Patrick Roy provides the biggest key to New York’s victory
The New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Wednesday, giving Boston a clean sheet in their season opener. Despite controlling possession and outscoring the Bruins 45-14, New York was unable to make the most of its scoring opportunities.
Matthew Barzal scored the Islanders’ lone goal at 4:41 of the first period, his seventh of the season, after taking a pass from Tony DeAngelo and maneuvering around Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swyman. Just 1:42 later, Alex Steves tied the game for Boston, taking advantage of a loose puck in front of Ilya Sorokin, who finished with 11 saves in the loss. Tanner Jeaneau scored early in the second period and Steves added a shorthanded goal at 10:21 in the third, ending New York’s comeback hopes. Swayman made 44 saves, improving to 10-6-0 on the season.
Islanders coach Patrick Roy pointed out the importance of finishing scoring chances.
“We were the better team on the ice, but the quality of our shots will have to improve, to find ways to reduce our chances (…) we will win more games than we will lose if we play that way,” Roy said.
Special teams remain a big problem for New York. The Islanders went 0-for-4 on the power play, now 0-for-27 in their last eight games dating back to Nov. 13. Even with 45 shots on goal and dominating the five-on-five game, New York’s lack of success on the man advantage, combined with Steeves’ goal conceded, made the difference in the game. The Islanders are last in the league on the power play and have scored just two goals in regulation in their last three games.
The loss dropped New York to 13-9-2, with 28 points, and 1-2-0 in their current seven-game stretch, after going 6-1-0 on the recently concluded road trip.
The Islanders will look to bounce back on Friday afternoon when they host the Philadelphia Flyers in a Black Friday game.
2025-11-27 07:27:00
