Postgame Availability | NYI vs EDM (10/16/25)

Postgame Availability | NYI vs EDM (10/16/25)

your second career hatrick. Pretty big game. Just where’ the offense come from and what difference does it make to, you know, score first and and get on get on them early? Yeah. No, I think uh that was a big emphasis for us today. Um you know, we talked about jumping on them quick and and and trying to get the first goal and I think it just kind of carried the play from from then on out. Um Barzie made a heck of a play to to score that goal and it was a beautiful goal so it got us going for the rest of the night. What can you say about the way Rich played tonight? He was phenomenal. um you know the way he stepped in against a high octane offense like that and um he made unbelievable saves when he needed to and you know um you know we definitely couldn’t have done that without him. You gotten the hatrick that way or uh No, I I don’t know. I my last one was like six years ago I think. So um no it definitely felt good to to finally put that hatrick together. A lot of two goal games but you know definitely felt good to get my first as an Islander. Dr. the short-handed goal. I mean, it seemed not only to breathe a little bit of life into the building, but to put a little bit a jump back into your skates cuz they they had sort of taken control at that point. No, I I think so, too. Um, you know, JG made a heck of a play there to get that to me. It’s not an easy play by any means. And, um, you know, obviously we needed to make a push at some point. They they were coming on pretty strong and obviously that kind of carried us to uh, you know, the rest of the game there. Did Dar did Dar did Dar get the game puck? Yeah, he did. Yeah. No, Darcy got the game puck obviously. Um, you know, it was his first win as an Islanders GM and, um, as a, you know, a GM. So, I mean, uh, we’re really happy to give him that one. He deserved it and, um, yeah, know just, uh, it’s obviously a stepping stone to what’s to come. That save you made on McDavid there, uh, at the end of the second period. They’re still on the power play right after Bose’s short-handed goal. What were you anticipating from him? And in the grand scheme, how big a save do you think that was? Well, I saw he had uh he had a step on P and you know, I I played it as a breakaway and you know, thankfully thankfully he didn’t lift enough and hit my path. I don’t know how how big save that was. You know, I I count every single save as a safe. If it’s not going in the net, so if that gave a momentum to to my team, it’s great. But safe is a safe. So, what does it mean to you? Again, you talked about Patrick W being someone that you looked up to. What does it mean to you to get your first win for the Islanders with him as the coach? It’s obviously great, but you know what? Like, it’s not I I don’t want to say anything anything bad, but it’s more for the guys, you know, like we stick together all four games. I don’t I can’t even say we played one bad bad game. You know, we just didn’t get the results, but I think we played we played the right way. Obviously, we made some mistakes, but it just, you know, it’s still early in the year. players are making mistakes and just we just need to clean it up as fast as we could and I think we we’re going to be in really good spot. Just take us through the the final moments in the third period there when Edmonton was really pouring it on. How’d you kind of stay solid in the grease? Oh, we played really well. We we were prepared for that. Uh uh five on six. Uh we we had we had a good meeting on that and I think everyone did did his job and you know we made it easier for everyone. How did Horvat make it easy for you tonight scoring three goals for you? Well, first of all, he drove me here, so he made it way easier. And uh no, he’s obviously top end player, so I’m so happy for him. He got those three. Obviously, like, you know, even if you get two, uh the hattrick is little little something extra, but you know, I’m I’m so happy for him. He he got those three and you know, he’s just going to keep rolling for now. Was there any adjustment period, of course, your first game with the new team, just getting used to the system and and real game action? Well, I I couldn’t lose today because I had my old old captain from U6, U8, and U20 in in the stands. So, I I couldn’t let it let it happen. So, yeah. I mean, obviously, uh that’s why we play preseason, right? I didn’t have a great preseason, you know. I just keep building on that, you know, saw the mistakes what I made and uh you know, I just moved moved from there and try to be better every day. I’m I’m sorry because this was probably asked, but just how what did you think of of the way the defense played in front of you? Well, I mean, they played well obviously like we we gave them something, but we are not supermans to not giving up anything. So they they did really great job, you know, cleaning rebounds, boxing out, being being tied with with the guys when it need to be and uh you know, made it way easier for me than uh