BOSTON — Scoring is not the first measure by which Jean-Gabriel Pageau judges himself.
But even so, going the season’s first 12 games without a goal was not how the center would’ve drawn things up.
The goalless drought, he said ahead of Thursday’s 5-2 loss against the Bruins, comes down to a combination of early-season struggles and bad bounces.
“At the start of the year, I really thought I had a slow start, which, you don’t want that as a player,” Pageau said. “I feel like lately I’ve been having chances, and when you have chances, I don’t think you have to worry as much. Sometimes, it’s a bounce here and there. When you don’t have the chances, that’s when you start to worry.
“I was starting to just go back and trying to get back to basics, which was what brought me up to the NHL. Being physical, being hard, winning draws, play fast, make good decisions with the puck, go to the net.”
Those basics are the primary elements the Islanders want to see from Pageau, and lately they have.
He’s won over 60 percent of faceoffs and the third line has started to get some rhythm with Pageau centering Simon Holmstrom and Hudson Fasching — with Pageau feeding Holmstorm on a shorthanded goal Thursday.
In terms of confidence, Pageau seems to be in a decent place right now, though scoring would of course help.
He knows what makes his game tick and if that is falling into place, he thinks the scoring should get back on track.
“We all know I’m not a 50-goal scorer,” he said. “I think the battles, getting pucks back on the forecheck, making good plays defensively, winning draws, finishing my hits, being a little annoying for the other team. ‘Have I been annoying?’ Those are the questions I ask myself.”
Pierre Engvall was a surprise healthy scratch for undisclosed reasons.
“Pierre and I had a conversation and we’ll just leave it at that,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said.
With Anders Lee skating in place of Engvall, the second line struggled all night, though Lambert did not put that down to missing Engvall.
“This was a game where we just had to do the right things defensively and we didn’t do that,” Lambert said.
Bo Horvat returned to the lineup after missing one game with a presumed left ankle injury, going back to his usual spot centering the first line, with Mathew Barzal and Oliver Wahlstrom on the wings.
Adam Pelech, however, was out after playing Tuesday against Minnesota, with Sam Bolduc drawing in.
The Islanders officially declared Pelech day-to-day with a lower-body injury, which Lambert said was the same issue that kept him out on Saturday against the Hurricanes.
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