Bo Horvat’s winner steals skid-snapping OT win for Islanders in Patrick Roy’s debut
For once, green was the wrong color to wear on St. Patricks Day.
In Patrick Roys debut behind the bench, the Islanders snapped a four-game losing streak in front of their home crowd, beating the Stars 3-2 in overtime on Bo Horvats game-winner 40 seconds into the extra period.
Itd be easy to stay home and play golf and enjoy life, Roy said after hi first game behind an NHL bench since 2016. But this is what makes me feel alive.
It was far from a perfect 60 minutes a lot of the same issues that have plagued the Isles all year were still very much evident, with a terrible second period silencing a crowd that had chanted Roys name inside the games first minute.
By the end of the night, though, the Isles had the fans back in their corner.
With the win, the Isles leaped back into fourth in the Metropolitan Division, hopping the Capitals and Devils, and moved a point back of the Maple Leafs for the second wild-card spot.
6Bo Horvat scored 40 seconds into overtime for the Islanders against the Stars. Robert Sabo for the NY Post
6Bo Horvat scores the game-winning goal in overtime as the Islanders defeated the Stars. APNew coach, new life, new season.
I was very happy with the resilience of our group, Roy said. Thats what I said after the second period we were down by one goal, I said, The culture of this team is: Be resilient. Thats exactly what they did.
Down 2-1 in the third and without nearly enough energy in the building, the Islanders finally got on the forecheck and got a result.
6The Islanders celebrate after getting a win in Patrick Roy’s debut. APAfter Kyle Palmieri won the puck, Hudson Fasching tipped in Noah Dobsons shot from the point, tying the game at the 5:23 mark of the period.
That served not just to inject life into the building but into the team.
Enough to get the game into overtime.
And enough to win in overtime, with Horvat roofing a backhand past Scott Wedgewood to start the Roy Era off right.
6Patrick Roy won his Islanders debut with an overtime victory. Robert Sabo for the NY PostLast little bit has not been good. Its been ugly hockey, it truly has, Mat Barzal said. Thats not on Lane Lambert or anybody, thats on the boys in this room.
I think Patrick was an immediate spark and sometimes, you have a coaching change like that, it lights a fire under guys. That really means no ones safe. When thats the case, everyone plays with a little more jump and a little more juice. You could really see it tonight.
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That energy did take a while to come to the fore.
The Islanders wasted a pile of early chances and squandered the bulk of possession time, but scored on their first shot of the night when Alexander Romanov beat Wedgewood off the rush.
And if that was bad, the second was worse, as the defensive-zone issues that had plagued the Islanders under Lambert popped back up with the team trying to adjust to Roys changes.
With the Isles holding a 1-0 lead, Julien Gauthier got out of position to allow Jason Robertson to maneuver the puck between his legs and roof it from the low slot, tying the game at 11:35.
Less than five minutes later, Nils Lundkvist gave the Stars the lead with a shot from the right point that trickled through Ilya Sorokins pads.
It was an unforced error for the goaltender, but one that came during a game in which Sorokin finished with 41 saves.
I understand today why he was a Vezina Trophy candidate last year, the way hes been playing, Roy said.
6Jamie Benn scores a goal for the Stars against Ilya Sorokin in the second period. Robert Sabo for the NY PostTwo points does not cloud the fact that Roy has his work cut out for him.
After talking in the morning about how poorly the Islanders rated in analytics related to possession time, needing to fix the teams breakouts and wanting to focus on defense, Roy watched his new team spend too much of the game without the puck, break out poorly and continue to put too much on Sorokins shoulders thanks to a defensive-zone structure that remained lacking.
For much of the night, the most energetic person was Roy himself.
Even behind the bench, he became a show of his own pacing, shouting, clapping, getting in 10,000 steps over a 20-foot length.
6Bo Horvat celebrates after scoring the Islanders’ game-winning goal in overtime. Robert Sabo for the NY PostWhen your coach is bringing that energetic feel and passion and intensity, it forces you to be intense and engaged, Barzal said. I absolutely think it translated immediately.
Warts and all, a win is a win, and a comeback win under the new boss feels pretty good for a team that needed something to cheer about.
We needed two points tonight, captain Anders Lee said.
By the end of the night, thats what the Islanders got.
St. Patricks Day in blue and orange.
St. Patricks Day in January.
St. Patricks Day on Long Island.
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