TORONTO — The Islanders were down Simon Holmstrom on Tuesday afternoon in their final game of 2024, with the Swede having suffered an upper-body injury two days prior in Pittsburgh.

Holmstrom missed the last 8:46 of the 3-2 loss to the Penguins and was described by coach Patrick Roy as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Pierre Engvall drew back into the lineup in a 3-1 loss to the Maple Leafs after four straight healthy scratches, playing on the fourth line with Kyle MacLean and Hudson Fasching.

Casey Cizikas moved up to what would have been Holmstrom’s spot on a line with Bo Horvat and Anthony Duclair.

Max Tsyplakov, who started Sunday’s game on the fourth line, returned to his usual spot playing with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri.

This was the first game Holmstrom has missed due to injury in the NHL, and it came at a less than ideal time, with the Islanders desperately needing to begin stacking wins to avoid their playoff chances slipping away.

Holmstrom has been one of the bright spots in a generally dreary season for the Islanders, already just three points behind the 25 he had last season through half as many games.

The consistency that was missing during his first two years in the league, particularly on the offensive side of the game, has started to shine through, with Holmstrom playing a more assertive game and looking more willing to shoot the puck.

The Islanders have already dealt with injuries to star forwards Duclair and Mathew Barzal this season — each missed extended time before getting back just a couple of weeks ago.

Another injury so soon after finally getting healthy is the opposite of what they needed.

Isles coach Patrick Roychose to keep his net empty for a defensive-zone draw with 43 seconds to go in the game and his team on the penalty kill with a 2-1 deficit — an extremely unorthodox move, to say the least.

After John Tavares beat Jean-Gabriel Pageau at the dot, Tavares converted an empty-netter in short order to seal the game.

“If they win the draw, we don’t touch the puck — game over,” Roy said, explaining the move. “If we win the draw, we could ice it and play five-on-five in their zone. So I had, what, 38, 40 seconds left in the game. That’s the best chance to create some offense, so I went all-in.

“Pager was pretty good on faceoffs tonight. We tried just to send it to the other end because it’s a penalty, we can ice the puck and then try to get some puck possession offensively. That’s all we wanted to do because if we lose the draw — or win the draw — would’ve been tough for us to do something.”