Islanders win Roy's debut as coach, defeat Stars in OT

ELMONT, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders won their first game under Patrick Roy, 3-2 in overtime against the Dallas Stars at UBS Arena on Sunday.

“You always want to win that first game,” said Roy, who replaced Lane Lambert on Saturday. “And I'm very thankful to our players for the effort that they put out there, and I was just hoping to give a good show to our fans as well and have them enjoy their night.”

Bo Horvat won it 41 seconds into overtime for New York. He took a pass off the boards from Mathew Barzal, skated in on a breakaway and beat Scott Wedgewood with his backhand.

“I had a great front row seat to that one,” Barzal said. “And that was pretty. He called for it, and I just tried to get it for him. And then at that point, when you're following up, you're just praying he scores, so big goal by him.”

Alexander Romanov and Hudson Fasching also scored, and Noah Dobson and Barzal each had two assists for the Islanders (20-15-11), who had lost four straight (0-3-1). Ilya Sorokin made 40 saves.

“[Sorokin] was really sharp. He looks really confident out there,” Roy said. “I mean, he's been playing a lot lately. ... He's very solid. I mean, I understand why he was a Vezina candidate last year, the way he's been playing.”

Jason Robertson and Nils Lundkvist scored, and Joe Pavelski had two assists for the Stars (27-13-6), who were coming off a 6-2 win at the New Jersey Devils on Saturday but are 1-1-1 on a four-game road trip. Wedgewood made 25 saves.

“I thought a really good effort considering the circumstances, back-to-back,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “[Jake] Oettinger was supposed to play, but he came down with the flu. Wedgewood had to go in at the last minute. We lost [Craig] Smith in the first period to an (upper-body) injury, so we had a short bench. I thought we played a [heck] of a road game. Sometimes you hit a hot goalie, and that was probably the difference tonight.”

Romanov gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 2:52 of the first period, beating Wedgewood short side from the left circle on a rush.

Robertson tied it 1-1 at 11:35 of the second period. He put a pass from Pavelski between his legs before beating Sorokin blocker side from the low slot.

Lundkvist gave the Stars a 2-1 lead at 15:08 of the second with a one-timer from the right point that went through the legs of Pavelski and under the glove of Sorokin.

“Obviously, it’s a confidence boost," Lundkvist said. "I’m trying to shoot the puck more and get it through and hopefully good things happen. Luckily it went in today, so I’ll try to build from that.”

Fasching tied the game 2-2 at 5:23 of the third period when Dobson's shot from the right point deflected in off his leg.

“Great win. Boys played hard all night,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “I thought we stuck with it, especially through the second period. But all in all, all things considered, I think the boys adapted well to what was given to us today and executed very well. Our energy was good, our focus was good against a really good hockey team. We had to battle to the end. That was evident to come back and tie it up. And then, obviously, Horvat finishing it off, just a great play at the end there. Big two points for us.”