, which was the biggest question around the Islanders.

Not much time has passed, but the Islanders have now lost four more regulars – including Mat Barzal, another piece of the top line – and Holmstrom is back in the bottom six over the last five games.

And in those five games, the Swede amassed five points after scoring zero during his four-game stint on the top line, suddenly playing with the confidence and poise that was conspicuously absent alongside Barzal and Bo Horvat .

Coincidence?

“I can’t say it,” coach Patrick Roy said Saturday night after Holmstrom contributed a goal and an assist in the Islanders’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Devils. “But I notice he’s getting more and more confident, so I like that.” And he scored a really nice goal on that one, but obviously he’s playing good hockey for us. … I have a lot of confidence in him.

Holmstrom, 23, has such feats before, including the five shorthanded goals he scored before the New Year last season.

But the Islanders needed their bottom six to increase their scoring after Barzal and Duclair went down and it was Holmstrom who was a catalyst in doing so.

In the four games he played on the top line, Holmstrom recorded a combined three shots on goal.

In the five games that followed, he shot a total of nine times – not a record number, but a world of difference nonetheless.

It’s already proven vital for the Islanders, as it was Holmstrom’s power-play goal that started the rally Tuesday night in a shootout victory over the Penguins and it was Holmstrom who kept them going in the game early Saturday by scoring a goal in the first period. on a smooth finish around Jacob Markstrom.

“Homer’s goal, that was probably our only forecheck in the first period,” Kyle Palmieri said.

That, along with a subsequent assist on Dennis Cholowski’s third-period goal, wasn’t enough to give the Islanders two points, who then gave up a 3-1 lead to the Devils before losing in overtime.

But Holmstrom is no small part of the reason the Islanders got a point on a night where they were outplayed for much of the night.

“He played well,” said Casey Cizikas, who recently centered Holmstrom on a line also featuring Pierre Engvall. “He was strong with the puck. He made some very beautiful plays, he had a lot of beauty. You can see his confidence grow with every game he plays here.

Indeed, although the third line’s advanced numbers were disappointing, the trio proved adept both defensively and in transporting the puck up the ice.

You can’t blame the Islanders for wanting to get a few more chances, but Holmstrom often drove those moments when they happened.

With the current forward lines functioning well – the Islanders have taken five of six points in their last three games heading into the five-game marathon that begins Tuesday night against the Oilers – there will be little temptation to mix things up or hand over Holmstrom. in the top six.

It could be for the best.

Coincidence or not, he gave the Islanders more spark further down the lineup. And why waste a good thing?