NY Islanders head coach Patrick Roy offers advice he played by to Ilya Sorokin

The New York Islanders are going back to their franchise goaltender.

Head Coach Patrick Roy confirmed Friday that Ilya Sorokin will start Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators, signaling full confidence in his No. 1 goaltender despite an 0-3-0 start with a 4.18 GAA and an .854 save percentage. The matchup is historically favorable: Sorokin is 4-0-1 lifetime against Ottawa, with a 1.97 GAA and a .942 save percentage.

Roy said he met with Sorokin this week and emphasized mindset, not mechanics. He explained that while goaltending coach Piero Greco handles the technical work, he wanted Sorokin to hear directly from him. Roy told him that the way forward is to simplify, saying he wants Sorokin to “build one save at a time,” and that this is the exact mental approach he used when his own game dipped as a player. “That’s what I’ve been doing if I felt I wasn’t playing my best hockey — I wouldn’t try to go more than one save at a time.”

He admitted he may have waited too long to deliver this message but felt this was the moment to show tangible support. “I want him to feel my trust,” Roy said, adding that Sorokin “needs to feel good about himself” and reiterating that “he’s one of the best goalies in the league.”

Roy made clear that David Rittich’s win Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers — the team’s first of the year — did not alter the goaltending hierarchy. Sorokin remains the starter, and Ottawa offers a chance to reset against a team he has consistently handled. Roy said the expectation isn’t perfection but momentum in increments — beginning with the next puck. “We know how good he is,” he said. “He just has to build it one save at a time.”

Common sense? Yes, but perhaps exactly what Sorokin needed to hear and from the person that needed to say it to him the most.