Islanders hold on for win, but Patrick Roy angry that his team didn't support goalie Ilya Sorokin late
Islanders players celebrate a goal by defenseman Dennis Cholowski in the second period of an NHL hockey game against Chicago at UBS Arena on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Patrick Roy showed as much anger as he had since becoming Islanders coach. And this came after a win.
His ire was fueled after the Islanders took a four-goal lead in the third period against NHL-worst Chicago and then had to hold on for a 5-4 victory on Thursday night at UBS Arena.
“A win is a win and we play to win games,” said Roy, a Hall of Fame goalie. “I guess times have changed because, in my days, if my team would have done that to me, I will break a stick in that room. I will be very upset to see my team playing like this in front of me.”
The Islanders (12-12-7) took a 5-1 lead at 7:58 of the third period on Maxim Tsyplakov’s goal at the post, capping a three-goal burst in 2 minutes, 19 seconds. But defenseman T.J. Brodie brought Chicago (9-18-2) within three goals at 11:04 and Tyler Bertuzzi scored at 18:50 and 19:50 as Chicago skated six-on-five.
Simply, the Islanders stopped competing as hard on pucks or defending around goalie Ilya Sorokin (26 saves), who made his seventh straight start with Semyon Varlamov (lower body) yet to resume skating.
“Ilya is a gentleman,” Roy said. “He’s a first-class person, but that was unacceptable. We didn’t compete. We didn’t battle in front of the net in the last eight minutes. We talked about it this morning to be stronger. Our goalie deserves more respect than this from ourselves.
“Let’s be happy about winning the hockey game. But deep inside, we know we can’t do what we did at the end of the game. That the guys will know for sure.”
A practice was scheduled for Friday — but the players already knew that.
“[Sorokin] has been outstanding lately,” said Simon Holmstrom, who had a goal and two assists, putting the Islanders ahead 2-1 at 14:06 of the second period after Roy shuffled his lines. “He’s one of the biggest reasons we’ve been collecting points as of late. We’ve got to step up for him and we can’t let this happen again.”
The Islanders — who tied the Rangers, who hold the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot but have played three fewer games, in points — will complete this home-and-home series on Sunday afternoon. Chicago will first complete its three-game road trip against the Devils on Saturday.
The Islanders have every reason to be motivated to give a full 60-minute effort in the rematch.
In Thursday’s uneven effort, they slogged through the first two periods, then seemingly took control early in the third period before pulling back on their effort.
“We just started playing a little smarter,” said defenseman Noah Dobson, who snuck a quick shot through goalie Arvid Soderblom’s pads to make it 3-1 at 5:39 of the third period.
Holmstrom then threaded a pass to the cutting Bo Horvat for a 4-1 lead at 6:36 before Tsyplakov gave the Islanders their four-goal lead. Soderblom (14 saves) exited at that point in favor of Drew Commesso, who subsequently stopped both shots he saw in his NHL debut.
“The first little bit [to start the game], it just came down to work ethic,” Dobson said. “They were outworking us, outcompeting us. That’s unacceptable. We found a way in the third. [But] it’s frustrating the way we played in front of Ilya in the end to let him down. So that’s on us. But take the two points and move on.”
Connor Bedard, the first overall pick in 2023, opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 16:47 of the first period, but defenseman Dennis Cholowski tied it at 6:59 of the second period.
Notes & quotes: Top-liner Mathew Barzal (upper body/ long-term injured reserve), injured on Oct. 30, rejoined his teammates for Thursday’s morning skate. He wore a regular practice jersey and linemate Anthony Duclair (lower body/LTIR), hurt on Oct. 19, and defenseman Adam Pelech (jaw/injured reserve), injured on Nov. 1, shed their orange non-contact jerseys as they continued to practice with the team. “To have those guys closer and out of the orange, hopefully we’ll see them in action soon,” Brock Nelson said. Roy listed them all as day-to-day and added that there’s no timetable for any of their returns . . . Defenseman Grant Hutton and forward Hudson Fasching remained healthy scratches.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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