New York Islanders Postgame Availability | NYI 5 vs NYR 0 (11/08/25)

New York Islanders Postgame Availability | NYI 5 vs NYR 0 (11/08/25)

Well, I don’t know if it was the motivation from last night or just uh you guys came out, had to battle the crowd, the atmosphere, and you got that first goal during the whole game. Yeah. No, I thought um you know, we knew they were going to come out hard. They uh it was a kind of a special night for them obviously with being the 100th anniversary and stuff, but you know, I thought we weathered the storm really well. Ilia made unbelievable saves when he had to. And um you know, obviously I thought after that, after we kind of got settled in, I thought we took it to him a lot. And um you know it was just an overall great team effort tonight. Take me through uh you know how big the goal at the end of the first period was you think? Yeah it was it was really big. I mean um it was a great play by all three of those guys and um you know drew a heck of a finish there and even a bigger block at the end of that period too and um yeah no it was just a night and day difference from our last game and um we need to play like that more often. You know what are you what are you thinking on when Drew Anne pass you the puck pack on that third one? What are you doing? Yeah. Yeah. Like no that’s what I meant. Like I didn’t know what he was doing. He had a it was just him and the goalie and it was such a headsto play by him cuz I mean he’s right he’s so in tight alls he could really do is stuff and um yeah when he dumped it back to me I was kind of in shock so I just tried to get it off as quick as possible and thankfully went in. Yeah for you I mean the clip that you’re scoring at right now I think is probably the best since you had that year in Vancouver. Just what is it about your game right now that’s allowing you to find this kind of offense? I mean I I think obviously the guys are finding me. Um you know I think um you know is playing great and everybody that I’ve been playing with has been playing. I’m just trying to get in those areas to get my shot off and, you know, thankful they’re going in right now. Um, yeah, I think a lot of it’s just confidence. I mean, confidence in my abilities, confidence in myself and um in my game and um yeah, just trying to compete every night and and finish when I can. What would you say about your defense tonight? Your defenders were very aggressive. They were they were great. I mean, like I said, like you said, they were aggressive. They were um jumping up in the rush, you know, pinning guys in and um you know, they played great tonight. I guess just take us through the win from your perspective. From my perspective uh I think uh they play hard all prepared um play play smart play uh very disciplined and uh uh they deserve deserve these points. That save you made early in the game did that set the tone for you getting in the game early? Uh I think yeah. Yeah, it’s for me a good uh uh energy shake. So, uh, I feel feel more energy after the save. After last night, what did you think about performance tonight in the bounce man? No, that was a good game. I mean, we played really well and I thought we were focused. I mean, I I thought we played with some swagger. I mean, I I could tell we were, you know, along the way we we were more and more confident out there, which I love. And every time they try to make a push, I felt like we responded. So, it was a great team. I remember when your team came into this building. It was loud. It was crazy. It was the storm. Yeah. I mean, I made some saves early and and that kept us in into the game and I think that brought a lot of confidence to the the the group and but after that I thought we played a solid road game. I mean, we played sound hockey and smart, good decision, play put a lot of pucks at the net, drive that net. I thought that’s what we had to do to win the game. Was your defense more aggressive tonight? I don’t know if we were more aggressive, but I thought we were really solid. I mean, we made some changing in our some changes, sorry, in our pairings, and I thought everyone played really well. It was nice to see um all our guys the way they played. In your experience, when you switch up the lines and the deep pairs, is that, you know, things get stale from time to time, right, with with with lines, is that more to get the group’s attention or did you see things with these combinations? I said many, many times, we’re going to try different things and we’re going to continue to try things. Tonight, it didn’t really work. And um is there a chance we start the same way next game? Yes. But as of to me, it’s the performance that we had and that’s all that matters. I mean, sometimes you make decisions, you go with your gut and and and what you think it’ll be the right thing for the team. But I thought that sh with uh Pley played really well. I thought Py with um with Tony D. We played really well and Romy with uh Maisy. They had a strong game. Everybody was was focused. Everybody was on top of them. I mean um I thought that was a really really good performance. I mean um second period we didn’t give them any chances. Five on five and that’s the hockey you want to you want to play. Anything when you think about it. I mean I think it was our first win since 2022. Yeah. So, I mean, I know that was your question. So, not well. No, but I mean it’s it’s it was important for for us to to come here and play with a lot of confidence and some swagger and and I thought that’s what our guys did. Speaking of swagger and the goal at the end of the second, how much did that bring to the second? It didn’t really matter between you and I. I mean, it didn’t matter. I mean, you know, you have to, you know, against the Rangers, you got to play 60 minutes. I mean, it’s nice to play with the lead, which is cool, but I mean, you know, you have to, you know, you have to play. I thought the power play goal was a good one for us. I mean, gave us that three nothing lead. And you always believe you could come back when it’s a two-goal game, but a three-goal game starts to be a little tougher. And then they they try to, you know, they pulled the goalie early and they try to come back in that game, which everybody would try, but I mean, I thought that um our guys respond really well to the five on six. anything specific you’ve seen different out of Ilia the last maybe three games? You you talk about swagger and you know I feel like he’s playing with a lot of confidence. I mean, you know, we made we made the goalie change and coach change, sorry. And um I think he’s very comfortable with Sergey and he seemed to connect really well and um it’s good for the team, it’s good for him and I like to see him play with that confidence and that focus and um he he seemed really big in front of the net and that’s what you want for uh for your team. What was going through your mind when Drew doesn’t shoot that puck and instead passes it back to Bo for the power play goal? Well, I saw I saw Joel makes great plays in junior. So, am I surprised? Not at all. I mean, he’s he’s a smart player. He makes tonight it was a really solid performance by him. I thought that he made a lot of good plays. I thought him and Barzy were connecting really well and I think Simon was a great fit for that line. So, I mean I I am very happy with the four lines. I mean, everybody had a a really good game and like I said before the game, first line is the one is on the ice and that’s how I see it. So everybody played a solid

Hear from Bo Horvat, Ilya Sorokin and Head Coach Patrick Roy after tonight’s win against the Rangers.