3 Takeaways: Islanders Resilient in Roy’s Coaching Debut

The Patrick Roy era started with a comeback win, as the New York Islanders rallied for a 3-2 OT win over the Dallas Stars on Sunday night at UBS Arena.

Bo Horvat scored the OT winner 41 seconds into the extra frame, taking a breakaway pass from Mathew Barzal before making a forehand-backhand move and roofing the puck on Scott Wedgewood.

That ended the Islanders four-game winless skid, as the team picked up its first win since Jan. 11.

Alex Romanov and Hudson Fasching also scored for the Islanders, while Noah Dobson had a pair of assists in the win. Jason Robertson and Nils Lundkvist scored for Dallas. Ilya Sorokin stopped 40 of 42 shots in the win, while Wedgewood stopped 25 of 28 in the OT loss.

"It  felt great," Horvat said. "Everybody wanted to get that win, not only for ourselves, but for our coach and really it was phenomenal tonight. We couldn't have done it without him and it just felt really good to do it at home."

ROY EMOTIONAL AND ENERGETIC IN FIRST GAME WITH ISLES:

It was a whirlwind weekend for Patrick Roy, who was introduced as Islanders Head Coach on Saturday, met the team Sunday and coached a comeback win that evening.

Roy was candid with his players, admitting that even he, a Hall of Fame goalie, was a little nervous before his Islanders coaching debut. That resonated with Mathew Barzal, who finished the game with two assists, five shot attempts and a game-high three takeaways.

“Patty came in before the game and gave us a little touch of him being a human, telling us he was a little nervous and I was too,” Barzal said. “It was nice to hear that from him. Sometimes when you play with those nerves, it really forces you to get your legs going and be engaged in the game. That absolutely translated immediately on the ice.”

Roy was greeted by a nice gesture from fans in the first period, who were heard chanting his name from the UBS Arena stands. The new coach was as advertised, pacing up and down on the bench, communicating with his players and giving pointers while also dishing out encouragement.

“He brings so much energy behind the bench,” Horvat said. “He feels like he's playing the whole game for us out there. He's constantly engaged and yelling not only words of encouragement, but helpful tips out there too.”

When the Islanders found themselves down 2-1 after the second period, Roy gave the team a rousing locker room speech to spark the third period comeback.  

“He just came in and said we've done it before,” Horvat said. “He said we we're a resilient group and it was time to prove ourselves and guys just went out there did that.”

Roy joked that he was going to sleep soundly after a whirlwind weekend, but again was candid about what it meant to him to be back behind the bench of an NHL team and to feel the emotions of a night like Sunday.

“I love it. I have so much respect for this game. This game has been so good to me. And I'm very thankful and I really appreciate this opportunity,” Roy said. “This is what makes me feel I'm alive.”

ISLES COME THROUGH WITH RESILIENT WIN:

Sunday’s win was an important one for an Islanders team in desperate need of a win, but it was also a good win in terms of how it came about and who it came against.

After Alex Romanov gave the Isles a 1-0 in the first period – a period they easily could have scored two or three goals – they sagged in the second, getting outshot 14-5 and allowing a pair of goals to Jason Robertson and Nils Lundkvist.

That left the Isles in a 2-1 hole against a team that entered the game 19-2-1 when leading after two periods and 4-0-1 in the second half of a back-to-back. Buoyed by a rousing speech from Roy, the Isles rallied, with Noah Dobson’s point shot deflecting off Hudson Fasching for the tying goal at the 5:23 mark. They tightened up in the third period defensively, including a key play from Dobson to break up a three-on-two rush for the Stars.

The Islanders got the game to overtime – for a 17^th time this season – but made quick of the extra session, with Barzal stripping the puck and getting it up to Horvat for his second OT winner of the season.

The win was the Islanders’ second this season when trailing after 40 minutes.

“I was very happy with the resilience of our group,” Roy said. “I said the culture of this team is be resilient and that's exactly what they did. They were very calm and I'm really very happy to see that.”

SOROKIN SHARP WITH 40-SAVE EFFORT:

Ilya Sorokin was on top of his game on Sunday night, stopping 40 shots for his 14^th win of the season.

That effort was appreciated by Roy, who called Sorokin “outstanding” in the victory and said he deserved to be the first star of the game, despite officially being the second star. It was high praise from one of the greatest goalies to ever play.

“I understand why he was a Vezina candidate last year,” Roy said.

Roy acknowledged that he’d like to see his netminder face fewer shots, as Sunday marked the ninth time this season and 26^th time in the past three seasons Sorokin had seen over 40 shots in a game. Sorokin’s 26 40+ shot games are the second-most over that three-year span trailing only Anaheim’s John Gibson. Sunday was also Sorokin's 14th straight game, which extended his career-long.

“The thing that I would really love to see us cutting down is the shots on net because we gave up 42 shots again tonight,” Roy said. “I feel like we rely a little too much on our goaltender. Unfortunately, 17 shots came from turnovers, so if we want to cut down below 30 we're going to have to do a better job not turning that puck over.”

Roy acknowledged that it’ll be a work in progress, but reinforced all day that goaltending will be one of the Islanders strengths. 

NEXT GAME: 

The Islanders host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.