Patrick Roy was in the crease again Friday morning to work with Ilya Sorokin.
Only this time, it was at Sorokin’s request.
“He asked me about how I [played] shootouts,” Roy said before the Islanders’ 5-2 loss to the Wild on Friday night with David Rittich starting in goal.
Sorokin has lost both shootouts in which he’s taken part this season, including Tuesday night when Boston’s Marat Khusnutdinov said afterward that he knew the Islanders netminder would bite on the first move he made.
Sorokin’s career record in shootouts is just 7-16, with a .623 save percentage (43 saves on 69 attempts), betraying an area of his game that is in need of some work.
Roy rarely works with goaltenders but notably broke the rule earlier this season to give Sorokin some advice — which ended up being a harbinger, as goaltending coach Piero Greco was fired soon after.
This does not appear to fall in the same category, as replacement Sergei Naumovs has a long track record working with Sorokin at CSKA Moscow and as a personal goalie coach.
Roy — whose Hall of Fame career ended in 2003 — may be the wrong person to ask for shootout advice, as games tied after overtime merely ended as ties for the entirety of his career.
The shootout was not introduced in the NHL until 2005-06, after Roy had retired.
So the only shootout in which Roy participated came in the 1998 Olympic semifinal, and he lost it on Robert Reichel’s goal for Czechia, with Dominik Hasek perfect in the other net.
“I was extremely nervous,” Roy said. “Obviously was going for a medal. Got scored on the first one. I said [to Sorokin] that was probably one of the most nerve-wracking moments of my career.
“I just explained to him what I was trying to do: Force guys to beat me inside instead of shooting. At the end of the day, I really appreciate that he came to me. I feel like it’s a great step.”
Max Shabanov (upper body) could join the Islanders on their seven-game road trip that starts Saturday at the Rangers, but it’s not clear whether he’ll be ready to play at any point during that time.
“We’ll see how it shapes up in the next day or so,” Roy said.
With the top nine looking fairly set for the time being, it’s also not clear where Shabanov would fit in the lineup were he to return, though that is a bridge the Islanders will cross when they get there.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
