On Tuesday morning, ahead of their matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, Roy was honest about the play of franchise netminder Ilya Sorokin, who has struggled in their push to the playoffs.
On Tuesday morning, ahead of their matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, Roy was honest about the play of franchise netminder Ilya Sorokin, who has struggled in their push to the playoffs.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- New York Islanders head coach and Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy said on day one that he'll never talk bad about his goaltenders.
On Tuesday morning, ahead of their matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, Roy was honest about the play of franchise netminder Ilya Sorokin, who has struggled in their push to the playoffs.
"I'm not 100 percent pleased with him. It's obvious, and I'm sure he's not [pleased with] himself," Roy said. "But I mean, it's different than before. We were giving up a lot of 40-shot games. Now we're giving up less than 30 shots most of the time, 31 on Sunday.
"But [the Rangers] got a couple of shots towards the end, so it's an adjustment for him. Less shots, but I mean, we're cutting down on chances, so it's a different game, I guess, for him. Now, every save counts more. But am I worried? No."
Sorokin has faced a league-high 1,603 shots this season. Since Roy came aboard, he has faced 471 shots, which ranks 12th most.
"You always have a chance to make up for it [when you face more shots]," Roy said. "And when you have less shots, you have more time to think about it. 'Okay, I just let that one in. I know I should have had that one' and that's it. Your mind is not as free. When you give four goals on 40 shots -- we're gonna go statistics -- it's not a bad game, but you give up four goals on 20 shots -- one goal on five shots -- that's not very good."
The Islanders have relied heavily on Sorokin since he joined the team, but Roy doesn't want that to be the case.
"That's what we want to stop, right?" Roy said. "We don't want to rely on goaltending. Goaltending could be the difference maker. But it's up to every one of us to play a certain way and play a good way, and the goalies will take care of themselves. I mean, we have two very good goaltenders. I have zero concern about our goaltending."
After allowing five goals on 26 shots in a 5-2 loss against the Rangers, Sorokin will be back in between the pipes on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Sorokin is 22-16-11, with a 3.03 GAA and a .908 SV%, both career lows.
The Islanders are two points back of a wild-card spot with 15 games to go.