Islanders beat Avalanche for first win of season in Patrick Roy's return to Denver
Islanders left wing Anders Lee is congratulated as he passes the team box after scoring a goal against the Colorado Avalanche in the first period of an NHL game Monday in Denver. Credit: AP/David Zalubowski
DENVER – Patrick Roy didn’t receive a video tribute in his first return to Ball Arena since resigning as the Avalanche coach in 2016. No matter, it’s the film of his Islanders’ first win of the season he’ll likely cherish.
Not that Monday night’s 6-2 win was flawless. But it featured a strong first start from franchise goalie Ilya Sorokin after his offseason back surgery and two goals from Brock Nelson, including a shorthanded tally.
“I think we continue to build our game off the prior two, especially the one in Dallas,” said captain Anders Lee, who tied the game at 1-1 at 5:33 of the first period as he battled at the crease. “It was a nice progression to getting to where our game needs to be. Sorokie had a couple of huge saves.”
Most important was the two points after the Islanders dropped their season-opener to Utah 5-4 in overtime at UBS Arena and opened this three-game road trip with a 3-0 loss to the Stars.
“We maybe didn’t start the way we wanted but what I love is we kept our focus and we came back to score,” said Roy after the Avalanche opened the scoring on Calum Ritchie’s backdoor tap-in at 1:01 of the first period. “I thought we were resilient and we managed to stay focused on our game. In the second, I thought we were outstanding, we gave them nothing. In the third, maybe we backed up too much but I guess it was good for Ilya.”
The Islanders (1-1-1) conclude the trek against the Blues on Thursday night.
Roy’s return was acknowledged during a first-period stoppage as he was shown on the scoreboard and then his retired No. 33 in the rafters was displayed to a nice ovation. Roy ended his Hall of Fame career as a goalie with eight seasons with the Avalanche, leading them to Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001 before coaching them for three seasons.
Roy said he was unaware of the silent video acknowledgement.
“I was here to win a hockey game,” Roy said. “We played so well in Dallas and we came here empty handed. I was hoping we could have another strong game and that’s exactly what the guys did.”
Sorokin, starting an eight-year, $66 million extension, missed all of the preseason games and most of training camp. But he tracked pucks well through traffic and controlled rebounds in making 32 saves. Sixteen of those came in the third period after the Islanders limited the Avalanche to five shots in the second period.
“It’s just one game,” Sorokin said. “I don’t think about the result. I think just about my game, what I can do, what I can change for the better.”
Kyle Palmieri made it 2-1 at 18:13 of the first period, using his glove to knock down the puck and speeding past the defenseman Josh Manson to the crease.
Nelson picked up a loose puck in the offensive zone and lifted a wrist shot from the slot for a 3-1 lead at 8:25 of the second period. He made it 4-1 with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 11:14, intercepting the puck and skating between the circles to lift another wrister.
“It doesn’t feel good when you play the right way and play a hard game and you don’t get rewarded for it,” Nelson said of the loss to the Stars. “You have to remind yourself, just turn the page and get to it again and the tide will turn.”
The Islanders, with strong commitment to blocking shots, went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill, though Casey Mittelstadt’s one-timer to bring the Avalanche within 4-2 just 39 seconds into he third period came just after Max Tsyplakov exited the penalty box. But defenseman Alexander Romanov found Anthony Duclair open at the net at 6:48 as the Islanders regained a three-goal lead.
Alex Georgiev made 32 saves for the Avalanche (0-3-0) after being pulled from his first two starts, allowing a total of eight goals on 25 shots.
Notes & quotes: Mathew Barzal’s first goal of the season was an empty-netter…Lee took a game-high seven shots and Romanov blocked a game-high six shots…Defenseman Dennis Cholowski and forward Julien Gauthier remained the healthy scratches for the Islanders.
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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