you know, some sort of situation with Saraki. They didn’t make it easy for him. I’m sure there was a lot you liked about that game. Where do you want to start with with that one? Um first of all, I thought David played really well. Uh that save in the end of the second period on McDavid, that was a huge one for us. Kept the game where it was. Obviously the shorthanded goal by Borvat was also and the power play goal was also uh a key moment in that game. Um I love the five on six how we played it. I mean I thought that Anthony had a big save, big block shot on that one and and I thought we defend the net front. Uh Romy did a really good job protecting that goal line. So yeah, there’s a lot of like uh we were very resilient all night long and and you know it was um it was a hard fought game. It’s it’s the way you see it. I mean uh it’s impressive to see how McDavid how good he is and and and I thought our guys did a nice job. I mean five on five. I thought we uh didn’t give them much. Uh and their power play, I mean, come on. They’re moving the puck like wow. I know you talked this morning about wanting to give Matthew Dar his first win. I’m sure everyone obviously wanted the first win, but what kind of weight is it when when you start, you know, the season, you think you’re playing well, but you’re not getting any points. What kind of weight is it to to actually get the two points? Well, I I’m sure it’s everyone everyone feels pretty good about that win. Uh you’re right, you know, we could have a better record than one and three, but um again, I just feel like we’re playing some good hockey. And I’d like to that’s why I was trying to focus more on how we want to play the Islanders type of hockey we want to play. And I thought that’s what we did. um you know, I mean, if if we keep playing well defensively like we’re doing right now and and and uh our we’re gain some confidence by scoring goals, I think it’s it’s going to be and our power plays moving the puck like really well. I mean, um when we put Schaefer on that unit, they start like generating like like you know, possession and he’s so fast out there. So I thought they were moving very well in that that group and Barzi made a phenomenal pass to Bo who took a really nice shot. I was happy to see Bo scoring because he he was playing really well and sometimes just a matter of time. I we always saying this it’s a matter of time it’s a matter of time but it’s nice that it happened. I mean when that goal he made that save in the second come on not tonight but he he scored on that breakaway and then next two. Um, how did you see the power play kind of get better over the course of the game? Well, the big difference is is we won the face off the last I think the last two two tries. I mean, when you win the draw, you start with the puck. This is a good this is a very good team. I mean, they they they were what Stanley Cup final two years in a row. So, I mean, they got a lot of talent and and and uh they’re good penalty killers and getting inside of the zone was pretty good challenge for our team. So, but I thought when we win the draw, uh Bo won those face off at the end and then and and even Matt Matthew did a really nice play blocking that that clear and then now we could set it up and and that was the big difference. You mentioned earlier like the way Schaefer was moving the puck on the power play. How are you? It’s not just the way he moves. It’s the the puck. It’s the way he moves. It’s hard for the first guy, the top guy to put pressure on us and I think that opens up the ice a lot for our power play, right? So, like how how are you balancing with him and Tony like who who should go out with the top unit? Yeah, it’s a good question. Um just feeling sometimes. I mean, I, you know, at the end we needed that goal and and um I think we all know it’s a matter of time before he’s playing on that power play on the regular basic. Patrick points in four straight games now for Schaefer. You’ve often talked about his swagger, but does his comfort still kind of surprise you at this point this early? Well, I feel like I’m saying this every day, so I mean, um, I assume that he must feel more and more comfortable on the ice and, um, yeah, it’s it’s it’s impressive for a player of that age the way he’s performing. It seemed you’re able to balance your defense pairing minutes tonight. Just how important is that early in a season to do that? The balance, the ice time. Yeah, I think it was easy tonight because the way I mean I I thought that was Romy’s best game. He was really good. I mean, he was physical. Uh he had that that that open ice hit in the second period. I mean, I thought everybody had a strong game. So, I mean, I guess it makes it a lot easy for Boogie to to to, you know, to play with the ice time. And just what did you think of the way Kyle Mlean and the fourth line played tonight? Really good. That line was energy. exactly what we were looking brought some speed. [Music]

Hear from Bo Horvat, David Rittich, and Head Coach Patrick Roy after tonight’s win vs the Edmonton Oilers.