Hall of Famer Patrick Roy described Marcus Hogberg's performance as outstanding and wishes his team had played better in front of him.

On the same night that former Senator Filip Gustavsson was giving his old team a hard time in Minnesota, another former Ottawa goalie resurfaced in the NHL on Sunday, making his first start since 2021.

Marcus Hogberg has been with the New York Islanders for the past 11 games, filling in for the injured Semyon Varlamov, but has watched from the bench as Ilya Sorokin started every game. But on Sunday, in the second half of a back-to-back against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Islander head coach Patrick Roy finally turned to Hogberg.

Despite a 3-2 loss to the Pens, Roy was glad he did.

"I thought he was outstanding," head coach Patrick Roy told the media. "I don't think we played well in front of him defensively. We gave up 40 shots or something. That's too many shots in my opinion.

"I thought he gave us a chance. He made a phenomenal save at the end that kept it a 3-2 game and gave us chance to get back into the game."

Hogberg, or "Hawgberg" as they're still calling him in New York, has appeared in two other games that Sorokin was pulled from. But Hogberg admits it's a little different when you're starting.

"No, of course, I was a little bit more nervous because I know that I'm going to play today. When I jump into the game (in relief), I don't have time to think. You just go out there and play."

It's the first time Hogberg has started an NHL game since April 28, 2021, when he was a member of the Senators. The 30-year-old entered the game with a 9-17-9 record with a 3.34 GAA and an .896 save percentage. But it didn't take long to settle in to Sunday's game.

"No, maybe a little bit rusty from beginning," Hogberg said. "But maybe in the second period I got into the game more and got a lot more shots (21). But overall, it was fun to play, but it was tough that we lost."

After parting company with Ottawa, Hogberg returned home to Sweden to play the past three years with Linkopings HC. Somewhere along the way, he caught the NHL bug again and signed a two-year deal with the Islanders earlier this year. Hogberg was 2-5-3 this season in Bridgeport with a 3.26 GAA and a .898 save percentage.

Hogberg's NHL stats this season? A 1.93 GA and a save percentage of .948. Yes, it's a very limited sample size and he remains Roy's third option. But moving forward, if he maintains anything close to this, those are the kind of numbers that are impossible to keep out of the NHL for very long.

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